Jimmy Carter of racial segregation and support the growing civil rights movement. He became an activist within the Democratic Party. From 1963 to 1967, Carter served in the Georgia State Senate, and in 1970, he was elected as Governor of Georgia, defeating former Governor Carl Sanders in the Democratic primary on an anti-segregation platform advocating affirmative action for ethnic minorities. Carter remained as governor until 1975. Despite being a dark horse candidate little-known outside of Georgia at the start of the campaign, Carter won the 1976 Democratic presidential nomination. In the general election, Carter ran as an outsider and narrowly defeated incumbent
Post-presidency of Jimmy Carter Japan, Carter told Prime Minister of Japan Kiichi Miyazawa that Governor of Arkansas Bill Clinton would be "very friendly toward Japan, and he will be a good president for the U.S.-Japan relationship." On May 20, Carter met with Clinton and afterward publicly praised him, labeling third party candidate Ross Perot "right now as kind of, anybody-but-the-above". In August, Carter was joined by Democratic presidential nominee Clinton, vice presidential nominee Al Gore, and their wives Tipper Gore and Hillary Clinton in constructing a home for Habitat for Humanity in East Atlanta. Carter stated that he hoped the 1992 Republican National Convention