by Dave Williams | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – A commemorative Forever stamp honoring former President Jimmy Carter will be released on Oct. 1 in Atlanta, the U.S. Postal Service announced Monday.
Representatives of the nonprofit group Friends of Jimmy Carter and the National Park Service joined the Postal Service in unveiling the new stamp at the Jimmy Carter National Historical Park in Carter’s hometown of Plains.
“It is difficult to consider a more fitting honoree than former President Jimmy Carter,” said Peter Pastre, the Postal Service’s government relations and public policy vice president. “He lent his quiet, thoughtful and deliberate energy around causes he believed in. … In his conduct and accomplishments as a former president, Jimmy Carter truly personified the best in America.”
“We’ve had the privilege of a front-row seat to his life and legacy,” added Kim Carter Fuller, Carter’s niece and executive director of the Friends of Jimmy Carter. “Today’s reveal gives the world an opportunity to share his legacy with others on a daily basis.”
After serving in the Georgia Senate and as governor, Carter – a Democrat – became the nation’s 39th president in January 1977. He served one term before losing his reelection bid in 1980 to Republican Ronald Reagan.
During Carter’s post-presidential years, he emerged as an activist for peace, human rights, and social and economic progress around the world. In 1982, he partnered with Emory University to establish the Carter Center, which advances democracy, monitors elections, mediates disputes, and works to prevent tropical diseases in the poorest nations.
In recognition of those efforts, Carter was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.
Carter died in December 2024 at the age of 100, a year after the death of his wife of 77 years, former First Lady Rosalynn Carter.
The new stamp depicts a 1982 oil-on-linen painting created in preparation for Carter’s official White House portrait.
The stamp’s Oct. 1 release date coincides with what would have been Carter’s 101st birthday.
