Jimmy Carter has died aged 100, who became renowned in his post-presidency years for the success of his initiatives on global health, democracy promotion and conflict resolution. Although deemed a lacklustre president he was the first since Jefferson under whom no blood was shed in war. At a farewell dinner as he left office, his vice-president, Walter F Mondale, gave a toast: “We told the truth. We obeyed the law. We kept the peace.” Carter later added a fourth major accomplishment: “And we championed human rights.”
He was born 1 October 1924 7am Plains, Georgia, into a well-to-do family though they had no electricity, running water or mechanized equipment on their farm. After a stint in the navy he took over the family peanut business and moved into politics, stepping into the White House on the back of Nixon’s Watergate scandal.
He had a 12th house Libra Sun square a strong-minded Pluto in his opinionated and far-travelled 9th; with an idealistic Neptune, leadership North Node and Venus in Leo in his career 10th in a high-vitality opposition to Mars in determined Aquarius. He had an understated Saturn in Scorpio just below his Ascendant in his 1st as well as an intense, secretive Scorpio Moon. His 12th house Sun and 10th house Neptune would help in his humanitarian ventures though was perhaps less useful in the attention-grabbing, ego-clashing arena of politics.
His Presidency chart, 20 January 1977 12pm had an afflicted Mars in the 9th square Pluto and inconjunct Saturn, hinting at foreign policy failures; with an indecisive Neptune in the 8th. The Moon opposed Saturn and square Uranus on the Descendant for an administration that left the electorate less than pleased (Saturn) and proved divisive (Uranus Desc). There was an enthusiastic Jupiter on the Ascendant and a friendly 11th house Venus but it was not enough to stave off criticism or a swingeing electoral defeat to Reagan next time round.
From a previous post on his wife Rosalynn Carter, who died last year (Post 20 November 2023).
Rosalynn Carter wife of former president Jimmy Carter has left behind a solid legacy of good works as she dies aged 96. A biographer described her as having achieved “one of the great political partnerships in American history”. She was up with Eleanor Roosevelt in her influence as first lady. And their four decades after the White House as global humanitarians advocating peace, democracy and the eradication of disease set a new standard for post-term presidents.
She was born 18 August 1927 6am In Plains, Georgia, into poverty, becoming a carer for her siblings after her father died in her early teens. She married Jimmy when she was 18, was a devout Baptist and mother of four, but her soft smile and outward shyness masked her determination and passion for politics which had her dubbed the ‘Steel Magnolia in Washington.
Her 12th house Sun Neptune in Leo gave her idealism, flair, inspiration and the ability to work tirelessly behind the scenes on mental health and other issues. Her Venus Mars in Virgo in her First added passionate enthusiasm for practical causes and a far-travelled 9th house Taurus Moon sent her round the world doing good.
Oddly enough his Uranus fell in her 7th house suggesting a bond that can only work where both gave each other freedom and she did travel and campaign a good deal on her own. His equally idealistic Venus Neptune North Node in Leo were conjunct her Sun Neptune for shared hopes and activism, with his Mars in Aquarius in opposition adding a spark of zest and no doubt a few arguments along the way.
His Libra Sun was opposition her adventurous Jupiter Uranus in Aries for an adventurous streak; and his Uranus square Jupiter sparked off HER Mars Venus conjunction.
Her Mercury and Sun Neptune in Leo fell in his 10th for a helpful career mate and her Moon in his 7th for support and nurturing.
Their relationship chart had an affectionate and friendly composite Sun Venus conjunction and a domestically soothing Moon Jupiter conjunction. A 10th house Pluto which made them influential as a couple was in an enduring trine to Saturn and sextile the composite Sun. Both were keen on a settled family and home life, she with a Taurus Moon and he with a Scorpio Moon – they could both be stubborn but obviously found a way to handle their differences.
It was a relationship which could have gone wrong if either had been driven by ego but both with 12th house Suns helped in that regard. Pluto in the composite 10th can turn into a power struggle but only when aims for individual glory are pursued. Pulling together they had the capacity to make a difference.
He seemed a decent sort. Latterly he worked with Democracy Now!,TRNN and RT America exposing corporate and Establishment corruption. A good man.
Adding that President Carter’s 1st House Scorpio Saturn is very strong (unaspected) and rules his Capricorn 4th House; a not-so-subtle hint of his personal capacity to materialize ambition, deep conviction, and resillience during his life.
RIP from a Georgia fan
I remember living in NYC (Brooklyn proper) and hearing about the election results in late 1976 on WINS newsradio. Carter had plenty of one-liner jokes following him…but his legacy as a man of peace afterwards cannot be joked about or ignored.
How many ex-presidents have been so selflessly noble?
Yet, to live to be 100 yrs old!
Another great accomplishment was constantly promoting Habitat for Humanity. Speaks to his empathy for the American people.
I am old enough to remember his presidency. A good man. His views on the morality of excess consumption and the danger of its effect on our home, Earth, was supposedly ahead of its time. (But not really because there were people like Rachel Carson & others who were speaking truth about what would happen if we continue with our foolish destruction of our home & all that lives here with us. We know now that even the oil companies knew that fossil fuels wasn’t good for the environment.)
He was goodness personified. H
e conceded to Reagan as I was going into the voting booth to cast my first presidential vote (my polling place was a TV store and I realize that that was a crazy thing to experience since there is no electioneering near polling places and yet a television was one in the store and…it was really, really sad for me.)
I listened to a good podcast put out by The New Yorker today–and interview with a gentleman who wrote a play about Carter and NPR has a good profile about Carter’s environmental policies.
100 years old! Amazing. An amazing man. An amazing love story–he and Rosalyn knew each others since childhood. A good family. Good works. We need lights like this–espcially now.
Sorry for all the typos!
I remember being conflicted going into the voting booth the second time he ran. I was unimpressed with Carter’s record as president and couldn’t, as someone born into the Democratic Party who deeply believes in its values, in good conscience vote for Reagan. I worked at the polls that election, too, in 1980, the last time until 2024, and debated with myself all day about how to vote, knowing that in Virginia my vote ultimately didn’t matter. I wound up voting for independent John Anderson, purely so he could reach the five percent threshold to secure federal matching funds for his campaign.
I didn’t regret my vote that year, but came to appreciate and admire Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter so much more over the years. They set the standard for decency and morality in office that’s rarely matched. The only other scandal-free administrations since then have also been presided over by Democrats, Barack Obama and Joe Biden. His accomplishments as president are already been reevaluated in a far more positive light. He will be sadly missed.
@Solaia It sounds as though your great-uncle’s impressive technical skills were another thing he had in common with Jimmy Carter, who graduated with a university degree from the U.S. Naval Academy in engineering, and was involved as a young officer in the early days of the Navy’s nuclear submarine program.
In the early 1950s, Carter was part of a crew of engineers that helped shut down a nuclear reactor at Canada’s Chalk River Laboratory after a partial core meltdown, and he later said his experience influenced his attitudes toward atomic energy and influenced him to top development of the neutron bomb. Despite receiving dangerous levels of radiation, he survived several bouts of cancer in later life, and I always wondered if he was just naturally strong, or if his deep personal faith and determined personality were deciding factors in his survival.
He received numerous accolades that would surely have gone to the head of a lesser man. Yet his focus was on service rather than on himself, and he was absolutely devoted to his Rosalynn. In fact, he claimed his greatest accomplishment was marrying her. “That was the pinnacle of my life,” he told an interviewer. A truly good man.
@AI22, exactly! Surprising number (or maybe no) of engineers I’ve worked with are Sun Libra with Virgo Mercuries.
How odd, thanks for this. I would never have connected Sun Libra and Mercury in Virgo – my father was an academic engineer and that was what he had.
That increasingly rare phenomenon – a man who became powerful yet retained the qualities of decency and integrity. His passing makes me feel very sad.
He was good personified. He was president when I was born and I admire the good he did. I hope his passing gives us all pause to reflect on what and who we vote for.
Jimmy Carter was born the same day that my great uncle, who, in turn, was exactly 3 years younger than my grandmother, so I have always been fascinated by Carter’s chart. They had some similarities in background and upbringing, even if my grandmother’s family were sustenance farmers. However, they were seen as respectable, kind people. My grandmother’s grandfather taught all the 7 children except a sister who likely had oxygen privation during birth to read before they went to school. My great uncle was considered the brightest of them all, which may have been a bit biased, my grandmother was such a good student her elementary teacher would have gotten her a free place in grammar school. Unfortunately, the family couldn’t have paid maintenance. Great uncle had great technical skills, started working at railroads at 15 and would have likely been admitted to technical school if it wasn’t for the War first and the tuberculosis killing him in 1947 then.
I think Carter’s and my great uncles shared problem solving skills would be indicated by Mercury in Virgo oppose Uranus in Pisces. Great uncle built a wind turbine to their farm that was never attached to the grid, Carter would put solar panels to WH. He also had a sense of humour, my grandmother always remembered most of her family were serious, but this great uncle and their older sister my grandmother was closest to would have good laughs.
While Carter’s chart isn’t “lucky”, I think my great uncle’s Saturn/Moon in Scorpio was tighter, he was homebirth during the night, as older sisters of my grandmother would remember. That might have attributed to him dying before turning 23, I think around the time Carters had their first child.
On a personal note on Carter: He became POTUS when I was a baby, but as precocious as I was, I don’t remember his presidency. My mother died late 1980, and while I have vivid memories from the time I couldn’t have been more than 2 years old, I have blocked everything from that period and coming months.
I have watched old SNL skits with Dan Aykroyd playing Carter, and find they have aged extremely well. Especially “Ask President Carter”. Imagine being able to make political satire by depicting the person satirized as an extremely capable person.
Certainly a good man but Napoleon would never have made him a Marshall because he simply wasn’t ‘lucky.’ History will deal kindly with him, though.
@Penelope Jane Simpson, so well put!
A remarkable man.
Sometimes, the good guys do win.