science · 01 October 1924 · 100 years ago
birth
Born 1 Oct 1924.
James Earl Carter, Jr. is an American president and farmer who was the 39th U.S. President (1977-81). He followed his college education in engineering by joining the Naval Academy (summer 1943), graduating in the top 10% of his class in 1946, and became a submarine officer. In 1952, the Navy assigned Carter to Adm. Hyman Rickover's nuclear submarine program. That was cut short upon the death of his father (Jul 1953). He resigned his commission and was discharged from active duty (9 Oct 1953) to take over the family farm and business and care for his mother. His experience with nuclear power training, though short, gave him insight to act with calm leadership for the nation on 1 Apr 1979, when he personally visited the Three Mile Island power station, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, just four days after the nuclear reactor accident (28 Mar 1979).
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