USPS unveils 'Forever' stamp honoring former President Jimmy Carter

Aug. 18 (UPI) -- Former President Jimmy Carter will be memorialized this year with a commemorative Forever stamp, issued by the United States Postal Service.

The Jimmy Carter stamp will be released to the public on Oct. 1, the 101st anniversary of Carter's birth, and will feature a 1982 oil painting of the 39th president, who died last December at the age of 100.

"The stamp program celebrates the best in American culture, places and people, and it is difficult to consider a more fitting honoree than former President Jimmy Carter," Peter Pastre, the Postal Service's government relations and public policy vice president, said Saturday during an event in Carter's hometown of Plains, Ga.

"In his support and leadership of his beloved community, state and nation, he lent his quiet, thoughtful and deliberate energy around causes he believed in, and most certainly in his conduct and accomplishments as a former president, Jimmy Carter truly personified the best in America," Pastre added.

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The U.S. Postal Service unveiled the stamp Saturday at the Jimmy Carter National Historical Park in Plains.

"The Carter family and the Friends of Jimmy Carter are honored to be able to take part in revealing the design for President Carter's Forever stamp," said Kim Carter Fuller, niece of Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter and executive director of the Friends of Jimmy Carter. "Together we've had the distinct privilege of a front row seat to his life and legacy, and today's reveal gives the world an opportunity to share his legacy with others on a daily basis."

Forever stamps, which are often commemorative, maintain their value to the current First-Class Mail 1-ounce price.

President Carter was inaugurated on Jan. 20, 1977, and is remembered for increasing the size of the National Park System, establishing new Cabinet departments, creating a presidential commission on mental health and appointing women and minorities to government positions. Carter also negotiated the Camp David Accords, the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks and established diplomatic relations with China.

During and after his presidency, Carter was a prominent activist for peace and human rights around the world. He established the Carter Center at Emory University in 1982, to advance democracy and prevent disease in poor nations. In 2002, he received the Nobel Peace Prize.

Carter was preceded in death in November 2023 by his first lady Rosalynn Carter, who would have turned 98 on Monday.