Jimmy Carter in uniform: From Naval Academy plebe to US commander in chief

Estimated read time: 5-6 minutes

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Jimmy Carter, former U.S. President, passed away at 100.
He served as a junior officer in the U.S. Navy before his presidency.
Carter's legacy includes contributions to the Navy's nuclear submarine program and having a submarine named in his honor.

SALT LAKE CITY — Sailors are bidding fair winds and following seas to one of their own, President Jimmy Carter.

The 39th U.S. president, who died Sunday at 100, served as the commander and chief of America's armed forces during his single presidential term from 1977-1981.

But decades earlier, Carter served as a junior officer in the United States Navy.

The White House enjoyed a strong sailor heritage in the 20th century. Besides Carter, five other U.S. Navy veterans served as president — John F. Kennedy, George H.W. Bush, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford and Lyndon B. Johnson.

"Today we mourn the loss of a shipmate as we celebrate and honor the life and memory of an exemplary public servant and patriot, President Jimmy Carter, who earned our admiration with his courage and won our hearts with his compassion," Chief of Naval Operations, Adm. Lisa Franchetti, said in a statement.

Carter's life of service, she added, will continue to be an example across the fleet.

"His work is finished, but the U.S. Navy's work continues. President Carter, we have the watch."

Carlos Del Toro, Secretary of the Navy and Carter's fellow U.S. Naval Academy alum, said the former president will forever be remembered for his dedication "to the greater good" that was displayed since his days in a Navy officer's uniform.

"On behalf of our Sailors, Marines, and Department of the Navy Civilians, I express my deepest condolences to the Carter Family for the loss of a respected public servant, committed family man and devoted American," Del Toro said in a statement.

A sailor's journey from Plains to Annapolis

Young Jimmy Carter graduated from Georgia's Plains High School, claiming his diploma in the 11th grade "because the school did not have a 12th grade," according to the oral history collection "Jimmy Carter: Citizen of the South."

Carter's uncle, Tom Gordy, was a Navy veteran. He encouraged his nephew to consider a career in the sea service and apply to the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.

After participating in Georgia Tech's Navy-ROTC program for a year, Carter received an appointment to the Naval Academy. Midshipman Carter was part of the USNA Class of 1947, but graduated a year early as part of the Navy's accelerated wartime program. He was a good student, finishing in the top 10% of his graduating class.

Carter also represented the Navy on the gridiron, competing on Navy's sprint football team — a variation of the sport for lightweight players.

Most of Carter's associates from the academy have died, but a few surviving classmates remember their fellow midshipman being "non-demanding" and "easy to get along with."

Joe Flanagan, who wrestled at the academy and served in the Navy for years, remembers taking classes with Carter.

"He was always a straight shooter, and I enjoyed his company, because he was a lot smarter than I was in math and the sciences," Flanagan said, laughing, in a WUSA9 report. "But I was way ahead of him in English and literature."

The Naval Academy saluted its celebrated alum following his death Sunday:

"We are deeply saddened by the passing of President Jimmy Carter, '47, one of the institution's most distinguished graduates. His lifetime of service is the example of all midshipmen and citizens who desire to serve our nation."

In February 2023, the academy renamed its engineering building after Carter. Originally known as Maury Hall, the building was renamed in honor of the former president after a commission mandated by Congress determined that the name should be changed because its original namesake, Matthew Fontaine Maury, had served in the Confederate Navy.

Building the Navy's 'Silent Service'

After graduating from the Naval Academy and being commissioned an ensign, Carter served on the USS Wyoming — a battleship-turned-experimental gunnery ship.

His next assignment was aboard submarine SSK-1, marking the beginning of Carter's distinguished connection to the Navy's nuclear-powered submarine program, according to the U.S. Naval Institute News.

Hyman G. Rickover — the celebrated American naval officer known as the" Father of the Nuclear Navy" — brought Lt. J.G. Carter on board to help develop the Navy's nuclear sub program.

Carter later reportedly said that Rickover, "second to my own father, had more effect on my life than any other man."

From November 1952 to March 1953, Carter went on temporary duty with the Nuclear Reactors Branch of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission in Washington.

Having "learned to fly seaplanes, trained on old battleships, and learned to man 40-millimeter anti-aircraft guns," according to the Naval History and Heritage Command, the young officer would be instrumental "in the design and development of nuclear-propulsion plants for naval vessels."

He also earned the Navy "dolphin badge" worn by qualified submariners.

Former President Jimmy Carter, left, and Navy Cmdr. David Bartholomew Jr. look over a new display in Plains, Ga., Monday, Sept. 29, 2003. The display highlights Carter's naval career. Bartholomew is the captain of the USS Jimmy Carter, a new attack submarine named for the former president. (Photo: ELLIOTT MINOR)

Carter learned firsthand that the nuclear navy was risky.

On Dec. 12, 1952, the NRX reactor at the Chalk River Laboratories in Ontario, Canada, ruptured, causing a partial meltdown.

No one was seriously injured from the blast, but 4.5 million liters of radioactive water contaminated the reactor's basement, and no human could spend more than 90 seconds in the extensively damaged core, according to the U.S. Naval Institute report.

The Canadians "needed help" to disassemble it, and "the United States sent 28-year-old Jimmy Carter to the reactor's damaged core."

He and his two dozen crewmen teamed with Canadian and other U.S. service members and built a replica of the reactor on a nearby tennis court so they could practice on it and ensure all the bolts were accounted for and in the right place, one by one, in the proper sequence.

Carter's own exposure to radiation reportedly produced high levels of radioactivity in his urine for approximately six months.

In July 1953, Carter was on track to become the engineering officer for the USS Seawolf (SSN-575), one of the first submarines to operate on atomic power, when his father, James Carter Sr., died.

After his father's death, Carter left the service and was honorably discharged so he could manage his family's peanut farm business in Plains.

He remained in the Navy Reserves until 1961, retiring with the rank of lieutenant.

Carter's legacy in the U.S. Navy and its submarine community continues today.

In 2005, the Seawolf-class nuclear-powered fast-attack submarine USS Jimmy Carter was commissioned. It was one of the few vessels in the Navy's fleet to be named for a living person.

The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.