Who Was Rosalynn Carter? Woman Beyond 'Former First Lady Of US'

As former US First Lady Rosalynn Smith Carter passed at the age of 96 on November 19, her admirers from across the United States paid a visit to the memorial service held on Tuesday. 39th US President Jimmy Carter briefly left hospice care to pay tribute to his wife, whom he knew as "my equal partner in everything I ever accomplished." Although 99-year-old Carter did not speak at the memorial, his presence was a testament to their eternal love and partnership of 77 years. The couple's children and grandchildren celebrated the "life well lived" of Rosalynn Carter, a humanitarian and mental health advocate who redefined the role of the modern First Lady.

"My mum spent most of her life in love with my dad," said their daughter, Amy Lynn Carter, fighting back tears as she read out a love letter written by her father while he was in the US Navy. The couple's son Chip Carter hailed his mother for helping him overcome his own drug and alcohol addiction, saying the former first lady made a "positive difference in people's lives. The service included her favourite music, along with a performance of the John Lennon song "Imagine" by country musicians Tricia Yearwood and Garth Brooks.

The Life Of  Rosalynn Carter

While some former presidents refused to attend Rosalynn Carter's memorial, as per reports, the service had a great turnout of loved ones, politicians and first ladies from across generations, including Joe and Jill Biden, Bill and Hillary Clinton, Michelle Obama, and Melania Trump. Rosalynn Carter is a respected figure in US politics, owing to her efforts in spreading awareness on tabooed issues like mental health, and her activism efforts even after Jimmy Carter's presidential tenure ended.

Rosalynn Carter was born on August 18, 1927, in the small town of Plains, Georgia in the US. She was the eldest of four siblings born to Allethea Murray Smith and Wilburn Edgar Smith. At the age of 13, Rosalynn Carter lost her father and was brought up by a single mother since. Rosalynn Carter had to take on parental duties to her siblings, as their mother became a dressmaker to support their family.

In spite of difficulties, Rosalynn Carter completed high school and enrolled in Georgia Southwestern College at Americus in 1945. That same year, she dated her neighbour Jimmy Carter, who was home from the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis."She’s the girl I want to marry,” Jimmy Carter told his mother after his first date with 17-year-old Rosalynn Smith. They eventually tied the knot in 1946.

Owing to Jimmy Carter's frequent deployments at sea, the couple travelled to several States across the US and had their four children in different places. They returned to Plains after Jimmy Carter left the Navy owing to his father's death in 1953. Rosalynn Carter started working full-time as the manager of the Carters' agricultural enterprise, as they had finally settled in Georgia. 

Support For President Husband

In 1962, Jimmy Carter entered politics, and Rosalynn Carter's support and campaigning strategies helped him succeed in taking the governorship of Georgia in 1970. During his Presidential campaigns, Rosalynn Carter travelled independently throughout the United States to the campaign, which garnered his place in the White House from 1977 to 1981. 

As the First Lady, Rosalynn Carter strived to create what she called “a more caring society.” In the White House, Rosalynn Carter made a landmark trip to foster US partnerships with Latin America. An activist first lady with her own bold agenda, she created a distinct East Wing office from which she set about helping disadvantaged people.

She was also a torchbearer to women's issues especially mental health, which was a topic that no other leader or their spouse had opened up about at the time. From 1977 to 1978, she served as the Honorary Chairperson of the President’s Commission on Mental Health, which resulted in the passage of the Mental Health Systems Act of 1980. She was also responsible for the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), aimed at advocating women's rights.

Beyond First Wife Duties

In 1984 after her husband's tenure ended, Rosalynn Carter wrote an autobiography, First Lady From Plains. She was president of the board of directors for the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregivers (RCI), which was established in 1987 in her honour at her alma mater, Georgia Southwestern.

In 1991, she served on the board of The Atlanta Project (TAP), a program to address the social ills associated with poverty. The same year, she took charge of controlling the measles epidemic in the US by launching the Every Child By Two (now Vaccinate Your Family) campaign, raising awareness of the critical need for timely infant immunisations.

Rosalynn Carter received many honors like the Award of Merit for Support of the Equal Rights Amendment from the National Organization for Women, the Notre Dame Award for International Service, the Eleanor Roosevelt Living World Award from Peace Links, and an extensive list of more. In 2001, she was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame.

She has written four other books-- Everything To Gain: Making the Most of the Rest of Your Life, a book co-authored with Jimmy Carter and inspired by their life after the White House; Helping Yourself Help Others: A Book For Caregivers (with Susan K. Golant); Helping Someone with Mental Illness: A Compassionate Guide for Family, Friends, and Caregivers (with Susan K. Golant), and Within Our Reach: Ending the Mental Health Crisis (with Susan K. Golant and Kathryn E. Cade).

As an outdoorswoman and environmentalist, Rosalynn Carter enjoyed fly fishing, birdwatching, and gardening. She advocated for the protection of monarch butterflies and other pollinators and promoted the expansion of pollinator habitats in the U.S. and abroad through the Rosalynn Carter Butterfly Trail. On May 30, 2023, her family shared that Rosalynn Carter had dementia. She continued to live at home with her husband in Plains, enjoying visits with loved ones, until her death on Nov. 19, 2023.