Claim: Jimmy Carter was a senator.

James Earl Carter Jr. -LRB- born October 1 , 1924 -RRB- is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States from 1977 to 1981 . A member of the Democratic Party , he served as the Governor of Georgia prior to his election as president . Carter has remained active in public life during his post-presidency , and in 2002 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work with the Carter Center .   Carter joined the United States Navy after graduating high school , serving on nuclear submarines . He left the Navy in 1953 to return to Georgia , where he worked as a peanut farmer . From 1963 to 1967 , Carter served in the Georgia State Senate . In 1970 , Carter won election as Governor of Georgia , defeating former Governor Carl Sanders in the Democratic primary . He served as governor from 1971 to 1975 . Despite being little-known outside of Georgia at the start of the campaign , Carter won the 1976 Democratic presidential nomination . In the general election , Carter defeated incumbent Republican President Gerald Ford in a relatively close election .   On his second day in office , Carter pardoned all evaders of the Vietnam War drafts . During Carter 's term as President , two new cabinet-level departments , the Department of Energy and the Department of Education , were established . He established a national energy policy that included conservation , price control , and new technology . In foreign affairs , Carter pursued the Camp David Accords , the Panama Canal Treaties , the second round of Strategic Arms Limitation Talks -LRB- SALT II -RRB- , and the return of the Panama Canal Zone to Panama . On the economic front he confronted persistent `` stagflation '' , a combination of high inflation , high unemployment and slow growth . The end of his presidential tenure was marked by the 1979 -- 1981 Iran hostage crisis , the 1979 energy crisis , the Three Mile Island nuclear accident , and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan . In response to the invasion , Carter ended détente , escalated the Cold War , and led the international boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow . In 1980 , Carter faced a primary challenge from Senator Ted Kennedy , but Carter won re-nomination at the 1980 Democratic National Convention . Carter lost the general election in an electoral landslide to Republican nominee Ronald Reagan . Polls of historians and political scientists usually rank Carter as a below average president .   In 2012 , he surpassed Herbert Hoover as the longest-retired president in U.S. history , and he is also the first president to mark the 40th anniversary of his inauguration . He set up the Carter Center in 1982 as his base for advancing human rights . He has also traveled extensively to conduct peace negotiations , observe elections , and advance disease prevention and eradication in developing nations . Additionally , Carter is a key figure in the Habitat for Humanity project and he has written several books about various topics . In reference to current political views , he has criticized some of Israel 's actions and policies in regards to the Israeli -- Palestinian conflict and has advocated for a two-state solution . He has vigorously opposed the Supreme Court 's decision in Citizens United v. FEC to strike down limits on campaign spending by corporations and unions , saying that the U.S. is `` no longer a functioning democracy '' and now has a system of `` unlimited political bribery . ''