Before joining the Naval ROTC program at the to continue at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Carter studied engineering at Georgia Southwestern Junior College. After, he applied to the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. He was accepted and began his studies during the summer of 1943. Carter exceled at academics and graduated in the top ten percent of hiss class in 1946. Before graduating, during the summers Carter would reconnect with and old childhood friend, Rosalynn Smith. After graduating, in June 1946 they got married. …show more content…
After training in Norfolk, Virginia, the Carters moved to Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. There, Carter was an electronics officer on the USS Pomfret. In 1952 Carter was assigned to develop a nuclear submarine program in Schenectady, New York with Admiral Hyman Rickover. Rickover made an everlasting impression on Carter.
Throughout the years the Carters had three sons: John William, James Earl Carter 111, and Donnel Jeffery. (Later, the Carters had a daughter, Amy, in 1967). When Carters father passed away from pancreatic cancer in July 1953, Carter resigned from the Navy to help work on the family's farm and take care of his mother back in rural Georgia. Once in Georgia, Carter
became more active in community politics. In 1955, Carter won a seat on the Sumter County Board of Education, he eventually became its