Jimmy Carter Released From Hospital Following Hip Surgery

AMERICUS, GA — Former President Jimmy Carter, 94, was released from a southwest Georgia hospital Thursday morning following surgery to repair a broken hip. According to the Carter Center, America’s oldest living president will undergo physical therapy at this Plains, Georgia, home, and even plans to teach Sunday school this weekend at Maranatha Baptist Church.

Carter fell last week at his home while getting ready to do on a turkey hunt. He was taken to Phoebe Sumter Medical Center, where he underwent successful hip replacement surgery.

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In March 2019, Carter became America’s oldest living ex-president in history, surpassing George H.W. Bush, who died last November. Prior to Bush, previous record holders were Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, Herbert Hoover and John Adams.

Carter, who turned 94 last October 1, was elected in 1976 at the age of 52. He has been out of office for more than 38 years, losing a reelection bid in a landslide loss to Reagan in 1980. He has since become one of the most active ex-presidents in U.S. history, founding The Carter Center, the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum, and continuing to participate in frequent Habitat for Humanity homebuilding efforts.

Read more: Jimmy Carter Recovering From Broken Hip

In 1976 his long-shot presidential bid won him the White House when Carter defeated incumbent Ford, with 297 electoral votes, to become the 39th president of the United States.

Carter’s presidency is known for various historic milestones, such as the Camp David Peace Accords between Israel and Egypt in 1978 and establishing diplomatic relations with China, his library notes. His presidency was also responsible for the creation of the U.S. Departments of Education and Energy, as well as implementing new environmental protection legislation such as the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, the library’s website adds.

He famously failed to win re-election in 1980 during a sluggish economy and the Iranian hostage crisis. After more than a year in captivity, the hostages were released the same day Republican President Ronald Reagan was sworn into office — Jan. 20, 1981.

Despite leaving behind a one-term presidency, Carter managed to repair his image over the last several decades through his work with helping the less fortunate. In 1982, he founded The Carter Center, which works to address national and international issues through public policy. The nonprofit organization under the former president’s leadership has dispatched 100 election observers to countries in the Americas, Africa and Asia.

Carter was diagnosed with cancer in August 2015 at age 91 after having surgery to remove a lesion on his liver. After having the surgery, Carter announced that the cancer had spread to other parts of his body. Doctors had found melanoma lesions on his brain. He announced that he would significantly cut back on his schedule while undergoing treatment for his diagnosis.

In November of that year, the Carter Center issued an update on the former president’s health, saying he had received good news from his doctors. Recent tests had shown there was no new evidence of malignancy and he was responding well to treatment.

Patch Staff Writer John Barker contributed to this report.