On October 4, 2014, in Americus, Georgia, at Georgia Southwestern University in honor of her husband, the former president Jimmy Carter, former first lady Rosalynn Carter, looks at a birthday cake with her husband. Braun Camp/AP
Although Jimmy Carter held the positions of Georgian governor and US president, he consistently claimed that marrying Eleanor Rosalynn Smith was the “pinnacle” of his life.
More than any other couple to live in the White House, Rosalynn and Jimmy Carter were married for over 77 years.
The Carter Center said that the former first lady passed away quietly on Sunday at her Georgian home. A few days after entering hospice care, she passed away at the age of 96.
Jimmy Carter said in a statement, “Rosalynn was my equal partner in everything I ever accomplished.” “When I needed it, she provided me with sage advice and inspiration. Rosalynn was in the world for as long as I knew someone who loved and supported her.
Rosalynn Carter stood by her husband’s side when he took office as the 39th president of the United States in 1977. She also provided unwavering support during the hostage-taking crisis at the American embassy in Iran that plagued his presidency and the devastating defeat in the reelection contest against Ronald Reagan that reduced him to a single term as commander in chief.
Jimmy Carter, 99, leaned on his wife again in the last stages of their enduring love story. In February 2023, Jimmy Carter announced that, following a number of brief hospital stays, he had “made the choice to spend the last days at home with his family while receiving hospice care instead of more medical action.”
Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter’s four daughters, eleven grandchildren, and fourteen great-grandchildren have all provided the pair with a great deal of support as they both prepared for the end.
Following his grandfather’s announcement in February that he was entering hospice care, the couple’s grandson, Jason Carter, who leads The Carter Center governing board, remarked on Twitter in February, “They are at peace and – every day – their home is full of love.”
1945–1962: Dating, getting married, and starting a family
Jimmy Carter, who started dating Rosalynn Smith while still a cadet at the USNA, once served as the commanding commander of a Navy submarine. He has frequently referred to his wife as his “secret weapon,” both in public and in private.
“I told my mother the next morning that was the girl I wanted to marry when I first went on a date with her,” Jimmy Carter said to ABC News in July 2021, following his and his wife’s release from COVID-19 isolation to commemorate their 75th wedding anniversary.
Rosalynn Carter stated in the same interview that she declined his first proposal because she had made a vow to her father on his deathbed to complete her undergraduate education before getting married.
“But I gave in because he was persistent,” she said to ABC News. “Life with Jimmy Carter has been an adventure.”
Jimmy Carter discussed his life with his wife in a 2015 interview at The Carter Center, the couple’s humanitarian organization. He said, “Marrying Rosalynn was the best thing I ever did.” That is the apex of my existence.”
In the years between World War I and the Great Depression, they were born in the little Georgian town of Plains, three years apart. Rosalynn Carter claimed that although she and her future husband had known each other since childhood and that she was Ruth’s best friend, she didn’t truly notice him until he was around thirteen.
Before Jimmy Carter came knocking, I didn’t know a single boy I imagined I’d want to spend the rest of my life with,” she wrote in the book. However, Jimmy Carter had already moved from Plains to Annapolis, Maryland, in order to attend the Naval Academy at that point.
As luck would have it, Jimmy Carter remembered in “What Makes a Marriage Last,” that he was without a date while on vacation from the Naval Academy because his then-girlfriend was attending a family reunion.
“I went cruising round with my sister, Ruth, but her boyfriend, just looking on a date, and I pick up Rosalynn in front of the Methodist church,” he said.
On July 7, 1946, the pair got married and spent their honeymoon touring the globe while he was stationed as a submarine officer at several bases, including Pearl Harbor.
Political life, 1963–1981
Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter left the Navy in 1953 and settled back in Plains, where he took over his family’s peanut plantation and spent several years in the Navy Reserve. He got involved in the local Democratic Party and supported the nascent Civil Rights movement while opposing racial segregation.
Jimmy Carter ran and won the governorship of Georgia in 1970 after being elected to the Georgia State Senate in 1963 with his wife at his side. Rosalynn Carter served on the Governor’s Commission to Improve Services for the Mentally and Emotionally Handicapped and concentrated on mental health concerns when they were residing at the governor’s mansion. She also rose to prominence as her husband’s principal adviser on state affairs.
When her husband entered the 1975 presidential election as a dark horse and helped unseat incumbent President Gerald Ford, Rosalynn Carter’s influence grew.
Jimmy Carter publicly referred to his wife as his “secret weapon” while serving as president, and he regularly asked her to attend cabinet sessions and even some briefings on national security. She was his confidante during both the Camp David Accords and the Iranian hostages crisis, he acknowledged.
Life after the White House, 1981–present
Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter returned to Plains in 1980 following Jimmy’s crushing defeat at the hands of Ronald Reagan. Rather than resting on their accolades, they threw themselves into helping others, partnering with the nonprofit organization Habitat for Humanity, which was established in 1976 by Millard and Linda Fuller, two Christians, with the stated goal of “seeking to put God’s love into action” by constructing homes for the underprivileged.
“Habitat offers a straightforward but effective way for individuals from many backgrounds to unite and work for life’s most important goals. Yes, a decent place to live, but also a true connection with other people. a connection that results from up walls and tearing down barriers, as Jimmy Carter once remarked.
Apart from constructing homes for underprivileged individuals globally, the Carters also harbored a common interest in observing birds and fly-fishing, even creating a fly-fishing pond on their Georgian estate.
The Carters were questioned about how they managed to have a happy marriage for such a long time in their 2021 interview with ABC News. Jimmy Carter said that the reason their marriage has lasted so long is that they have collaborated on causes and interests they share and have given each other room to pursue personal interests.
Jimmy Carter stated to ABC News in 2021, “We’ve always gone deeper in our love for one another.”
In the interview, he also disclosed that, although he and his spouse had disagreements like any other, they had long ago made the decision to never again go to bed upset with one another.
All of them
“Every night us try to be sure that we are fully reconciled after every dispute that occurred during the day before we go to bed,” he explained.