Flags to Fly at Half Staff to Honor Former President Jimmy Carter

(KNSI) — Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has ordered all flags to be flown at half staff to honor and remember former President Jimmy Carter.

Carter passed away Sunday at his home in Plains, Georgia at the age of 100. Public memorials are set for Washington, D.C. and Atlanta. A private service and burial will take place in his hometown.

A National Day of Mourning is set for January 9th.

President Carter attended Georgia Southwestern College and Georgia Institute of Technology and received a B.S. degree from the United States Naval Academy in 1946. Following graduation, President Carter served as a submariner in the United States Navy, serving in both the Atlantic and Pacific fleets, and eventually rose to the rank of Lieutenant. President Carter was chosen for the nuclear submarine program and participated in graduate work at Union College in reactor technology and nuclear physics in addition to serving as senior officer of the pre-commissioning crew of the Seawolf.

In the summer of 1946, President Carter married future first lady Rosalynn Smith. When his father died in 1953, he resigned his naval commission and returned with his family to Georgia. President Carter took over the Carter farms and quickly became a leader of the community, serving on county boards supervising education, the hospital authority, and the library.

In 1962, he won an election to the Georgia State Senate and, in 1971, he became the Governor of Georgia. Carter was elected president in 1976 and served from1977 to1981, establishing the Camp David Accords, signing the SALT II nuclear arms reduction Treaty, and created the Department of Education.

After his term was up, he founded the Carter Presidential Center which is devoted to issues related to democracy and human rights. President Carter also worked with Habitat for Humanity International, building houses for those in need.

Flags at all government buildings will stay at half staff until sunset January 29th.

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