Forever stamps commemorating Jimmy Carter are now on sale from the United States Postal Service (USPS), coinciding with what would have been the former president’s 101st birthday.
Why It Matters
Carter, who served as the 39th U.S. commander in chief from 1977 to 1981, died on December 29, 2024, at the age of 100.
The USPS’s commemorative program seeks to honor figures and moments that resonate with American civic life. The agency said the stamp’s release commemorated Carter’s public service and long postpresidential humanitarian work.
The commemoration comes less than a year after Carter’s death and during a period of heightened reflection on bipartisan leadership and public service in the United States.
What To Know
The Jimmy Carter Forever stamp became available for purchase on October 1. The official dedication ceremony was held at the Carter Center in Atlanta, with members of the Carter family, USPS officials and representatives from Friends of Jimmy Carter in attendance.
The Forever stamp—always equal in value to the current First-Class Mail one-ounce price—features an oil painting by Herbert E. Abrams originally used as a life study for Carter’s White House portrait and was designed by USPS art director Ethel Kessler. The stamp is printed in panes of 20, with 20 million units produced by the Banknote Corporation of America.
Carter is remembered for key domestic and international accomplishments, including leading the Camp David Accords, signing the SALT II arms treaty, establishing the Department of Education, expanding the National Park System, and advocating for mental health and human rights. He received Nobel Peace Prize recognition in 2002 after decades of humanitarian and democracy work through the Carter Center.
The stamp is available for purchase at Post Offices nationwide, online via the USPS Postal Store, and by telephone and mail. Each Forever stamp costs 78 cents as of the issue date. A sheet of 20 stamps costs $15.60.
What People Are Saying
Jason Carter, the chair of the Carter Center, said on Wednesday: “Our family is excited to attend the first-day-of-issue ceremony to celebrate the life and legacy of my grandfather, President Jimmy Carter. My grandparents would be touched by this incredible honor.”
Peter Pastre, the USPS’s vice president of government relations and public policy, said in an August news release: “The stamp program celebrates the best in American culture, places and people, and it is difficult to consider a more fitting honoree than former President Jimmy Carter. In his support and leadership of his beloved community, state and nation, he lent his quiet, thoughtful and deliberate energy around causes he believed in, and most certainly in his conduct and accomplishments as a former president, Jimmy Carter truly personified the best in America. I am honored to participate in the reveal of this stamp art, which fully evokes his humanity.”
What Happens Next