Jimmy Carter is the oldest living president in history at age 99. He has faced several bouts of bad health, including surviving metastatic brain cancer, liver cancer and brain surgery.
On Tuesday, at a Carter Center mental health forum, grandson Jason Carter provided an update on the former president's health, saying: "My grandfather is doing OK. He has been in hospice, as you know, for almost a year and a half now, and he really is, I think, coming to the end." Carter entered hospice care in February 2023.
"My grandmother's passing was a difficult moment for all of us, including my grandfather," Jason said.
Carter and his late wife, Rosalynn Carter, who died in November, had four children: Amy, John "Jack," Donnel "Jeff" and James "Chip." The presidential couple had 12 grandchildren; one, Jeremy Carter, died on December 20, 2015.
Newsweek has reached out to the Carter Center and The Jimmy Carter Presidential Library via email and telephone for confirmation.
Here's what we know about the 11 surviving Carter grandchildren:
Jason Carter
Jason Carter, 48, is the son of Jack Carter and Judy Langford. After graduating from Duke University in 1997, he served in the Peace Corps in South Africa, later writing a book, Power Lines: Two Years on South Africa's Borders, about his experiences. He returned to the U.S. to complete his law degree from the University of Georgia in 2004. He works as a partner at the law firm Bondurant, Mixson & Elmore in Atlanta, Georgia.
In 2010, Carter was elected to the Georgia state Senate, where he served until 2015. Just prior to the end of his term, he ran for governor, winning the Democratic nomination but losing the general election to incumbent Governor Nathan Deal.
He often provides updates about his grandfather in hospice care. He is the chair of the board of trustees for the Carter Center.
Newsweek reached out to Jason Carter via email for additional information.
Sarah Rosemary Carter
Sarah Rosemary Carter, Jason's sister, is the 45-year-old daughter of Jack Carter and Judy Langford. She also graduated from Duke University and went on to receive her Ph.D. in neuroscience from the University of California, San Francisco in 2007. She currently works as a principal at Science Policy Consulting and is a senior fellow for the bioeconomy at the Federation of American Scientists. She previously worked as a policy analyst in the White House Office of Science Technology Policy office, and as a technology policy fellow at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
As a child, her handprints were set in stone as part of the Children's Garden at the White House.
James Earl Carter IV
Having turned 47 in late February, James Earl Carter IV was born to Chip and Caron Carter during his grandfather's first few months in the Oval Office. He is a self-described "political junkie" and "policy wonk" who is the president of Carter Research. Carter's X, formerly Twitter, bio states that he is "a recurring character in 47% of Mitt Romney's nightmares," a playful reference to the viral video he helped leak of then-presidential candidate Romney at a fundraiser, telling the crowd that 47 percent of the electorate are "victims who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them."
He graduated from Georgia State University and has worked for political research firms, U.S. political campaigns and election observations in countries like Nigeria and Indonesia, according to the Society of Presidential Descendants.
Joshua Jeffrey Carter
Son of Jeff and Annette Carter, Joshua Jeffrey Carter turned 40 last week. He is the host of the podcast Unchanging Principles in which he details family stories—including the most recent episode on his late grandmother, Rosalynn Carter—and values his grandparents taught him. In his biography, he lists his favorite hobby as woodworking, which he learned from the former president. He lives in Atlanta with his wife, Sarah Carter, and two sons.
Sarah Chuldenko
Daughter of Elizabeth Brasfield, who later married Jack Carter, Sarah Chuldenko is a stepgrandchild of Jimmy Carter. She's an artist who graduated with a master's in fine arts in painting from The New York Academy of Art, and a bachelor's in fine arts from The Cleveland Institute of Art. She is married to artist Stephen Reynolds.
John Chuldenko
Sarah's sister and son of Elizabeth Brasfield, John Chuldenko is a stepgrandchild of Jimmy Carter. Also an artist, John graduated from The Cleveland Institute of Art and went on to become a film director and writer.
Hugo James Wentzel
Hugo James Wentzel, the son of Amy Carter and James Gregory Wentzel, was a contestant on season two of the ABC television series Claim to Fame last year.
The following grandchildren have kept a fairly private life: Margaret Alicia Carter, 36, James Carlton Carter, 33, Errol Carter Kelly and Casey Gallagher.
All of the grandchildren's names were confirmed on the phone by granddaughter Sarah Rosemary Carter.
The Carter Center confirmed that the former president has 15 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild.
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Mandy Taheri is a Newsweek reporter based in Connecticut and Brooklyn. She joined Newsweek as a reporter in 2024. She ... Read more
