When news came in February that Jimmy Carter was entering hospice care, it was widely assumed that the announcement of his passing was near. The New York Times noted that some members of Carter's family made the same assumption.
The 39th president is still with us, and just this month celebrated his 99th birthday. Carter is our longest-lived president, exceeding George H.W. Bush by five years.
The reports about Carter being in hospice gave him, and the rest of the world, a look at how he will be remembered. Laudatory summations of Carter's life were the norm, putting special emphasis on his post-presidential career, which has seen him involved in humanitarian endeavors around the globe, building homes with Habitat for Humanity and working to eradicate Guinea worm disease. Experts say the disease has nearly been wiped out, and that very well might not have been the case without Carter's efforts. When Carter was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002, few argued that it was undeserved. His career is a lesson that, no matter the situation, it's possible to be redeemed.