Ryan Ramos can tell you just about everything there is to know about Jimmy Carter. He knows Carter was the 39th president and that he grew up the son of peanut farmers. He can even list how many Habitat for Humanity projects the Carters led.
If you ask his family and friends, Ryan might just be Carter’s biggest fan. What makes that so surprising is that Ryan is only five years old.
Videos from his Jimmy Carter–themed birthday party have blown up online, with millions of views on TikTok. His mom, Lauren Ramos, said she never expected that kind of attention.
“I’m new to TikTok. I just started documenting this because I thought it was too good not to share,” Lauren told Channel 2 Action News.
Ryan’s fascination with Jimmy Carter started in February 2024, when his preschool class celebrated Presidents’ Day. His grandmother had also given him an interactive chart of U.S. presidents.
“He came home, got the chart out all by himself, and he was, ‘Can you show me all the presidents who are dead?’ And I said, ‘Well, it’s easier for me to show you all the presidents who are still alive,’” Lauren recalled. She showed him the six living presidents, including Carter. From that moment on, Ryan couldn’t stop pressing Carter’s button.
Since then, Ryan and his mom have learned everything they can about Georgia’s most famous peanut farmer. So when it was time to plan his fifth birthday party, there was no question what the theme would be.
Lauren went all out. She filled the goodie bags with American flags, Jimmy Carter buttons, and little wooden hammers to honor Carter’s Habitat for Humanity work. There was a Jimmy Carter cutout, a custom cake, and plenty of smiles.
As the videos spread across TikTok, they eventually reached some of the Carter family. Carter’s grandson, Hugo, and one of his nieces, Mandy, sent Ryan a care package filled with goodies from Carter’s 100th birthday celebration, a Carter T-shirt, a mug (which Ryan now uses for chocolate milk), and some treasured Carter family recipes.
But Ryan still has one big wish. “One day, he goes, ‘Is there a Jimmy Carter World?’ I said, ‘Well, there’s a Carter Center in Atlanta.’ He said, ‘I want to go! I want to go! Lauren said.
Jimmy Carter was born in Georgia on October 1, 1924. Ryan was born in New Jersey on October 10, 2020. They’ve never met, and they come from different times and places, but Lauren says her son shares something important with the former president.
“I think Ryan is trying his best to emulate Jimmy Carter’s kindness and help everybody. His teachers tell me that if anyone falls, he’s the first person to run over and help,” she said.
“If I want to install anything in my boys, it’s that you’re a gentleman and you show up every day, you’re kind, you think of other people. We need more of that.”
Ryan knows that Carter passed away last year, but it hasn’t stopped his admiration. His mom hopes to take him to the Carter Center and to Plains, Georgia, next year.
For now, he’s probably the youngest Jimmy Carter expert around—and definitely the most enthusiastic.