Jimmy Carter Says He No Longer Needs Cancer Treatments

Seven months ago, former president Jimmy Carter announced he had been diagnosed with melanoma that spread to his brain. In late 2015, he announced he was cancer-free, to great fanfare. This Sunday, he announced he will no longer need any treatment, breaking the news to a Sunday School class he teaches at the Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Georgia.

“The doctors determined that I didn’t need any more treatment,” Carter said, “so I’m not going to have any more treatment.”

The congregation was delighted by the news.

“President Carter comes in, tells us phenomenal news and we all applaud,” said Jill Stuckey, a church member and personal friend of Carter. “We’re all on pins and needles wondering how things are going, because you never know from looking at somebody.”

Carter’s cancer treatments hadn’t stopped him from performing the humanitarian work that has made him America’s most celebrated ex-president. While his treatment was still ongoing, he continued his work at the Carter Center, a human rights organization he founded. He even participated in a build for Habitat For Humanity.

“President Jimmy Carter was a citizen soldier,” the American statesman Andrew Young once said. “Ironically, he was considered weak because he didn’t kill anybody and he didn’t get anyone killed.”

Indeed, Carter is mostly known for his post-presidency humanitarian work, having inherited problems from the Nixon and Ford administrations and serving only one term in office. He did manage to pardon all Vietnam War draft evaders and form the Department of Energy and Department of Education while president, however.

At 91 years old, Carter is still sharp as a whip, and it looks like he will be for quite some time longer.

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