USA
Former US First Lady Rosalynn Carter dies at 96
Rosalynn and Jimmy Carter in a photo from August 2018. The couple were married for 77 years. photo
© Robert Franklin/South Bend Tribune/dpa
Her husband was US President, but Rosalynn Carter was as political a person as Jimmy Carter. The former first lady was committed to social issues throughout her life. Now she has died.
The former First Lady of the USA, Rosalynn Carter is dead. The 96-year-old wife of former President Jimmy Carter died on Sunday afternoon (local time) in her hometown of Plains, Georgia, “peacefully with her family,” said a foundation founded by the Carters.
99-year-old Jimmy Carter paid tribute to his wife with moving words. “Rosalynn has been my equal partner in everything I have ever accomplished,” the foundation quoted him as saying. “As long as Rosalynn was in the world, I always knew that someone loved and supported me.”
Rosalynn Carter’s health had rapidly deteriorated in recent months. In May it became public that she was suffering from dementia. The Carter Foundation announced just last Friday that the 96-year-old was receiving palliative care at home. Jimmy Carter has also been receiving palliative care at home with his family since mid-February.
First Lady influenced her husband’s policies
Rosalynn and Jimmy Carter were married in 1946 – the couple has four children and eleven grandchildren. The former first lady campaigned for social issues and wrote several books. She is said to have had significant influence on policy in the White House during her husband’s presidency. The Democratic politician from the state of Georgia in the southern United States was US President from 1977 to 1981, until he was replaced by the Republican Ronald Reagan. He is the oldest living former US president.
Rosalynn Carter was born Eleanor Rosalynn Smith in 1927 in Plains, a small rural town in Georgia. Similar to Jimmy Carter, she comes from humble beginnings. Her father died of cancer when she was a child, and her mother supported the family as a seamstress. In 1945 she met her future husband Jimmy Carter, a family friend – and the two married soon afterwards. Rosalynn Carter later worked in the Carters’ peanut operation. When Jimmy Carter began his political career, she supported him. “Campaigning was fun. I got to travel and see the whole country,” she once said.
The couple was viewed with skepticism in the US capital Washington because of their humble roots. “She was widely known for her political acumen and was particularly praised for her electoral sensitivity, down-to-earth nature and her work for the White House, including as envoy to Latin America,” wrote the US broadcaster CBS about the former first lady . According to observers, she has significantly shaped the role of First Lady in the USA. She accompanied her husband on many international trips and was also present at important appointments with the then president.
Pioneer in the fight for better psychiatric care
She later became particularly involved in the area of mental health and is considered a pioneer in the fight for better treatment. “She will be sorely missed not only by our family, but also by the many people who today have better mental health care and access to care resources,” said her son Chip in response to his mother’s death. In 1999, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, one of the highest civilian honors.
The Carters were married for 77 years and were considered a close couple. Jimmy Carter has been struggling with health problems for several years. In the winter, the couple’s foundation made it public that the ex-president no longer wanted to take any further medical steps after a series of hospital stays. In September, the two surprised everyone with a public appearance at a peanut parade in Plains. They appeared in a dark limousine driving through the small town.