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OFFICIALS at the US Postal Service are to roll out a new stamp from October 1 – and its design should be a familiar sight to many.
And, it will pay tribute to a former US president.
The stamp is being rolled out to commemorate what would have been Jimmy Carter’s 101st birthday.
Carter, who served as the 39th president between 1977 and 1981, died at 100 in his hometown of Plains, Georgia, in December.
The stamp will feature Carter’s portrait that was produced by Herbert E. Abrams in 1982.
“The stamp program celebrates the best in American culture, places and people, and it is difficult to consider a more fitting honoree than former President Jimmy Carter,” Peter Pastre, the USPS government relations and public policy vice president, said.
The USPS acknowledged Carter’s White House record and his humanitarian work post presidency.
While in the White House, Carter credited a presidential commission on mental health.
And, he spearheaded moves to bring in more deregulation in fields such as energy and air travel.
During Carter’s presidency, he signed the Salt II treaty as part of efforts to limit the Soviet Union’s nuclear arsenal.
And, in 1979, the US established formal diplomatic relations with China.
Outside the White House, Carter spent decades working on human rights and created the Carter Center.
The non-profit organization works in fields such as conflict resolution and the prevention of diseases.
Carter is one of only a handful of former US presidents that have won the Nobel Peace Prize, scooping the award in 2002.
Carter is not the only influential figure that has been honored with a stamp.
In 2014, the USPS honored the famous musician Jimi Hendrix with a stamp.
JIMMY CARTER – A CENTURY OF SERVICE
PRESIDENT Jimmy Carter died in December 2024 at the 100 after a truly remarkable life. From growing up in Depression-hit Georgia, to the White House, to decades of charity work, this is the story of his astonishing life.
- Oct 1, 1924 – James Earl Carter Jr. is born in Plains, Georgia, the first American president to be born in a hospital. His mom worked as a nurse. His father ran a general store
- Jun 1946 – Carter graduates from US Naval Academy. The following month, he marries Rosalynn Smith in his hometown. They remain married for almost 8 decades and have four children, John William, James Earl 3rd, Donnel Jeffrey, and Amy Lynn
- 1946-53 – Carter serves in a Navy nuclear submarine program, attaining the rank of lieutenant commander
- 1953 – Carter returns to Plains after his father’s death and helps run the family’s peanut farm business for the next 18 years
- 1963 – Carter is elected to the Georgia state Senate
- 1970 – Carter is elected governor of Georgia
- Jul 1976 – He accepts the Democratic nomination for president, announcing Minnesota Senator Walter Mondale as his running mate
- Nov 1976 – Carter defeats Republican President Gerald Ford, winning 51% of the vote and 297 electoral votes to Ford’s 240
- Sep 1977 – US and Panama sign treaties to return Panama Canal back to the country in 1999. Trump has talked this year of reclaiming it from Panama
- Sep 1978 – Carter oversees the signing of Camp David accords, leading to peace deal between Israel and Egypt the following year
- Jun 1979 – Carter and Soviet President Leonid Brezhnev agree to nuclear arms reduction with the signing of the SALT II treaty
- Nov 1979 – The Iranian hostage crisis begins as militants storm the US Embassy in Tehran, taking 52 prisoners. The hostages will not be freed until 1981, minutes after Carter leaves office
- November 1980 – Carter loses the presidential election to Republican Ronald Reagan, who wins 51.6% of popular vote to Carter’s 41.7. Independent John Anderson wins 6.7%
- 1982 – Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter co-found The Carter Center in Atlanta. Its aim is to resolve conflicts, protect human rights, and prevent disease around the world
- Sep 1984 – The Carters spend a week building Habitat for Humanity houses. It will become the annual Carter Work Project
- 1989 – 1999 – Carter travels the world engaging in peace talks in various conflict and scenes of tension, including North Korea, Bosnia, Sudan, and Haiti
- Aug 1999 – Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter are presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Bill Clinton
- Dec 2002 – Carter is awarded the Nobel Peace Price
- Oct 2014 – Carter celebrates his 90th birthday
- Dec 2014 – He is nominated for a Grammy in the best spoken word album category for his book A Call To Action
- Aug 2015 – Carter has a small cancerous mass removed from his liver
- May 2016 – He steps back from his “front-line” worjk
- 2018 – Carter publishes Faith: A Journey for All. It is his 32nd – and last – book
- Mar 2019 – Carter becomes the longest-lived US president, surpassing President George HW Bush, who died in 2018
- 2019 – Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter deliver their final in-person report at The Carter Center. Carter suffers a fall, but still joins in the Work Project with Habitat for Humanity in Nashville, Tennessee. It is the last time he will work personally on the annual project
- Jan 2021 – The Carters miss President Joe Biden’s inauguration, the first they haven’t attended since Carter’s own in 1977
- Feb 2023 – Carter enters home hospice care after several short hospital stays
- Jul 2023 – The Carters celebrate their 77th and final wedding anniversary
- Nov 2023 – Rosalynn dies at home
- Oct 2024 – Carter becomes the first former US president to reach age 100. That same month, he casts a Georgia mail ballot for Democrat Kamala Harris
- Dec 2024 – Carter dies at home. His funeral is held the following month in Washington DC
“Combining influences from rock, modern jazz, soul and the blues with his own innovations, Jimi Hendrix helped found three new genres of music — heavy metal, jazz fusion and funk — and in doing so, left behind an indelible mark on pop music and popular culture generally,” Joseph Corbett, a then-USPS chief, said at the time.
Hendrix’s sister, Janie, described the stamp as one of the nation’s “highest honors.”
She said she was left deeply touched by the Postal Service’s nod.
“While my brother has been cited many times as being among the most influential musicians of all time, the recognition implicit in his being portrayed on a U.S. postage stamp ranks as an unparalleled honor,” she said.
Music stars Ray Charles and jazz icon Miles Davis have also been recognized with stamps, as has tennis pioneer Althea Gibson.
Gibson, a former number one tennis player, was the first Black star to win a Grand Slam tournament.
Betty White, a former Golden Girls star, was honored with a stamp earlier this year.
The USPS described White, who died in 2021, as an “icon” of American television.
