Former President Jimmy Carter will begin to receive hospice care at home following a series of hospital stays, his foundation said in a statement on Saturday.
"After a series of short hospital stays, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter today decided to spend his remaining time at home with his family and receive hospice care instead of additional medical intervention," the statement said. "He has the full support of his family and his medical team. The Carter family asks for privacy during this time and is grateful for the concern shown by his many admirers."
The Carter Center did not provide details of his recent hospitalizations. His grandson, Jason Carter, said in a tweet that "I saw both of my grandparents yesterday. They are at peace and — as always — their home is full of love. Thank you all for your kind words."
President Joe Biden was made aware of Carter's decision to begin hospice care, and the White House is in touch with the Carter family and close advisers, according to a White House official.
The president expressed well wishes to Carter and his wife, former first lady Rosalynn Carter, in a tweet on Sunday.
Carter, 98, is the oldest living former American president and the first American president born in a hospital. He was diagnosed with cancer in August 2015 — melanoma that had spread to his liver and brain — but he was later declared cancer-free. In 2019, Carter suffered a black eye in a fall and was later hospitalized with a fractured pelvis incurred in a separate fall.
He told a church congregation in 2019 that he was "at ease with death" following his cancer diagnosis, CBS News reported.
“I, obviously, prayed about it. I didn’t ask God to let me live, but I just asked God to give me a proper attitude toward death. And I found that I was absolutely and completely at ease with death. It didn’t really matter to me whether I died or lived," Carter said, according to CBS News. “I have, since that time, been absolutely confident that my Christian faith includes complete confidence in life after death. So, I’m going to live again after I die — Don’t know what form I’ll take, or anything.”
The Georgia native, a Democrat, was elected the 39th president in 1976, defeating Republican President Gerald Ford in the aftermath of the Watergate scandal. He served one term, losing in 1980 to Ronald Reagan.
Carter was recognized after his presidency for his tireless work in promoting peaceful resolutions to conflict and advancing democracy, human rights and social justice, primarily through the Carter Center, which he and his wife established at Emory University in 1982.
He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 “for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts” and his “outstanding commitment to human rights.”
