U.S. memorial stamp likely for President Jimmy Carter

By Jay Bigalke

Accolades to honor former United States President Jimmy Carter, who died Dec. 29, 2024, at age 100, have been offered by friends and family, other individuals and national leaders from around the world.

Mr. Carter was the nation’s 39th president, serving in that position from 1977 to 1981. He graduated from the Naval Academy in 1946 and from 1971 to 1975 served as governor of Georgia.

If tradition holds true, a U.S. memorial postage stamp honoring Mr. Carter should be issued in 2025.

The most recent passing of a former U.S. president before Mr. Carter was that of George H.W. Bush, who died Nov. 30, 2018. Bush was honored on a forever stamp issued seven months later (Scott 5393).

Prior to that, President Gerald Ford was honored on a 41¢ stamp (Scott 4199) issued eight months after his 2005 death.

For many years the U.S. Postal Service observed a 10-year waiting period after an individual’s death before issuing a stamp to honor him or her.

U.S. presidents have always been an exception to that waiting period, and for many years USPS stamp subject selection criteria stated that U.S. presidents “may be honored with a memorial stamp on the first birth anniversary following death.”

The stamp honoring Bush was issued on his birth anniversary; Bush was born June 12, 1924, and the stamp was issued June 12, 2019.

The stamp honoring Ford was issued roughly six weeks after his birth anniversary; Ford was born July 14, 1913, and the stamp was issued Aug. 31, 2007.

Mr. Carter was born in Plains, Ga., on Oct. 1, 1924.

The U.S. stamp subject selection guidelines were revised in 2017 and specify a three-year waiting period before proposals for a deceased individual will be considered.

The current guidelines simply state, “A memorial stamp will be issued honoring U.S. presidents after they are deceased,” an apparent exception to the three-year waiting period but no longer including the birth anniversary specification.

Any new postage stamp honoring Mr. Carter will not be the first to show the American president.

It is not unusual for U.S. presidents to be featured on stamps from countries that do not have guidelines prohibiting the depiction of living people.

A state visit between South Korean President Park Chung Hee and President Carter in 1979 resulted in South Korea issuing a 20-won stamp (Scott 1172) honoring the event.

The stamp shows photographs of the two leaders along with the flags of both nations.

“And to all of the young people in this nation and for anyone in search of what it means to live a life of purpose and meaning — the good life — study Jimmy Carter, a man of principle, faith, and humility,” President Joe Biden was quoted as saying in a White House statement. “He showed that we are great nation because we are a good people — decent and honorable, courageous and compassionate, humble and strong.”

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