Former President Jimmy Carter Opts for Hospice Care

(RepublicanDaily.org) – Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, aged 98, has opted for hospice care at his home, The New York Times reported. The former president’s decision was announced by the Jimmy Carter Center on February 18.

The center explained that Carter, after having undergone a series of short hospital stays, has chosen to “forgo further medical treatment,” and to spend his remaining time at home with family. Jimmy Carter is the oldest living president. He has suffered a series of illnesses in recent history, including skin cancer melanoma.

Tributes began to pour in for Carter following the announcement, The Guardian reported. Carter, who served as the 39th U.S. President, was called “an inspiration” by former president John F. Kennedy’s niece Maria Shriver. Craig Shirley, a biographer for former president Ronald Reagan, commended Carter on his foreign policy, especially praising the Israel-Egypt Camp David Accords that Carter mediated, The Guardian reported.

Jimmy Carter has been a long-time member of Habitat For Humanity, and was a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for his efforts to promote peace around the world through the Carter Center he and his wife, Rosalynn Carter, established.

On February 18, Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi tweeted a tribute post to the former president. Guglielmi wrote that the Secret Service would be “forever by (Carter’s) side.”

Carter’s church, Maranatha Baptist Church, located in the former president’s hometown of Plains, Georgia, has asked for comfort for his family as he enters hospice care, CNN reported. On February 19, the first Sunday service following the announcement of Carter’s hospice initiation, the Maranatha Baptist congregation said a prayer, and sang “America the Beautiful,” for the former president.

Jimmy Carter became the older living president in American history after former president George H. W. Bush passed away in 2018, at the age of 94, CNN reported.

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