18 February 2023 , 20:41
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Former US President Jimmy Carter has the "full support" of his family after choosing to receive hospice care instead of more medical treatment.
The Carter Centre said in a statement: "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.
"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 decision comes after a number of hospital visits and recent medical issues and Carter will receive care in his Georgia home.
Carter, 98, served as the 39th president from 1977 to 1981 and is now the oldest living president and oldest-lived president. Closest to Carter on the list was George HW Bush, who died at the age of 94 in 2018.
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Queen Elizabeth II with US President Jimmy Carter at a State Dinner at Buckingham Palace in London in 1977 (PA)A Democrat, he beat incumbent Gerald Ford in the 1976 presidential election but was unable to see off a challenge from Ronald Reagan four years later.
Born James Earl Carter Jr in 1924 in Georgia, Carter married his wife Rosalynn in 1946 and have three sons and one daughter together. They celebrated their 76th wedding anniversary in July last year.
In 2021, the former president said marrying Rosalynn was the "pinnacle of my life."
A young Rosalynn, meanwhile, wrote: "I thought he was the most handsome young man I had ever seen."
Of Carter's presidency, the official White House website wrote: "Carter worked hard to combat the continuing economic woes of inflation and unemployment.
Carter served as president from 1977 to 1981 (Getty Images)"By the end of his administration, he could claim an increase of nearly eight million jobs and a decrease in the budget deficit, measured in percentage of the gross national product.
"Unfortunately, inflation and interest rates were at near record highs, and efforts to reduce them caused a short recession."
Carter has been commended for his work on foreign affairs and he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for "decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts."
During his presidency, the so-called 'Camp David Accords' were signed by Egyptian President Anwar Sada, and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin in September 1978.
Carter brokered the deal and the agreement was designed to create a framework for peace between the two countries, who went to war in 1973.
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