Remembering Rosalynn Carter: The Life and Legacy of America’s 41st First Lady

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Rosalynn Carter Today: Former First Lady Dies at Age 96

Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter died peacefully on November 19 at her homes in Plains, Georgia. The 96-year-old, who had dementia, was surrounded by her family, including her husband, former President Jimmy Carter. “Rosalynn was my equal partner in everything I ever accomplished,” the former president said in a statement. “She 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.”

Rosalynn served as first lady from 1977 to 1981, reshaping what the role entailed by counseling her husband on domestic and foreign affairs, advising him on speeches, and even attending cabinet meetings. She also continued working to improve mental health services—a cause she developed a passion for while Jimmy was campaigning to become Georgia’s governor—and helped pass the Mental Health Systems Bill in 1980.

Her death comes two days after her grandson Jason Carter announced Rosalynn had entered hospice care. The family announced she had dementia this May. Rosalynn and Jimmy, who is 99 and has been in hospice care since February, were last scene in public earlier this fall, while riding through the annual Plains Peanut Festival on September 23.

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Who Was Rosalynn Carter?

Rosalynn Carter was a former first lady of the United States. She married fellow Plains, Georgia, local Jimmy Carter at age 18 and was at his side during his political rise in the 1960s. Rosalynn became first lady of Georgia when her husband won the governor’s role in 1970 and first lady of the U.S. when he was inaugurated as president in 1977. One of her most important roles during her husband’s presidency was as the honorary chair of the President’s Commission on Mental Health. The humanitarian continued to advocate for mental health, peace, as well as freedom and democracy through The Carter Center, a nonprofit that she founded with her husband in 1982. Rosalynn died on November 19, 2023, at age 96.

Quick Facts

FULL NAME: Eleanor Rosalynn Smith Carter
BORN: August 18, 1927
DIED: November 19, 2023
BIRTHPLACE: Plains, Georgia
SPOUSE: Jimmy Carter (1946-2023)
CHILDREN: John, James, Donnel, and Amy
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Leo

Early Life

The first of four children, Rosalynn Carter was born Eleanor Rosalynn Smith on August 18, 1927, in Plains, Georgia. Her father, Wilburn Edgar Smith, worked as a mechanic and a farmer, and her mother, Allethea “Allie” Murray Smith, was a housewife. However, in 1940, when her father died, Rosalynn was forced to take a job as a hairdresser to help her mother make ends meet. Her mother also took on various jobs to help support them.

Rosalynn attended local high school in Plains and graduated as valedictorian. She enrolled in Georgia Southwestern College (now Georgia Southwestern State University), and the summer after her freshman year, she began dating Jimmy Carter, her best friend’s older brother, and a cadet at the Annapolis Naval Academy.

Marriage to Jimmy Carter

In December 1945, Jimmy proposed to Rosalynn, who refused because she thought it too early in their courtship. Undeterred, Carter proposed again two months later, and Rosalynn accepted. They were married on July 7, 1946, at Plains Methodist Church.

The newlyweds moved to Norfolk, Virginia, the first in a long series of assignments in Jimmy’s naval career that would take them to bases around the country for the next seven years. Their three sons—John “Jack”, James “Chip”, and Donnel “Jeff”—were also born during this time (they later had a daughter, Amy, in 1967), and Rosalynn split her time between raising them and continuing an education in literature and art through home-study programs.

In 1953, following the death of Jimmy’s father, they returned to Plains, and Jimmy ran the family peanut business. In what would prove to be the first in a long line of collaborations between Rosalynn and her husband, she was responsible for the business’ bookkeeping.

First Lady of Georgia

In 1961, Jimmy Carter was elected to the Georgia Senate, frequently leaving Rosalynn to see to the business while he was away attending legislative sessions. She also handled his political correspondence during his subsequent two terms.

The couple’s working partnership was further cemented when Jimmy ran for governor of Georgia in 1970 and Rosalynn campaigned for her husband. It was on the campaign trail that Rosalynn became deeply interested in mental health issues, as a result of her frequent conversations with his constituents.

When Jimmy was ultimately elected governor, Rosalynn saw to all the traditional responsibilities of a first lady, such as hosting, but she also went further, taking over the financial accounting of the governor’s mansion as well as its landscaping and also wrote a book about the mansion. More importantly, however, she followed her newfound interest and worked to overhaul the state’s mental health system. She was a member of the Governor’s Commission to Improve Services to the Mentally and Emotionally Handicapped, an honorary chairperson of the Georgia Special Olympics, and a volunteer at an Atlanta hospital—all of which left her with an impressive professional resume in the mental health field.

First Lady of the United States

When Jimmy announced his candidacy for president, nearly two years before the 1976 election, Rosalynn immediately began campaigning for her husband, traveling around the country by car and plane, eventually visiting a total of 42 states. While on the trail, she would become the first candidate’s wife to ever make her own campaign promise: that as first lady she would make the welfare of the nation’s mentally ill her priority.

In January 1977, Jimmy Carter, with Rosalynn at his side, was sworn in as the 39^th president of the United States.

Inaugural Gown

Carter caused a bit of a stir when she decided to re-wear her blue chiffon dress with gold trim at the inaugural ball (she had wore the gown twice before). However, her choice to do so was a reflection of the Carters’ personality. “It enhanced the incoming Carter presidency’s notions of modesty and frugality,” Curator Lisa Kathleen Graddy of The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History told Time in 2013.

Getting Political

As first lady, she participated in President Carter’s political affairs at a level unprecedented by previous first ladies, giving him counsel on both domestic and foreign affairs, advising him on speeches, arranging his appointments, and even attending his cabinet meetings. In June 1977, Rosalynn traveled to Latin America and the Caribbean as the president’s personal representative for substantive political meetings. Upon her return, however, she received much criticism for being underqualified for the task and, subsequently, restricted similar travel in the future to humanitarian missions.

Advocacy for Mental Health and the Elderly

In 1977, Rosalynn served as honorary chair on the President’s Commission on Mental Health. Her work with this committee resulted in the Mental Health Systems Bill, which was submitted to Congress in May 1979. The bill was intended to overhaul state and federal support for the chronically mentally ill and to create a bill of rights protecting the mentally ill from discrimination. On May 15, 1979, Rosalynn testified about the bill before Congress. It was passed in September 1980.

Another of Rosalynn’s primary causes during her time as first lady was the welfare of senior citizens. To that end, she created a task force to review federal programs for the elderly and lobbied Congress for passage of the Age Discrimination Act, which lifted restrictions on the retirement age within the workforce. Rosalynn also presided over the White House Conference on Aging.

In her more traditional duties as first lady, Rosalynn again stood out, though in this capacity, through the frugal manner in which she ran the White House, serving inexpensive menus at dinners, refusing to serve hard alcohol, and choosing to wear simple, non-designer clothing. In another pair of White House firsts, Rosalynn sponsored a poetry festival and a jazz festival.

After the White House

In 1980, when Jimmy Carter was up for re-election, but was mostly confined to the White House while dealing with the Iran Hostage Crisis, Rosalynn again hit the campaign trail and made speeches as his representative throughout the primary season. However, he was ultimately defeated by Ronald Reagan.

After leaving the White House and moving back to Plains, Rosalynn Carter’s life was anything but quiet. In 1982, she and Jimmy co-founded The Carter Center, a nonprofit focused on peacekeeping, safeguarding democracy, and enhancing global health. Through the organization, Rosalynn continued to bring awareness to mental health issues and advocate for policies to improve care. She also authored numerous books, including an autobiography titled First Lady from Plains (1984), praised for its insight into Jimmy’s administration. The couple volunteered with Habitat for Humanity for more than 35 years.

Ever the champion of the neglected, she also worked to address the unmet needs of American soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan and weighed in on the policy of separating children from their parents at border crossings, which was enacted in 2018 during President Donald Trump’s administration. In a statement, Carter called the practice “disgraceful and a shame to our country.”

For her humanitarian efforts, Carter received countless honors, including various mental health awards and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America’s highest civilian honor, from Bill Clinton. In 2001, she was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame.

Children and Grandchildren

Rosalynn and Jimmy had four children, including three sons and a daughter. John “Jack” was born in July 1947, James “Chip” in April 1950, and Donnel “Jeff” in August 1952. Their daughter, Amy, arrived in October 1967. By the time, Rosalynn and Jimmy moved into the White House, their sons were all adults, so only Amy joined them at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington.

Rosalynn was a grandmother to eight grandchildren, including Jason Carter, who is following in the family’s political legacy, having served as a state senator in Georgia and run for governor as a Democratic nominee in 2014. In 2015, the Carters’ 28-year-old grandson Jeremy (from their son Jeff) died of a heart attack.

Declining Health and Death

In May 2023, the Carter family announced 95-year-old Rosalynn had dementia. According to a statement, “She continues to live happily at home with her husband, enjoying spring in Plains and visits with loved ones.” The news came three months after Jimmy entered hospice care.

Despite their declining health, Rosalynn and Jimmy made the most of their final months together in their hometown. They watched Fourth of July fireworks in Plains over the summer and rode through the annual Plains Peanut Festival in September.

Rosalynn Carter died peacefully at her home on November 19, 2023, at age 96. She had entered hospice care two days prior and was surrounded by her family in her final days and at the time of her death.

The former first lady will lie in repose at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum on November 27, followed by a private tribute service and a private funeral service on November 29 at Plains’ Maranatha Baptist Church, where Rosalynn was a parishioner for many years. Her remains will be interned at the Carters’ home.

Quotes

• A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don’t necessarily want to go but ought to be.

• Mental illnesses are diseases like any other. They can be diagnosed and treated, and the majority of people who have them can lead fulfilling lives, working, going to school, and being productive members of their community.
  

• Do what you can to show you care about other people, and you will our world a better place.

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