Carter, who has rarely used his full name — James Earl Carter Jr, was born Oct. 1, 1924, in Plains, Georgia. Gerald Ford, the Michigan native who was the 38th president after succeeding Richard Nixon, who had resigned the post, died Dec. 26, 2006. At the time of his death he was the longest-living president at age 93.

U.S. leaders on Tuesday paid tribute to former President Jimmy Carter -- who had the longest and most admired post-presidency in history -- as he laid in state at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday ahead of his funeral on Thursday.

Nearly 44 years after Jimmy Carter left the nation's capital in humbling defeat, the 39th president returned to Washington for three days of state funeral rites starting Tuesday.