, the closest adviser to during his one term as U.S. president and their four decades thereafter as global humanitarians, has died at the age of 96.
said she died Sunday after living with dementia and suffering many months of declining health. The statement announcing her death said she B次元官网网址渄ied peacefully, with family by her sideB次元官网网址� at 2:10 p.m. at her rural Georgia home of Plains.
B次元官网网址淩osalynn was my equal partner in everything I ever accomplished,B次元官网网址� Carter said in the statement. B次元官网网址淪he gave me wise guidance and encouragement when I needed it. As long as Rosalynn was in the world, I always knew somebody loved and supported me.B次元官网网址�
President Joe Biden called the Carters B次元官网网址渁n incredible family because they brought so much grace to the office.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淗e had this great integrity, still does. And she did too,B次元官网网址� Biden told reporters as he was boarding Air Force One to leave Norfolk, Virginia, on Sunday night. B次元官网网址淕od bless them.B次元官网网址� Biden said he spoke to the family and was told that Jimmy Carter was surrounded by his children and grandchildren.
Later, the White House released a joint statement from the president and first lady Jill Biden saying that Carter inspired the nation. B次元官网网址淪he was a champion for equal rights and opportunities for women and girls; an advocate for mental health and wellness for every person; and a supporter of the often unseen and uncompensated caregivers of our children, aging loved ones, and people with disabilities,B次元官网网址� the statement said.
poured in throughout the day.
The Carters were married for more than 77 years, forging what they both described as a B次元官网网址渇ull partnership.B次元官网网址� Unlike many , Rosalynn sat in on Cabinet meetings, spoke out on controversial issues and represented her husband on foreign trips. Aides to President Carter sometimes referred to her B次元官网网址� privately B次元官网网址� as B次元官网网址渃o-president.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淩osalynn is my best friend B次元官网网址� the perfect extension of me, probably the most influential person in my life,B次元官网网址� Jimmy Carter told aides during their White House years, which spanned from
The former president, now 99, remains at the coupleB次元官网网址檚 home in Plains after entering hospice care himself in February.
Fiercely loyal and compassionate as well as politically astute, Rosalynn Carter prided herself on being an activist first lady, and no one doubted her behind-the-scenes influence. When her role in a highly publicized Cabinet shakeup became known, she was forced to declare publicly,
Many presidential aides insisted that her political instincts were better than her husbandB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址� they often enlisted her support for a project before they discussed it with the president. Her iron will, contrasted with her outwardly shy demeanor and a soft Southern accent, inspired Washington reporters to call her B次元官网网址渢he Steel Magnolia.B次元官网网址�
Both Carters said in their later years that Rosalynn had always been the more political of the two. After Jimmy CarterB次元官网网址檚 landslide defeat in 1980, it was she, not the former president, who contemplated an implausible comeback, and years later she confessed to missing their life in Washington.
Jimmy Carter trusted her so much that in 1977, only months into his term, he sent her on a mission to Latin America to tell dictators he meant what he said about denying military aid and other support to violators of human rights.
She also had strong feelings about the style of the Carter White House. The Carters did not serve hard liquor at public functions, though Rosalynn did permit U.S. wine. There were fewer evenings of ballroom dancing and more square dancing and picnics.
Throughout her husbandB次元官网网址檚 political career, she chose mental health and problems of the elderly as her signature policy emphasis. When the news media didnB次元官网网址檛 cover those efforts as much as she believed was warranted, she criticized reporters for writing only about B次元官网网址渟exy subjects.B次元官网网址�
As honorary chairwoman of the PresidentB次元官网网址檚 Commission on Mental Health, she once testified before a Senate subcommittee, becoming the first first lady since Eleanor Roosevelt to address a congressional panel. She was back in Washington in 2007 to push Congress for improved mental health coverage, saying, B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檝e been working on this for so long, it finally seems to be in reach.B次元官网网址�
She said she developed her interest in mental health during her husbandB次元官网网址檚 campaigns for Georgia governor.
B次元官网网址淚 used to come home and say to Jimmy, B次元官网网址榃hy are people telling me their problems?B次元官网网址� And he said, B次元官网网址楤ecause you may be the only person theyB次元官网网址檒l ever see who may be close to someone who can help them,B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址� she explained.
After Ronald Reagan won the 1980 election, Rosalynn Carter seemed more visibly devastated than her husband. She initially had little interest in returning to the small town of Plains, Georgia, where they both were born, married and spent most of their lives.
B次元官网网址淚 was hesitant, not at all sure that I could be happy here after the dazzle of the White House and the years of stimulating political battles,B次元官网网址� she wrote in her 1984 autobiography, B次元官网网址淔irst Lady from Plains.B次元官网网址� But B次元官网网址渨e slowly rediscovered the satisfaction of a life we had left long before.B次元官网网址�
After leaving Washington, Jimmy and Rosalynn co-founded The Carter Center in Atlanta to continue their work. She chaired the centerB次元官网网址檚 annual symposium on mental health issues and raised funds for efforts to aid the mentally ill and homeless. She also wrote B次元官网网址淗elping Yourself Help Others,B次元官网网址� about the challenges of caring for elderly or ailing relatives, and a sequel, B次元官网网址淗elping Someone With Mental Illness.B次元官网网址�
Frequently, the Carters left home on humanitarian missions, building houses with Habitat for Humanity and promoting public health and democracy across the developing world.
B次元官网网址淚 get tired,B次元官网网址� she said of her travels. B次元官网网址淏ut something so wonderful always happens. To go to a village where they have Guinea worm and go back a year or two later and thereB次元官网网址檚 no Guinea worm, I mean the people dance and sing B次元官网网址� itB次元官网网址檚 so wonderful.B次元官网网址�
In 2015, Jimmy CarterB次元官网网址檚 doctors discovered four small tumors on his brain. The Carters feared he had weeks to live. He was treated with a drug to boost his immune system, and later announced that doctors found no remaining signs of cancer. But when they first received the news, she said she didnB次元官网网址檛 know what she was going to do.
B次元官网网址淚 depend on him when I have questions, when IB次元官网网址檓 writing speeches, anything, I consult with him,B次元官网网址� she said.
She helped Carter recover several years later when he had hip replacement surgery at age 94 and had to learn to walk again. And she was with him earlier this year when he decided after a series of hospital stays that he would forgo further medical interventions and begin end-of-life care.
Jimmy Carter is the longest-lived U.S. president. Rosalynn Carter was the second longest-lived of the nationB次元官网网址檚 first ladies, trailing only Bess Truman, who died at age 97.
Eleanor Rosalynn Smith was born in Plains on Aug. 18, 1927, the eldest of four children. Her father died when she was young, so she took on much of the responsibility of caring for her siblings when her mother went to work part time.
She also contributed to the family income by working after school in a beauty parlor. B次元官网网址淲e were very poor and worked hard,B次元官网网址� she once said, but she kept up her studies, graduating from high school as class valedictorian.
She soon fell in love with the brother of one of her best friends. Jimmy and Rosalynn had known each other all their lives B次元官网网址� it was JimmyB次元官网网址檚 mother, nurse Lillian Carter, who delivered baby Rosalynn B次元官网网址� but he left for the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, when she was still in high school.
After a blind date, Jimmy told his mother: B次元官网网址淭hatB次元官网网址檚 the girl I want to marry.B次元官网网址� They wed in 1946, shortly after his graduation from Annapolis and RosalynnB次元官网网址檚 graduation from Georgia Southwestern College.
Their sons were born where Jimmy Carter was stationed: John William (Jack) in Portsmouth, Virginia, in 1947; James Earl III (Chip) in Honolulu in 1950; and Donnel Jeffery (Jeff) in New London, Connecticut, in 1952. Amy was born in Plains in 1967. By then, Carter was a state senator.
Navy life had provided Rosalynn her first chance to see the world. When CarterB次元官网网址檚 father, James Earl Sr., died in 1953, Jimmy Carter decided, without consulting his wife, to move the family back to Plains, where he took over the family farm. She joined him there in the day-to-day operations, keeping the books and weighing fertilizer trucks.
B次元官网网址淲e developed a partnership when we were working in the farm supply business,B次元官网网址� Rosalynn Carter recalled with pride in a 2021 interview with The Associated Press. B次元官网网址淚 knew more on paper about the business than he did. He would take my advice about things.B次元官网网址�
At the height of the CartersB次元官网网址� political power, Lillian Carter said of her daughter-in-law: B次元官网网址淪he can do anything in the world with Jimmy, and sheB次元官网网址檚 the only one. He listens to her.B次元官网网址�
