Among former U.S. presidents, Jimmy Carter was in a league of his own.

George Washington operated a whiskey distillery at Mount Vernon after leaving the presidency. William Howard Taft became chief justice of the United States. Theodore Roosevelt went on a wild expedition in the Amazon that made his Rough Rider days look like a walk in the park.

Then-Gov. Jimmy Carter jumps off a diving rock near the Palisades into the Chattahoochee River. Photo: Courtesy of Atlanta Journal-Constitution Photographic Archives, Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library Shootin' the 'Hooch with friends and hiking the hills in East Palisades wouldn't be possible without Jimmy Carter. The big picture: As Georgia governor and later U.S. president, Carter, a lifelong outdoorsman, advocated for and protected the environment with a hands-on tenacity especially uncommon for many elected officials of that era.

The Carter Center has conducted peace and health-focused initiatives in more than 80 countries across five continents. Nelson Mandela (R) is reunited with Jimmy Carter as other members of the Elders watch in Johannesburg, South Africa, on May 29, 2010. Nelson Mandela (R) is reunited with Jimmy Carter as other members of the Elders watch in Johannesburg, South Africa, on May 29, 2010. Jeff Moore via Getty Images When the late former President Jimmy Carter left the White House in 1981, his life as a diplomat and negotiator the world...

Lake County Democratic Party Chairman Jim Wieser was at a conference in Washington D.C. in 1977 for local elected officials to learn about federal resources for economic redevelopment, which included watching an informational movie in the White House movie theater. But the memorable moment, Wieser said, was when the film ended. “The lights came on, and standing in front of us was Jimmy Carter. He said, ‘Congressman (Adam) Benjamin said you were all here, I wanted to welcome you,’ and gave a nice speech,” Wieser said. Carter spent time talking...

Jimmy Carter gets his bars pinned on by his wife Rosalynn, left and his mother, Mrs. Lillian Carter at the U.S. Naval Academy in this undated photo. Sailors are bidding fair winds and following seas to one of their own, President Jimmy Carter. The 39th U.S. president, who died Sunday at 100, served as the commander and chief of America’s armed forces during his single presidential term from 1977-1981. But decades earlier, Carter served as a junior officer in the United States Navy. The White House enjoyed a strong sailor...

Jimmy Carter , the 39th president of the United States, died on Dec. 29 at age 100. Following his four-year presidency, Carter fostered a thriving career as an author. The former president wrote 32 books in total, all of which were bestsellers. The subjects of the former president's books ranged widely: foreign policy to religious theory, personal experience with faith to historic presidential moments, introspection to art and even tales for children. Carter took on a wide range of genres and told a great breadth of stories from his one-of-a-kind...

After Jimmy Carter was defeated in the 1980 presidential election a reporter asked if he’d write a memoir. The reply was certain, “Yes ... I intend to write more than one book, as a matter of fact.” Carter — who died Sunday at the age of 100 — was, as always, a man of his word. Over the next four decades, Carter, without a ghostwriter, produced about 30 books, more than any other modern president. That output goes beyond memoirs to include books about aging, his mother, faith, peace, and...