Family, supporters celebrate Jimmy Carter's 100th birthday

Former President Jimmy Carter turned 100 on Tuesday, but his family and supporters already threw him a birthday celebration fit for a former president.

"These are people, some of whom weren't even born when my grandfather was the president, who are just excited to be here and celebrate him as a human being," said Jason Carter, the former president's grandson and chair of the Carter Center Board of Trustees. "Beyond politics, beyond legacy and other things."

Carter's 100th birthday is on Tuesday, but he was celebrated with a star-studded concert in Atlanta in late September, raising money for the international programs of the Carter Center.

Meanwhile in Minnesota, thousands of volunteers with Habitat for Humanity, a nonprofit that shares a long history with the former president, came together to build 30 homes over five days.

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Carter's remarkable story began on his family's peanut farm outside Plains, Georgia. The Democrat would graduate from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1946 and serve as an engineering officer. After being elected as Georgia's governor in the early 70s, he won a long-shot race for president in 1976.

After the White House, Carter served as a global ambassador and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.

The Nobel Committee cited his "decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development."

President Joe Biden sent well wishes to his predecessor, writing, "Your hopeful vision of our country, your commitment to a better world, and your unwavering belief in the power of human goodness continues to be a guiding light for all of us."

"Tonight is really our way of celebrating him publicly," Jason Carter said. "And there's going to be a much smaller family time down on his actual birthday on Oct. 1st, and we're excited to go down there and just be with him."

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As Carter, the oldest living president ever, celebrates his birthday, experts with Pew Research note that the number of Americans that reach the age of 100 and older is projected to quadruple over the next 30 years.

The star-studded concert at Atlanta's Fox Theatre earlier in September raised money to support the international programs of the Carter Center, which Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter founded in 1982 with the mission to " wage peace, fight disease, and build hope." The concert airs on public broadcasting on Oct. 1.

Meanwhile, thousands of Habitat for Humanity volunteers gathered Monday to build 30 homes in St. Paul, Minnesota. They were led by country music giants Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood, who worked alongside the Carters for years, beginning with projects in Hurricane Katrina's disaster area.