Jimmy Carter, the former U.S. president who published 32 books during his lifetime, has died at 100. His death was announced by the Carter Center, the nonprofit organization that he co-founded with his wife, the late Rosalynn Carter, in 1982.

Carter, a native of Plains, Georgia, served as the governor of his home state from 1971 to 1975, and in 1976, was elected president as a Democrat, defeating Gerald Ford, the Republican incumbent. He lost his 1980 bid for reelection to Ronald Reagan, then dedicated his life after the White  House to public service, most notably with the Georgia-based nonprofit Habitat for Humanity.

He published his first book, an autobiography titled Why Not the Best?, in 1975. In 1982, he considered his own presidential legacy in another memoir, Keeping Faith, which a critic for Kirkus called “straightforwardly informative, in an unexciting way—and obliquely revealing.”

Carter tackled the subject of the troubled Middle East in 1985 with The Blood of Abraham; he would revisit the region in his books Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid and We Can Have Peace in the Holy Land.

His other works include a children’s book, The Little Baby Snoogle-Fleejer, illustrated by his daughter, Amy Carter; a poetry collection, Always a Reckoning; a historical novel, The Hornet’s Nest; and several memoirs, including An Outdoor Journal, Living Faith, and Christmas in Plains. In 2002, his An Hour Before Daylight: Memories of a Rural Boyhood was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. His most recent book, Faith: A Journey for All was published in 2018. 

Carter was remembered on social media by his admirers. On the platform X, President Joe Biden wrote, “When I look at Jimmy Carter, I see a man not only for our times, but for all times. A man who embodied the most fundamental human values we can never let slip away. And while we may never see his likes again, we would all do well to try to be a little more like Jimmy Carter.”

And author, politician, and fellow Georgian Stacey Abrams posted, “Jimmy Carter built homes, saved lives and tended to souls. God bless President Carter, may the family he and Mrs. Carter raised know only comfort in these days of grief.”

Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.