Raised on a peanut farm in rural Georgia, Jimmy Carter didn't expect to get involved in politics. He joined the US Navy after high school and intended to have a military career. But everything changed after his father died in 1953. Carter left his life in the Navy to return to Plains, Georgia. While working on the family farm there, he got involved in local political issues, including school integration. Little did he know that his small-town activism would lead him to the White House.

Carter was inaugurated as the 39th US president in 1977. As president, he helped establish the US Department of Energy and the US Department of Education, and he negotiated a landmark peace agreement between Israel and Egypt. Although his presidency ended after one term, Carter never stopped fighting for the causes he believed in. Learn about Carter’s humble beginnings, political career, and advocacy work after his presidency.