In November we lost a national treasure. Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter (1927-2023) passed away at the age of 96. The story of Rosalynn Carter and her husband former President Jimmy Carter is an epic love story. They were married for 77 years after over 20 years of their families being friends. Jimmy Carter, who is 99 has been in home hospice care for the past nine months after another reoccurrence of brain cancer. He was holding her hand when she passed.
Eleanor Rosalynn Smith was delivered by Lillian Carter, Jimmy’s mother, who was a nurse in Plains, Georgia. A few days after the birth, Lillian brought her young son Jimmy to meet the baby.
After the Carter family moved to a farm outside of town, Rosalynn and Jimmy’s younger sister Ruth became friends. After Jimmy was accepted to the U.S. Naval Academy, Ruth decided to play matchmaker. According to Rosalynn, she first fell in love with Jimmy after seeing a picture of him in his uniform hanging in Ruth’s bedroom.
When Jimmy was home from Annapolis for the summer in 1945, Ruth persuaded her brother to go on a double date. Ruth, her boyfriend, Rosalynn, and Jimmy attended a picnic and later went to the movies. Jimmy kissed Rosalynn that evening. She recalled it was the first time she had ever allowed a boy to kiss her on a first date. That evening Jimmy went home and told his mother he was going to marry Rosalynn Smith.
Rosalynn was equally smitten because she felt such a connection to Jimmy. Usually shy and reserved, Rosalynn found that she could talk to Jimmy about anything and everything. He was an excellent listener, and he respected her opinions.
The first time he proposed, she turned him down. They were young and Rosalynn had promised her father who died in 1940 that she would finish college. Education was very important to the Smith family and Rosalynn had always planned to have a career before becoming a wife and mother.
After they both graduated, they married on July 7, 1946.
Rosalyn dreamed of becoming an architect, but because of her husband’s Navy career, this became a dream deferred. Rosalynn enjoyed the prospect of seeing the world with the man she loved and neither had any plans to return to Plains. When Jimmy’s father, James Earl Carter, Sr. died in 1953, Jimmy resigned his commission to return to Plains and take over the family peanut farm. Rosalynn was disappointed, but jumped in to help manage the business end of the farm.
The Carters had four children, three sons, Jack, Chip, and Jeff, and their daughter Amy.
When Jimmy launched his political career, Rosalynn was enthusiastically supportive. When he was elected to the state senate in Georgia, she became his political partner instead of a behind the scenes wife who silently stood by her man. Rosalynn actively campaigned for her husband. In 1970, Carter became governor of Georgia and was elected the 39th President of the United States in 1976.
Rosalynn became his equal partner through their journey. She made campaign speeches for him and attended cabinet meetings. Rosalynn took notes during cabinet meetings, but never voiced any opinions. She also met with domestic and foreign leaders as his official representative. Rosalynn didn’t always agree with her husband’s policies, but she never undermined him.
As First Lady of Georgia, she made mental health her platform. After being appointed to the Governor’s commission to improve mental health services for the mentally and emotionally challenged in Georgia, Rosalynn toured mental health facilities throughout Georgia. As a member of the committee, she helped draft important legislation that became law. According to Rosalynn, her work on behalf of mentally challenged children was her proudest achievement during her years as Georgia’s First Lady. Through her work, Rosalynn garnered respect in professional healthcare circles. She volunteered at the Georgia Regional Hospital in Atlanta and for four years she served as honorary chairperson of the Special Olympics in Georgia.
Rosalynn became the first FLOTUS to have an office in the East Wing of the White House.
She continued to champion mental health as FLOTUS. She also helped campaign for passage of the Equal Rights Amendment.
Rosalynn was often criticized for not wearing designer fashions and wearing gowns she had previously worn to official functions. She favored American designers and items that were crafted in the United States. Rosalynn began acquiring paintings by American artists to showcase in the White House. She was an independent woman with her own views. She worried more about people than things.
In 1982, the Carters co-founded the Carter Center in Atlanta, Georgia. Rosalynn made sure the center made mental health one of its primary causes. In 1983, Rosalynn and Jimmy working through the Carter Center helped broker a peace agreement between Israel and its neighboring countries in the Middle East.
In 1984, the Carters volunteered in New York City to build their first home with Habitat for Humanity which was founded in 1976 by Millard and Linda Fuller. The Carters work with Habitat for Humanity helped the organization become better known, and it has brought attention to the need for affordable housing around the world. The Carters have helped build, renovate, and repair 3,944 Habitat homes in 14 countries.
In 2007, Rosalyn Carter, on behalf of the Carter Center worked with David Wellstone to pass legislation to cover mental health coverage equally with physical illness in health insurance policies that included mental health coverage. The legislation was signed into law in 2008.
In 2011, Rosalynn Carter delivered a eulogy for former FLOTUS Betty Ford at her memorial service. She praised Ford for going public with her cancer battle and her struggles with alcohol. She also commended Ford for fighting the stigmas surrounding illness and addiction.
She often joined former First Ladies to support worthy causes. Rosalynn even requested that former FLOTUS Melania Trump be invited to attend her memorial service.
James Earl Carter was born in 1924. He was born and raised in Plains, Georgia. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy with a degree in nuclear physics and joined the U.S. Navy’s submarine service. At age 99, he is the oldest living former U.S. President and the longest-lived U.S. President in history.
After resigning his commission, he returned to take over his family’s peanut farm. Jimmy and Rosalynn were opponents of racial segregation, and Jim Crow laws in the South. They supported the civil rights movement and became activists in the democratic party in Georgia.
He officially pardoned all Vietnam War draft evaders on his second day in office as POTUS. Aware of the need for energy conservation, he established a national energy policy that included energy conservation, price control, and new technologies. He put solar panels on the White House (Ronald Reagan had them removed when he was elected as a thank you to the energy corporations that helped finance his campaign). During his winter fireside chats, President Carter wore a sweater and asked all Americans to lower their thermostat and don a sweater to conserve energy.
He brokered the Camp David Accords, political agreements between Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin. Sadat and Begin shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 1978 because of this agreement. The groundwork for the 1979 peace treaty between Egypt and Israel was laid during these talks at Camp David.
He also successfully pursued the Panama Canal Treaties (Torrijos-Carter Treaties) and the second round of Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT). His administration established the Department of Energy and the Department of Education.
His administration had to confront stagflation (recession-induced inflation) that began during the Nixon administration.
When Russia invaded Afghanistan in 1980, Carter enacted a grain embargo against the Soviet Union and ended détente. He also led a multinational boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. The final straw for his presidency was the Iran Hostage Crisis in 1980 which lasted until Ronald Reagan was sworn in as President.
Carter’s stance for humanitarian rights around the world was enormously unpopular with authoritarian regimes and his presidency suffered for it. However, he never backed down or compromised his principles.
In 1999, President Bill Clinton awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Rosalynn and Jimmy Carter.
In 2002, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his humanitarian efforts for his decades of untiring efforts to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, advance democracy, human rights, and promote economic and social development.
