Jimmy Carter becomes first living ex-president with official White House Christmas ornament

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Jimmy Carter has another distinction to his name.

The 99-year-old is the first of the U.S. presidents to be honored with an official White House Christmas ornament while still living. The ornament was unveiled Wednesday and is the latest in an annual series that the nonprofit White House Historical Association began issuing in 1981, the year Carter left office.

Carter’s ornament is shaped like an anchor in a nod to his Navy service. Other aspects of the former Georgia peanut farmer’s four-year term are represented by doves, a globe, a submarine and peanuts. The Democrat was elected in 1976 and denied a second term in 1980.

Stewart McLaurin, president of the historical association, said the honor marks “the first time in the history of our ornament program that we’ve been able to feature a living president.”

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