John William "Jack" Carter (born July 3, 1947) is an American businessman and politician who unsuccessfully ran for the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and po ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

in 2006, losing to John Ensign in the

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

. He is the eldest child of former President

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...

and

First Lady First lady is an unofficial title usually used for the wife, and occasionally used for the daughter or other female relative, of a non- monarchical head of state or chief executive. The term is also used to describe a woman seen to be at the ...

Rosalynn Carter Eleanor Rosalynn Carter ( ; née Smith; born August 18, 1927) is an American writer and activist who served as First Lady of the United States from 1977 to 1981 as the wife of President Jimmy Carter. For decades, she has been a leading advocate ...

Early life and education

Carter was born at the Naval Medical Center Portsmouth in

Portsmouth, Virginia Portsmouth is an independent city in southeast Virginia and across the Elizabeth River from Norfolk. As of the 2020 census, the population was 97,915. It is part of the Hampton Roads metropolitan area. The Norfolk Naval Shipyard and Naval M ...

. Raised in Plains, Georgia, he spent winters working at his father's peanut farm warehouse, where his wages began at 10 cents per hour. Carter struggled when he first entered college in 1965, attending Georgia Tech, Emory University, and Georgia Southwestern State University before enlisting in the United States Navy in April 1968 at the suggestion of his father. Carter served during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

, on the salvage ship . He received a "less than honorable" general discharge in late 1970 after he and 53 classmates were caught smoking marijuana at the Naval Reactors Facility in

Idaho Falls, Idaho Idaho Falls (Shoshoni language, Shoshoni: Dembimbosaage) is a city in and the county seat of Bonneville County, Idaho, Bonneville County, Idaho, United States. It is the state's largest city outside the Boise metropolitan area. As of the 2020 Un ...

. Carter returned to Georgia Tech, earning a degree in

nuclear physics Nuclear physics is the field of physics that studies atomic nuclei and their constituents and interactions, in addition to the study of other forms of nuclear matter. Nuclear physics should not be confused with atomic physics, which studies t ...

. Following graduation, he immediately entered law school at the University of Georgia, receiving his

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice l ...

in 1975. In 1985, he was interviewed by

David Wallechinsky David Wallechinsky (born David Wallace, February 5, 1948) is an American populist historian and television commentator, the president of the International Society of Olympic Historians (ISOH) and the founder and editor-in-chief of AllGov.com and ...

for his book, "Midterm Report: The Class of '65: Chronicles Of An American Generation" (1986). It was later published as "Class Reunion '65, Tales of an American Generation," written from the perspective of two decades post-high school graduation. Twenty-eight then contemporary high school graduates were interviewed, Wallachinsky noting the profound impact of the war on Vietnam on their lives.Midterm Report, the Class of ’65: CHRONICLE OF AN AMERICAN GENERATION by David Wallechinsky
''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

'', Charles Trueheart, September 28, 1986. Retrieved February 8, 2021.

Career

In 1981, Carter moved to Chicago, where he worked for the

Chicago Board of Trade The Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), established on April 3, 1848, is one of the world's oldest futures and options exchanges. On July 12, 2007, the CBOT merged with the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) to form CME Group. CBOT and three other exch ...

and

Citibank Citibank, N. A. (N. A. stands for " National Association") is the primary U.S. banking subsidiary of financial services multinational Citigroup. Citibank was founded in 1812 as the City Bank of New York, and later became First National City ...

2006 senatorial campaign

Carter moved to Nevada in 2002 and ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the United States Senate as a Democrat against incumbent Republican Senator John Ensign of Nevada in the 2006 election. Carter won the Democratic nomination on August 15, 2006, against opponent Ruby Jee Tun, a teacher from Carson City. Carter's primary issues were his opposition to the

Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...

and his concerns about the healthcare system, especially what he characterized as its failure to meet its commitment to veterans.

Personal life

Stepson John Chuldenko, from Brasfield's first marriage, is a film director and has directed television ads for the campaign; stepdaughter Sarah Reynolds (née Chuldenko) is a book illustrator (for Jimmy Carter's poetry volume) and painter who has worked with

Jeff Koons Jeffrey Lynn Koons (; born January 21, 1955) is an American artist recognized for his work dealing with popular culture and his sculptures depicting everyday objects, including balloon animals produced in stainless steel with mirror-Surface fi ...

, and is married to Australian artist Stephen Reynolds.

References

External links

"Oral History with Jack Carter"
��interview on June 25, 2003
USS ''Grapple'' (ARS 7) website

Jack Carter's Facebook account
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carter, Jack 1947 births American anti–Iraq War activists United States Navy personnel of the Vietnam War Carter family Children of presidents of the United States Georgia Southwestern State University alumni Georgia Tech alumni Living people Military personnel from Georgia (U.S. state) Nevada Democrats People from Plains, Georgia Politicians from Portsmouth, Virginia United States Navy sailors University of Georgia School of Law alumni