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Former President Jimmy Carter underwent minor surgery for hemorrhoids...

ATLANTA -- Former President Jimmy Carter underwent minor surgery for hemorrhoids today, a spokesman said.

'President Carter entered Emory University hospital on Sunday and is expected to leave Wednesday, said spokeswoman Sylvia Wrobel. 'He had minor surgery and is doing well.'

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She would neither confirm nor deny that Carter's problem was hemorrhoids, but Jane Simpson, a spokesman in Carter's office, said 'it was for hemorrhoids.' She said the surgery was performed Monday morning 'and he's doing fine.'

A longtime family friend said 'apparently he sat too long Saturday night' at a testimonial dinner.

The only apparent health problem Carter has had occurred during his term of office when he was forced to cancel some of his White House appointments in December of 1978 because of hemorrhoids.

His last public appearance was Saturday night when he delivered the keynote address at a testimonial dinner in Atlanta for Mayor Andrew Young during observances of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. week.

There was no indication at that time that he planned to enter the hospital.

Carter kept fit during his single term by jogging and playing tennis. In the summer, spring and fall he played tennis every day, often with presidential aide Hamilton Jordan or White House physician Dr. William Lukash.

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Carter wrote his memoirs, 'Keeping Faith,' after leaving office and joined the Emory University faculty as a visiting professor of government and international studies.

One of the highlights of his administration was a peace agreement between Israel and Egypt, and he has maintained his interest in the Middle East since leaving office. Along with former President Gerald Ford, he recently conducted a four-day seminar on the Middle East at Emory Univesity with diplomats and representatives from a number of countries in attendance.

Carter has made very few political appearances since leaving office. He recently endorsed his vice president, Walter Mondale, for the Democratic presidential nomination but has not actively campaigned for him.

He lives in Plains, about 170 miles south of Atlanta, and maintains an office in Atlanta.

There have been two recent deaths in Carter's family. His mother, 'Miss Lillian' Carter, died in Plains Oct. 30, 1983, at the age of 85 and his sister, evangelist Ruth Carter Stapleton, 54, died Sept. 26, 1983, in Fayetteville, N.C.

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