Carter Center on December 29, 2024 Jimmy Carter’s death announcedThe 39th President of the United States at his longtime home in Plains, Georgia. At 100 years old, he was the longest-lived president in American history.
During his tenure in office (and beyond), Carter’s wife, Rosalynn Carter, was a steadfast partner and confidant. To commemorate his life and the Carters’ touching love story on the occasion of his death at the age of 96 in November 2023, circulation The story of their courtship and marriage revisited. Read that history below.
“Never in our history has a couple moved to the White House together like Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter,” circulation was mentioned in its January 1977 issue – and indeed, it echoes a statement made by Mr. Carter shortly after, almost 50 years later His wife died this monthHe said, “Roslyn was my equal partner in whatever I have achieved so far.” “He gave me wise guidance and encouragement when I needed it. As long as Rosalynn was in the world, I always knew that someone loved and supported me.
Mr. and Mrs. Carter’s love story has historical significance – after marrying in 1946, they were the first couple ever to be married for the longest period of time, followed by George and barbara bush73 years – but it started humbly in their shared hometown of Plains, Georgia. About 18 years before they went on their first date (for a movie in 1945, the summer before Mr. Carter’s final year at the United States Naval Academy), his mother—a nurse who had been known throughout her life by the name of Miss Lillian was known – actually gave birth to their future. Daughter-in-law in 1927. (Biographer Jonathan Alter claimed that two-year-old Jimmy first met Rosalyn just days after her birth.) “She was a wonderful person, and the whole community had great respect for her,” Mrs. Carter said. Wrote of Miss Lillian in her 1984 memoir, first lady from the plains“My parents also named my sister after her, Lillian Alethea.”
After their wedding at the Plains Methodist Church (when he proposed, Mr. Carter presented his bride-to-be with a compact engraved with the letters ILYTGmeaning “I love you best”), the Carters’ life together lasted 77 years and produced four children. In that time he endured Mr. Carter’s seven years of active duty in the Navy; They returned home to the Plains, where he took over his family’s peanut-farming business (and Mrs. Carter learned to keep books); two terms as state senator; one term as Governor of Georgia; A somewhat turbulent tenure as president from 1977 to 1981; And then nearly four decades of diplomatic and philanthropic service through his non-profit organization, the Carter Foundation.
