Happy Anniversary, Mr. and Mrs. President! Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter celebrate 77th milestone

Happy Anniversary, young lovers!

Extending their record as the longest-married presidential couple in history, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter celebrated their 77th wedding anniversary Friday in their hometown of Plains, Georgia. The couple hit the milestone in 2020.

Carter has lived longer than 46 other presidents in more than 230 years.

At 98, the 39th president, has outlived George H.W. Bush by just under four years – something that seemed unlikely in 2015, when Carter announced that cancer had spread to his brain.

He has been in home hospice care since February. The former first lady, age 95, has dementia.

The couple married met in 1945 and married the following year in a Methodist church in Plains. He was 21 and she was 18

"My biggest secret is to marry the right person if you want to have a long-lasting marriage," Carter said at the time.

'They are at peace' Jimmy Carter enters hospice care with full support of family, doctors

'They are at peace'

The Carter family did not offered details of either Jimmy or Rosalynn Carter’s condition but has said the couple has enjoyed time together as well as time with family and friends in recent months.

"They are at peace," their grandson, former Georgia state Sen. Jason Carter, said earlier this year. "And as always − their home is full of love."

“As we have looked back at their legacy, it has been really wonderful to see the outpouring of support and respect and love,” the couple's grandson said. “That word love is really the one that defines certainly their personal relationship, but also the way they approach this world.”

Contributing: Jim Sergent with USA TODAY and the Associated Press.

Natalie Neysa Alund covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on Twitter @nataliealund.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter celebrate 77th wedding anniversary