Jimmy Carter
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Challenge yourself with our comprehensive Jimmy Carter trivia quiz featuring 95 free questions with answers about the 39th President of the United States. From his early life in Plains, Georgia to his post-presidency humanitarian efforts and Nobel Peace Prize, this quiz covers the most important events and achievements of his remarkable life. See how well you know one of America's most influential leaders!
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Q 01Jimmy Carter was born on October 1 of which year, in the small town of Plains, Georgia?
1924
Born in 1924 at the Wise Sanitarium, he was the first US president born in a hospital.
Q 02What was Jimmy Carter's mother's profession?
Registered Nurse
Lillian Carter was a registered nurse who worked at the Wise Sanitarium in Plains, where Jimmy was born; in 1966, at age 68, she joined the Peace Corps.
Q 03Before attending the U.S. Naval Academy, which of these institutions did Jimmy Carter attend?
Georgia Institute of Technology
He started engineering coursework at Georgia Southwestern College in 1941 and transferred to what was then the Georgia School of Technology a year later, joining ROTC there.
Q 04As a qualified undersea officer, Carter earned which Navy badge?
The dolphin
Carter qualified in submarines and earned the dolphin badge, the Navy's submarine warfare insignia; his other decorations included the American Campaign Medal and the World War II Victory Medal.
Q 05Which officer, then a captain, led the fledgling nuclear submarine program Carter joined in 1952?
Hyman G. Rickover
Captain Hyman G. Rickover ran the Navy's nuclear propulsion program that Carter joined in 1952; Carter later said that, next to his parents, Rickover had the greatest influence on his life.
Q 06What event prompted Jimmy Carter to resign from the Navy and return to Georgia?
His father's death
He had hoped to serve aboard USS Seawolf, the planned second US nuclear submarine, but obtained a release from active duty to take over the family business.
Q 07For a year after Carter left the Navy, where did he, Rosalynn and their three sons live in Plains?
Public housing
The Carters moved into a unit of the Plains public housing project; he had inherited comparatively little after debt settlements, and the peanut business barely broke even in its first year.
Q 08Jimmy Carter served as the Governor of Georgia from 1971 to what year?
1975
Carter served a single term as governor of Georgia, from January 12, 1971, to January 14, 1975; the state constitution then barred consecutive terms.
Q 09Governor Carter's 1972 reorganization plan merged about 300 Georgia state agencies into how many?
22
Carter's reorganization consolidated roughly 300 state agencies into 22; the plan passed at midnight on the last day of the 1972 session, though whether it saved money is disputed.
Q 10Barred by Georgia's constitution from a second term as governor, Jimmy Carter announced his run for president in which year?
1974
December 12, 1974 was the day he declared, nearly two years before the election he would win.
Q 11Because of Carter's low name recognition early in the 1976 race, opponents derisively asked what?
'Jimmy Who?'
'Jimmy Who?' was the jibe at his obscurity; he leaned into it, opening speeches with 'My name is Jimmy Carter, and I'm running for president.'
Q 12Who was Jimmy Carter's running mate when he defeated Gerald Ford in the 1976 presidential election?
Walter Mondale
Walter Mondale, a Minnesota senator, joined the ticket that defeated Gerald Ford in November 1976; Mondale later lost the 1984 election to Reagan.
Q 13Carter became the 1976 front-runner by winning New Hampshire and which other early contest?
The Iowa caucuses
Q 21In what year was Jimmy Carter awarded the Nobel Peace Prize?
2002
Carter received the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize for decades of work on conflict resolution, democracy and human rights; committee chairman Gunnar Berge said it was also a criticism of the Bush administration's Iraq policy.
Q 22Jimmy Carter is well-known for his long-standing volunteer work with which housing charity?
Habitat for Humanity
Jimmy Carter devoted his post-presidency life to service, famously building homes through Habitat for Humanity for decades.
Q 23For roughly how many years were Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter married when she died in November 2023?
77
They married on 7 July 1946, weeks after his Naval Academy graduation, and had been married 77 years when Rosalynn died on 19 November 2023.
Carter's surprise strength in the January 1976 Iowa caucuses, followed by his New Hampshire win, made him the front-runner; Watergate made his outsider status an asset.
Q 14During his 1977 inaugural parade, Carter and Rosalynn walked hand-in-hand down which Washington avenue?
Pennsylvania Avenue
The Carters walked the parade route along Pennsylvania Avenue from the Capitol to the White House on 20 January 1977, the first president to do so after the ceremony.
Q 15The 1978 Camp David Accords, brokered by Jimmy Carter, led to a 1979 peace treaty between which two countries?
Egypt and Israel
Egypt and Israel signed the treaty in March 1979, under the second of the two Camp David frameworks, between Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin.
Q 16Which agreement signed by President Carter transferred control of a vital canal to its host nation?
Panama Canal Treaties
During his presidency, Jimmy Carter transferred control of the Panama Canal to Panama through the Panama Canal Treaties.
Q 17Which event, involving Americans held captive abroad, marred Carter's final year in office?
The Iran hostage crisis
The Iranian Revolution and subsequent Iran Hostage Crisis, where U.S. citizens were held captive for over a year, marked the later years of Carter's presidency.
Q 18The Soviet invasion of which country ended détente and prompted the US boycott of the 1980 Olympics?
Afghanistan
The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 led to the end of détente and the U.S. boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics.
Q 19Jimmy Carter lost his bid for re-election in 1980 to which Republican candidate?
Ronald Reagan
In 1980, Jimmy Carter lost his re-election campaign to Republican nominee Ronald Reagan.
Q 20In which year did Carter found the nonprofit Carter Center?
1982
Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter founded the Carter Center in Atlanta in 1982, a year after leaving the White House, to advance peace and health; it has observed more than 100 elections worldwide.
Q 24Which damaged nuclear plant did Carter tour with Rosalynn on 1 April 1979?
Three Mile Island
Carter, trained as a nuclear engineer, visited the Three Mile Island plant near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on 1 April 1979, four days after its Unit 2 reactor partially melted down, to calm public fears.
Q 25What was the primary crop grown on Jimmy Carter's family farm?
Peanuts
Jimmy Carter grew up on his family's peanut farm in Archery, Georgia, and later expanded the family's peanut-growing business after leaving the Navy.
Q 26When Jimmy left the Navy for the family business, what job did Rosalynn Carter take on?
Bookkeeper
She taught herself accounting to keep the books while Jimmy took agriculture classes and grew the peanut operation.
Q 27In what small community near Plains, Georgia, did Jimmy Carter primarily grow up?
Archery
Archery, a dirt-road settlement a few miles from Plains, was almost entirely populated by impoverished Black families; the Carters moved there in 1928, when Jimmy was four.
Q 28During his second term in Georgia's upper legislative chamber, Carter chaired which committee?
Education
Carter chaired the Senate Education Committee in his second term, 1965-66; he also sat on the Appropriations Committee and helped rewrite the state Democratic Party's rules.
Q 29Governor Carter's inaugural line 'the time for racial discrimination is over' left which group feeling betrayed?
Segregationists who backed him
Weeks later he announced plans for a Georgia Human Rights Council.
Q 30What was Jimmy Carter's rank when he left active duty in the U.S. Navy?
Lieutenant
Jimmy Carter left active duty in the Navy in 1953 with the rank of Lieutenant.