Sumter County. He grew up in the nearby community of Archery. View this post on Instagram Carter attended Georgia Southwestern College and the Georgia Institute of Technology before heading to the U.S. Naval Academy, where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in 1946. While serving in the Navy, he became a submariner and rose to the rank of lieutenant. On July 7, 1946, Carter married Rosalynn Smith. Seven years later, he resigned from the Navy and returned to Georgia. Carter was an active member of the community and eventually entered the political world in 1962, when he was elected to the Georgia Senate. Four years later, he would run for governor, but lost in a primary to the eventual winner, Lester Maddox. Carter would try again four years later, and this time, would cruise to an easy victory over Republican Hal Suit. He was sworn in as Georgia’s 76th governor on January 12, 1971. Exactly three years to the date of his inauguration into the governor’s mansion, Carter announced his candidacy for president of the United States. He would go onto win the Democratic nomination in 1976 and was elected on November 2, narrowly defeating incumbent Republican Gerald Ford. The first — and
