The Many Records of President Carter

October 1st was not only the 99th birthday of our longest-lived president, Jimmy Carter, it’s also the anniversary of the opening of his presidential library in 1986. So, this week, we’ll explore President Carter’s presidential records and the many records he set in the presidency as well as pre- and post-presidency.

Opened on October 1, 1986, the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library in Atlanta holds 27 million pages of records, half a million photographs, and hundreds of hours of film, audio, and video from the Carter administration. Records cover the wide-ranging topics of the administration including the energy crisis, SALT II, Panama Canal Treaty, Camp David Summit and the Camp David Accords, Deng Xiaoping’s visit to Washington, establishment of the Department of Education and the Department of Energy, Iran Hostage Crisis, and more. You can find records of the Carter Administration in the National Archive Catalog.

Presidential Libraries

In 1955, Congress passed the Presidential Libraries Act, establishing a system of privately erected and federally maintained libraries. The Act encouraged other Presidents to donate their historical materials to the government and ensured the preservation of Presidential papers and their availability to the American people. Under this and subsequent acts, more libraries have been established. Read more about the Presidential Libraries.

Despite being governor of Georgia, Jimmy Carter had low name recognition in a crowded primary field for the 1976 presidential race. He began using the line “I’m Jimmy Carter, and I’m running for president,” and he’s the only president to use his nickname officially on all Presidential records.

During the election, he debated President Gerald Ford in three televised debates, the first since the famous 1960 Kennedy-Nixon debates. In the months leading up to the election, Carter allocated funds to the presidential transition. He was the first president-elect to formalize that process, which is now standard practice.

Since leaving the presidency, Mr. Carter has championed humanitarian causes and engaged in conflict mediation through the non-partisan and non-profit Carter Center. In 2002, his efforts were recognized with the Nobel Peace Prize, at the time he was only the third U.S. President to be awarded this prize.

To learn more about President Carter, visit the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum and explore the National Archives Catalog. 

For the past three months 985 Citizen Archivist have been busy at work transcribing 12,050 pages of the Revolutionary War Pension File Transcription project. They’ve uncovered stories within the pension files that we will begin sharing soon.

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• Where can I find National Security Council meeting minutes from the Carter and Reagan Administrations?
• I’m trying to locate a commendation given by Jimmy Carter to my father.
• Where can I find records on the impact of the Iran Hostage Crisis on President Carter’s Administration?

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