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Jimmy Carter, a one-term president who became a globe-trotting elder statesman, dies at 100

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Former President Jimmy Carter, a Georgia peanut farmer who vowed to restore morality and truth to politics after an era of White House scandal and who redefined post-presidential service, died Sunday at the age of 100.

The Carter Center said the 39th president died in Plains, Georgia, surrounded by his family.

Carter had been in home hospice care since February 2023 after a series of short hospital stays.

Carter, a Democrat, served a single term from 1977 to 1981, losing a reelection bid to Ronald Reagan. Despite his notable achievements as a peacemaker, Carter’s presidency is largely remembered as an unfulfilled four years shaken by blows to America’s economy and standing overseas. His most enduring legacy, though, might be as a globetrotting elder statesman and human rights pioneer during an indefatigable 43-year “retirement.”

ATLANTA, GA – SEPTEMBER 30: Former president Jimmy Carter prior to the game between the Atlanta Falcons and the Cincinnati Bengals at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on September 30, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images)
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Jimmy Carter, the 39th US president, dies at age 100
President Joe Biden said in a statement that “America and the world lost an extraordinary leader, statesman and humanitarian” as well as a man of “great character and courage, hope and optimism.”

“With his compassion and moral clarity, he worked to eradicate disease, forge peace, advance civil rights and human rights, promote free and fair elections, house the homeless, and always advocate for the least among us. He saved, lifted, and changed the lives of people all across the globe,” Biden said. He declared January 9 a National Day of Mourning and called on “people of the world who share our grief to join us in this solemn observance.”

President-elect Donald Trump urged everyone to keep the Carter family in their prayers. “Those of us who have been fortunate to have served as President understand this is a very exclusive club, and only we can relate to the enormous responsibility of leading the Greatest Nation in History,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “The challenges Jimmy faced as President came at a pivotal time for our country and he did everything in his power to improve the lives of all Americans. For that, we all owe him a debt of gratitude.”

Carter became the oldest living former president when he surpassed the record held by the late George H.W. Bush in March 2019.

Carter’s beloved wife, Rosalynn, died in November 2023. They had been inseparable during their 77-year marriage, and after she passed away, the former president said in a statement that “as long as Rosalynn was in the world, I always knew somebody loved and supported me.”

The former president attended his wife’s memorial events, including a private burial and a televised tribute service in Atlanta, where he was seated in the front row in a reclined wheelchair. He did not deliver any remarks.

Carter took office in 1977 with the earnest promise to lead a government as “good and honest and decent and compassionate and filled with love as are the American people” following what had started as an unlikely long-shot bid for the Democratic Party’s nomination.

The Southerner with a flashing smile did enjoy significant successes, particularly abroad. He forged a rare, enduring Middle East peace deal between Israel and Egypt that stands to this day, formalized President Richard Nixon’s opening to communist China and put human rights at the center of US foreign policy.

But Carter was ultimately felled by a 444-day hostage crisis in Iran, in which revolutionary students flouted the US superpower by holding dozens of Americans in Tehran. The feeling of US malaise triggered by the crisis was exacerbated by Carter’s domestic struggles, including a sluggish economy, inflation and an energy crisis.

At times, Carter’s principled moral tone and determination to strip the presidency of ostentation, such as by selling the official yacht, Sequoia, seemed to verge on sanctimony. But out of office, Carter won admiration by living his values. Just a day after one of several falls he suffered in 2019, he was back out building homes for Habitat for Humanity, even with an ugly black eye and 14 stitches — and teaching Sunday school as he had done several hundreds of times.

The devout Southern Baptist’s life’s work was only just beginning when he limped out of the White House, humiliated by Reagan’s 1980 Republican landslide, in which the incumbent won only six states and the District of Columbia.

“As one of the youngest of former presidents, I expected to have many useful years ahead of me,” Carter wrote in his 1982 memoir, “Keeping Faith.” He proved as good as his word, going on to become a humanitarian icon, perhaps more popular outside the United States than he was at home.

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People want to change the Constitution. What’s next?

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The right and the left don’t agree on how they’d like to change the Constitution, but they do agree that changes need to be made.

President Joe Biden, in his farewell address, called for an amendment “to make clear that no president, no president is immune from crimes that he or she commits while in office.”

That’s a clear nod to the Supreme Court’s granting of new immunity to presidents at the request of President-elect Donald Trump in 2024 when he was facing federal prosecution.

Separately, CNN has previously reported that Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York made a last-minute push to convince Biden to certify an Equal Rights Amendment as the 28th Amendment. The amendment passed in the needed three-quarters of US state legislatures, but it took too long — decades instead of the seven years the amendment’s authors originally allowed.

Trump, meanwhile, has promised to challenge the 14th Amendment with an executive order rescinding the principle of birthright citizenship. He’s admitted that ending birthright citizenship could require going “to the people.”

And there are several distinct efforts to call a full-on convention of the states, the first in American history, to propose amendments. Conservative efforts have targeted a Balanced Budget Amendment they’ve long envisioned or, more generally, to limit the power of the federal government. Supporters of new gun laws have called for a convention to consider an amendment related to firearms.

What does it actually take to amend the Constitution? Here’s a breakdown:

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Trump is imposing MAGA rule on the government hour-by-hour

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President Donald Trump is acting on his campaign promises at the fastest clip in modern memory — sending almost hourly shockwaves through the government, the legal system, the science community and around the world.

Trump’s three-day sprint through his to-do list contrasts sharply with the disarray and empty fights that marred the start of his underperforming first term.

In his zeal to make good on his pledges, Trump is delivering gift after gift to his most loyal supporters, making progress toward conservative goals developed, in some cases, over many years, in an extraordinary display of populist, nationalist, right-wing ideology.

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Hegseth’s ex-wife gives new statement to FBI amid scrutiny over his nomination

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Pete Hegseth’s ex-wife recently gave a new statement to the FBI about the defense nominee’s alcohol use, according to two sources familiar with the matter, an issue that has become a source of controversy during his confirmation process.

Senate Armed Services Chairman Roger Wicker and the ranking Democratic member Jack Reed were briefed on Samantha Hegseth’s statement, which has not been previously reported, on January 16, two days after the committee held Pete Hegseth’s confirmation hearing, the sources said. Wicker and Reed were initially briefed about the FBI’s background check before the confirmation hearing, according to another source familiar with the matter. Since then, the FBI has interviewed Samantha Hegseth and has included her statement in its supplemental review.

Wicker said in a statement late Wednesday night that reports “regarding a confidential briefing on the FBI background investigation of Pete Hegseth that I received last week are starkly and factually inaccurate” and that he stands by Hegseth’s nomination.

“It is disturbing that a sensitive, longstanding process used by committee leadership to vet presidential personnel is being litigated in the press by anonymous sources with ulterior motives,” Wicker said, noting that he has been briefed three times by the FBI about their background check into Hegseth.

On Thursday, following CNN’s report, Reed disputed Wicker’s characterization of the FBI briefing process.

“As a rule, I do not publicly discuss the contents of an FBI background investigation,” the ranking Democrat said in a statement. “However, two things are true in this case: one, during my time in the Senate, the FBI has never before needed to deliver multiple briefings on a Defense Secretary nominee, and, two, the recent reports about the contents of the background briefings on Mr. Hegseth are true and accurate.”

Democrats pressed Hegseth during his confirmation hearing about allegations of both sexual misconduct and excessive drinking. Hegseth has repeatedly denied all allegations of misconduct, including having a drinking problem, but has said he would not drink while serving as secretary of defense if he’s confirmed.

The FBI connected with Samantha Hegseth and she gave a statement in which she discussed concerns about Pete Hegseth’s drinking, the two sources said. One source familiar with the statement said Samantha Hegseth told the FBI, “He drinks more often than he doesn’t.”

The source familiar noted that Samantha and Pete Hegseth have been divorced since 2017.

“There’s nothing new here and we look forward to the confirmation vote,” Tim Parlatore, Pete Hegseth’s lawyer, told CNN.

Samantha Hegseth has not responded to CNN’s request for comment. The FBI declined to comment.

Reed and Wicker received the briefing days before the committee vote to advance Hegseth’s nomination to the floor of the Senate. The vote was along party lines with Reed voting against Hegseth’s nomination and Wicker voting to advance him to the floor.

Hegseth’s former sister-in-law, Danielle Hegseth, submitted an affidavit to the Senate about Pete Hegseth’s conduct that became public Tuesday, accusing Hegseth of being “abusive” toward his second wife, Samantha Hegseth.

Danielle Hegseth, who was married to Pete Hegseth’s brother from 2011 to 2019, did not specify the nature of the abuse in the affidavit, writing that she did “not personally witness physical or sexual abuse by Hegseth” but that Samantha Hegseth at times feared for her safety and had a code word if she needed help to get away from her husband.

Danielle Hegseth also alleged that she witnessed Hegseth abusing alcohol at multiple family gatherings, and that she witnessed him drinking to excess in public twice during 2013.

Parlatore said in a statement to CNN Tuesday that Danielle Hegseth “hates Pete and there is no truth to any of this. Most of what she is saying are things she didn’t in fact witness.”

During his confirmation hearing last week, Hegseth acknowledged he was “not a perfect person” but claimed that the allegations against him, including a claim he sexually assaulted a woman in 2017, were part of a “coordinated smear campaign.”

Democrats pressed Hegseth during the hearing on allegations of both sexual misconduct and excessive drinking.

Following the disclosure of Danielle Hegseth’s affidavit Tuesday, Democrats complained that the information was not part of the FBI’s background investigation that was briefed to the leaders of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Danielle Hegseth submitted the affidavit after a request from Reed.

This story has been updated with a statements from committee members

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