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.

During Carter's presidency, many thought they would no longer have to sign up for possible military service. As one Rolling Stone writer learned at the time, they were wrong.

Balmer discusses how Carter would not tell a lie and how historians are reassessing Carter’s one-term presidency and accomplishments.