Former President Jimmy Carter Announces He Has Cancer

Jimmy Carter, the 39th President of the United States, revealed Wednesday that he has been diagnosed with cancer. The 90-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner released a short statement about his health situation on the Carter Center’s website.

“Recent liver surgery revealed that I have cancer that now is in other parts of my body. I will be rearranging my schedule as necessary so I can undergo treatment by physicians at Emory Healthcare. A more complete public statement will be made when facts are known, possibly next week.”

The surgery Carter is talking about took place earlier this month. As reported on earlier at the Inquisitr, Carter had a small mass removed from his liver and at the time, doctors expected him to make a full recovery.

Carter served as president from 1977 to 1981. His presidency was marked by the U.S. energy crisis and the Iran hostage situation. Carter lost the 1980 election to Ronald Reagan in what can only be described as a landslide.

After Carter was out of office, he began working on international humanitarian projects. In 2002, Carter was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Nobelprize explained why Carter won the esteemed award.

“For his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.”

The former president has also been a volunteer for Habitat for Humanity since 1984. Habitat for Humanity describes their mission on their website as building housing for those in need, regardless of race and religious beliefs.

Carter surprised many people in 2012 when he said he would be fine with Republican Mitt Romney as president instead of completely supporting Democrat incumbent Barack Obama. The Christian Science Monitor reported Carter explaining his stand.

“I think Romney has shown in the past – in his previous years as a moderate or progressive – that he was fairly competent as a governor and also running the Olympics.”

Carter is one of four former presidents that is still living. George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush are the other three. The elder Bush had his own health scare last month when he fell at his summer home in Kennebunkport, Maine. Carter has been married to his wife Rosalynn for 69 years, and they have four children together.

Hopefully, Jimmy Carter will receive a dose of good news when further tests are conducted and he starts undergoing treatment in Georgia.

[Image by Larry Busacca/ Getty Images]