Jimmy Carter makes rare public appearance before his birthday and 7 months after starting hospice

The Carters were spotted in a rare appearance recently at the Plains Peanut Festival. The 98-year-old Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn, 96, previously attended two events last year. "Beautiful day for President and Mrs. Carter to enjoy a ride through the Plains Peanut Festival! And just a week before he turns 99. We're betting peanut butter ice cream is on the menu for lunch! #JimmyCarter99," the Carter Center wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. Peanut butter is a favorite of the 39th President of the United States.

Carter has been battling several health struggles in the recent past. According to Good Morning America, he suffered multiple falls in 2019 and survived cancer in 2015. In February this year, Carter started hospice care in his house in Georgia. At the time, The Carter Center announced that he would receive hospice care following a "series of short hospital stays."

According to the statement he would "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." In recent years, the former president of the United States has maintained a low public profile due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, he has remained vocal about the threats to democracy worldwide, which has been a long-standing concern for him.

As for the former first lady of the United States, Rosalynn Carter has been diagnosed with dementia, according to a statement released by her family on May 30, 2023. The Carter family said in a statement that Rosalynn "continues to live happily at home with her husband, enjoying spring in Plains and visits with loved ones." Rosalynn is the oldest living first lady and together the couple is also the longest-married presidential couple in American history, having wed in 1946.

"Mrs. Carter has been the nation's leading mental health advocate for much of her life. First in the Georgia Governor’s Mansion, then in the White House, and later at The Carter Center, she urged improved access to care and decreased stigma about mental health issues," the statement by The Carter Center read. "One in 10 older Americans have dementia, a condition that affects overall mental health. We recognize, as she did more than half a century ago, that stigma is often a barrier that keeps individuals and their families from seeking and getting much-needed support. We hope sharing our family's news will increase important conversations at kitchen tables and in doctor's offices around the country."

The Carter Center also paid tribute to Jimmy Carter earlier this month for the former president's upcoming 99th birthday. Jason Carter, the former president's grandson, recently opened up on GMA3 admitting that "we didn't know, and we didn't believe at the time, that we were going to get to this 99th birthday."

"They are coming to the end, of course, at this time in their lives. But they are at peace, they are together, they're at home, they're in love. And you don't get much more than that, and they don't expect more," Jason Carter added. "It's a true blessing for all of us to have had this much time with him."