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According to the Carter Center, Rosalynn Carter, the late president Jimmy Carter's wife and a longtime supporter of mental health and humanitarian causes, passed away on Sunday in her Plains, Georgia, home surrounded by her loved ones. She was ninety-six years old.
On Friday, the Carter Center declared that Rosalynn Carter was receiving hospice care. Her family announced that she had been diagnosed with dementia earlier this year. Since February, 99-year-old Jimmy Carter has been receiving hospice care.
"In everything I ever achieved, Rosalynn was my equal partner," the former president declared in a statement. "When I needed it, she provided me with sage advice and inspiration. Rosalynn's presence in the world ensured that I always had love and support from someone."
In a joint statement released on Sunday, President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden paid tribute to the "hope, warmth, and optimism" of the former first lady. They commended Carter for her advocacy on behalf of causes such as mental health issues and equal rights. According to the White House statement, Rosalynn Carter's life and legacy have made the lives of countless people "better, fuller, and brighter."
Rosalynn Carter was also praised on Sunday by former first lady Laura Bush and former president George W. Bush, who described her as "a woman of dignity and strength."
"No one was a stronger supporter of President Carter than them, and their collaboration provided a fantastic illustration of faithfulness and loyalty. She has made a significant contribution to the de-stigmatization of mental health. In a prepared statement, the two said, "We join our fellow citizens in sending our condolences to President Carter and their family."
Rosalynn Carter served as first lady from 1977 to 1981. The media nicknamed her the "Steel Magnolia" because of the toughness that concealed the tender exterior that she wore. She served as Jimmy Carter's closest political advisor during his tenure in public office. She also extended the office beyond hostess responsibilities, revolutionizing and professionalizing the first lady role.
She was actively involved in humanitarian work through the Carter Center in Atlanta, which she and her husband founded after leaving the White House, and spent the majority of her life in Plains, the hometown of the Carter family.
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Eleanor Rosalynn Smith was born in Plains, a tiny rural town with fewer than a thousand residents, in 1927. Her life revolved around her church and school.
Carter, who was raised during the Great Depression, frequently claimed that because so few people in her immediate environment were wealthy, she was unaware that her family was impoverished.
In addition to being the first auto shop owner in the county, her father was a farmer. Carter, the oldest of four siblings, took on the role of caregiver after her father passed away from cancer when she was just 13 years old.
Senior official at the Carter Center Kathy Cade, who worked with Carter in the White House, said of her, "She came from humble roots." "She was really a woman of almost the late 19th century in terms of how life was organized in the rural South at the time."
She had met but not really gotten to know Jimmy Carter, the older brother of her close friend Ruth Carter, when she was a teenager and she saw a picture of him.
"Kate Anderson Brower, the author of First Women, said that Rosalynn believed Jimmy was the most attractive man she had ever seen when she saw a picture of him on her best friend's wall." "And she asked Ruth if she could take his photo home."
When she was a student at Georgia Southwestern College and he was a student at the U.S. Naval Academy, the two went on their first date in 1945. The following year, they tied the knot, beginning a union that would span over 75 years.
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Carter took care of their three small boys and ran the household while her husband was serving in the Navy. Amy, their daughter, was raised in the White House for a portion of her early years.
Jimmy Carter's parents returned to Plains and took over the family's peanut farm in Sumter County in 1953 following Jimmy Carter's father's death. Jimmy Carter turned that business relationship into a political one in 1962 when he announced his candidacy for Georgia state Senate. Rosalynn Carter became Georgia's first lady after he was elected governor of the state in 1970.
But according to Cade, she "felt overwhelmed" by her new role and by life in the spotlight when she got to the governor's mansion.
"In the beginning it was very stressful, but she quickly adapted," said Cade. "She realized that her faith was going to help her deal with the stresses of this very new and challenging situation."
Carter was an advocate for her husband — and mental health care
Carter spent nearly two years traveling the nation campaigning when her husband announced his intention to run for president. She was a shy person by nature and a nervous public speaker, but on the campaign trail, Brower said, she came alive and worked "tirelessly" to introduce her husband, who was unknown outside of Georgia, to the nation.
"She would look for the tallest antenna in any town and she would head there because that was the TV or radio station," Brower stated. "And she would go there with a list of questions she wanted them to ask her."
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Carter's tenure as first lady brought in a new era following her husband's election to the presidency.
She was only the second first lady to testify before Congress and attended Cabinet meetings. She handled the position professionally, according to Brower, as evidenced by the fact that she was the first spouse of a president to regularly bring a briefcase to work.
"I think Rosalynn was a feminist and somebody who wanted to be a true partner to her husband," Brower stated. "And she didn't see any reason why she shouldn't be allowed to do that."
Carter's mental health was his first priority in the White House. Years ago, while running for office throughout Georgia, she heard from people whose family members were experiencing mental health issues, and that's when she became passionate about it.
At the time, Carter was concerned about the lack of community-based mental health services in Georgia, particularly for children, and the state's use of hospitals and other facilities with a history of mistreating patients.
Carter pushed her husband to form a governor's commission on mental health while she was the first lady of Georgia. The commission presented a significant proposal to move treatment from large institutions to community centers.
"She really began the effort in this country to modernize mental health care," said Cade. "And the mental health care system that we have today in many ways reflects her 50 years of advocacy."
Carter was also a pioneer in the fight to lessen the stigma associated with mental illness. In speeches, he frequently referred to mental health treatment as "a basic human right." One of many accomplishments at least partially attributable to his wife's advocacy in the United States and around the world is the signing of the Mental Health Systems Act by President Carter in 1980, which provided funding for community mental health clinics.
Life after the White House
The Carters called their return to Plains to be a "involuntary retirement" after Jimmy Carter lost his reelection campaign in 1980; Rosalynn Carter may have found this move more challenging than her husband.
"She fiercely believed that her husband was the best person to be president of the United States," said Cade. "She really believed that there was still work to be done."
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In 1987, Carter said to NPR that she used her work on their Plains house as a diversion from the heartbreaking loss.
"We had no idea what our future careers would entail. And suddenly we had to organize the house," she remarked. "We'd been gone 10 years from home."
The Carter Center was established shortly after by the former president and first lady, with a focus on several causes, such as monitoring elections globally and attempting to almost completely eradicate Guinea worm disease in some regions of Asia and Africa.
The Carters were given the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Bill Clinton in 1999, who stated that they had accomplished "more good things for more people in more places than any other couple on the face of the Earth."
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The Carters celebrated their 75th anniversary in 2019—two years after becoming the longest-married presidential couple. Together, they experimented a lot and developed a long list of common interests, including tennis, skiing, fly-fishing, bird-watching, and turkey hunting.
In 2015, Jimmy Carter declared, "Marrying Rosa was the best thing I ever did."
Jimmy Carter and Rosalynn Carter had four children, twelve grandkids, and fourteen great-grandchildren.
In response to a question once, the former first lady stated, "I would like people to think I took advantage of the opportunities I had and did the best I could."
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