Jimmy Carter Got ‘the Thing He Wanted’ for His 100th Birthday, Grandson Says

Jimmy Carter’s 100th birthday wish came true.

The longest-living president celebrated his centennial on Oct. 1, and according to one of his grandsons, Josh Carter, he got “the thing he wanted.”

Speaking with PEOPLE editor-in-chief Wendy Naugle during a panel in honor of the 34th United Nations International Day of Older Persons on Monday, Oct. 7, Josh recalled the family-filled festivities that marked his grandfather’s milestone birthday, which happened on Oct. 1.

“We had a great celebration of his birthday,” Josh told Naugle at the U.N. headquarters in New York City.

Prior to his actual birthday, the family had a “celebration” and “huge concert” in the oldest living former president’s honor at Fox Theater. As he turned 100, however, they were by his side.

“On his actual birthday we went down to see him,” Josh said of Jimmy, who has been in hospice care since February 2023.

“It was my family, a lot of my cousins. He had a houseful of his kids, his grandkids, his great-grandkids,” he said, later adding that the great-grandkids blew out Jimmy’s birthday cake candles for him.

The whole day, Josh said, “was a big celebration of his family and we wanted to be there and remind him, ‘This is what you built.’ ”

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But it was more than just a reminder — it was exactly what Jimmy wanted, according to Josh. “The thing he wanted was the thing he got,” he told Naugle. “He was surrounded by family, he was told that he was loved, he knew that he was loved.”

Josh also added that while his grandfather has been in hospice care for over a year, the family always makes sure that someone is by his side. Most often, he added, that person is Jimmy’s son, Chip Carter.

“He has professional caregivers that are taking care of him,” Josh said of Jimmy. “But we always have a family member that’s in the house with him.”

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The former president recently revealed that he hopes to accomplish one last goal before he dies: “I’m only trying to make it to vote for Kamala Harris,” Jimmy said, according to grandson Jason Carter.

Jason also spoke with PEOPLE last fall, shedding light on Jimmy’s life and mindset since entering hospice a few months earlier. “My grandfather right now is really physically limited — he’s coming to the end, as is obvious by the fact that he’s been in hospice — and so in that way I think he’s frustrated,” he told PEOPLE at the time. “But he also has been able to experience that level of love.”

“This is an important part of his faith journey, and it’s one that you don’t get to experience at any other time in your life except for the very end,” Jason continued. “And so in that way, I think this has been a really meaningful time for him, and it’s been a really reflective time for him.”