October 1, 1924, saw the birth of James Earl Carter Jr. at Plains, Georgia. Farmland was an investment of his prosperous businessman father, James Earl Carter Sr. Carter was born in Wise Sanitarium, where his mother Bessie Lilian was a nurse.

Young Carter attended the neighborhood high school from 1937 to 1941. Motivated by his father’s World War I service in the U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps, he followed his desire to serve in the military and in 1943 he was admitted to the Naval Academy.

Carter said in the book What Makes a Marriage Last by Phil Donahue and Marlo Thomas that he and Rosalynn clicked right away. The young couple was wed in 1946 after Carter finished his studies at the Naval Academy. Carter gave his all to his family after leaving the Navy, which now consisted of his wife, four kids, and the family company. He built his family a ranch-style home in Georgia in 1961; it is now worth about $210,000. Carter chose not to profit financially from his time in the White House and returned to this house after leaving office, according to The Washington Post. “I don’t see anything wrong with it; I don’t blame other people for doing it,” he declared. Just never was being wealthy my goal. Carter was heavily indebted and sold the peanut company, but his $217,000 yearly pension allowed him to live well.

The General Services Administration reported in fiscal year 2019 that Carter’s spending came to $456,000, which was far less than the $952,000 budgets allotted to other former presidents, including George H. W. Bush, and even less than the $1 million that each of Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush incurred.

Carter has also been seen a lot picking up his clothing from the local Dollar General. He takes commercial flights over private ones even when he travels. Carter taught Sunday school at a nearby Baptist church and at Emory University after his presidency.