Former President Jimmy Carter’s Connection to Harvard Law School 

Former President Jimmy Carter died on Dec. 29, 2024, at the age of 100. He was the 39^th president of the United States and held the office from 1977 to 1981.  

While Carter was on the campaign trail seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, he stopped in Cambridge and spoke at the Harvard Law School Forum on Sept. 26, 1975.   

According to event coverage in The Harvard Crimson, “Carter told the forum audience he plans to stay in the race for the nomination until the end. [He was running against incumbent President Gerald Ford]. ‘I don’t intend to lose, I won’t withdraw, I don’t want to be vice president, I’ll be there when the last votes are counted and I believe you’re looking at the next president,’ he said.” 

The Harvard Law Record also covered the event in its Oct. 3, 1975, newspaper with an article (on pages 9, 12, and 14) entitled “Jimmy Carter: President From A New South?” According to the reporting, Carter addressed questions, from an audience of 200 people, related to the Central Intelligence Agency, problems in North Korea and the Middle East, inflation, unemployment, and the national budget.  

On Nov. 2, 1976, Carter defeated Ford with 297 to 240 electoral votes.

After President Carter left office (and once toward the end of his term), both he and First Lady Rosalynn Carter (1927-2023) were invited back to speak at the Harvard Law School Forum but were unable to attend. Their response letters are part of the Harvard Law School Forum records, held by Historical & Special Collections at the Harvard Law School Library.