[6] Carter's father had previously served as a reserve second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps during World War I.[6]
During Carter's infancy, his family moved several times,[2] settling on a dirt road in nearby Archery, which was almost entirely populated by impoverished African American families.[7] His family eventually had three more children: Gloria, Ruth, and Billy.[8] He got along well with his parents. His mother was often absent during his childhood, working long hours. Although his father was staunchly pro-segregation, he allowed Jimmy to befriend the Black farmhands' children.[9] Carter was an enterprising teenager who was given his own acre of Earl's farmland, where he grew, packaged, and sold peanuts.[10] He also rented out a section of tenant housing that he had purchased.[2]

Education
Carter attended Plains High School from 1937 to 1941, graduating from the eleventh grade, since the school did not have a twelfth grade.[11] By that time, Archery and Plains had been impoverished by the Great Depression, but the family benefited from New Deal farming subsidies, and Carter's father took a position as a community leader.[10][12] Carter himself was a diligent student with a fondness for reading.