A devoted attendant of the United States, former First Lady, Rosalyn Carter has left the world on November 19. She breathed her last in Sunday morning at her home in Plains, Georgia at the age of 96.
Rosalyn was married to former US President and Nobel Peace Prize winner Jimmy Carter for 77 years.
Rosalyn and Jimmy knew each other from a very young age and were childhood sweethearts. This US presidential power couple had the longest happily married life.
Democrat leader Jimmy Carter was the 39th President of the United States. He served this duty from January 1977 to January 1981.
Jimmy has been in the hospice care center since last February after being diagnosed with cancer. Rosalyn went there to see her husband last Friday. Jimmy Carter, now 99, spent two days in hospice care with his wife before her death. According to Carter centre, Mrs Carter was diagnosed with dementia since last May. A statement from the Carter Center confirmed her death on Sunday. The statement said he “passed away peacefully, with family by his side” at 2:10 p.m. Plains in his rural Georgia home.
Early life of Rosalynn Carter
Eleanor Rosalynn Smith was born on August 18, 1927 in Plains, Georgia. Rosalyn was the eldest of four children. After completing his high school education, she enrolled in Georgia Southwestern College. When her father died at a very young age, she shouldered most of the family responsibilities. She supported the family by working after school in a beauty parlour.
In 1945, she went on a blind date with Jimmy Carter, a childhood family acquaintance.
Rosalynn had been delivered by Jimmy Carter’s mother, a nurse, so they knew each other from a long time. Then they tied their knot in 1946 and moved to Virginia. Jimmy Carter praised her as “best Friend… My Perfect Extension”.
“The best thing I ever did was marry Rosalynn,” Carter stated once.
True partner of President Jimmy
Rosalynn Carter was true partner of Jimmy Carter. The ‘steel Magnolia’ Became her president husband’s closest adviser when he later became US president in 1977. she declared that she had no intention of being a traditional first lady. From attending Cabinet meetings to important briefings, she worked so hard. This former first president of US spoke at various official events on behalf of the White House.
She played an undeniable role in restoring the confidence of the US nation after the infamous Watergate scandal.
It was during the Iranian hostage crisis. Diplomats and others in Iran were held captive in Tehran after the Islamic Revolution when American Carter was seeking re-election. The crisis was one of the obstacles to his presidential re-election. At the same time, Rosalyn Carter tried hard to support her husband by speaking in 112 cities in 34 states during a 44-day tour.
“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.” Jimmy Carter said in a statement.
Not only in political work but also as a good companion, She had supported her husband emotionally. Rosalyn was by her husband’s side when doctors discovered four small tumors in his brain and helped him recover from a hip replacement surgery at the age of 94.
Post presidential work , Carter centre and works for mental health
Carter lost his 1980 re-election bid to Ronald Reagan. In 1982, he established the Carter Center to promote and expand human rights, which earned him a Nobel Peace Prize in 2002. The former presidential couple promoted public health and democracy throughout the developing world.
They founded the Carter Center in 1982 as a nonprofit dedicated to human rights.
After leaving Washington, she continued his work through the Carter Center.
She started the Rosalyn Carter Institute for Caregiving at Georgia Southwestern State University.
Her interest in mental health issues began in the early 1970s. Rosalynn Carter decided to focus her attention mainly in the field of mental health when she was that state’s First Lady.
As Georgia’s first lady, she was a member of a governor’s commission to improve services for the mentally ill. At the White House, he became honorary chair of the President’s Commission on Mental Health, helping to fund local mental health centers. In 2001, she was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame.
She visited many countries around the world and continued to support for mental health, childhood immunization, human rights and urban community empowerment.
Carters visited India for three days in 1978. At that time Morarji Desai was the Prime Minister of country.
In the post-Washington years the Carters were the main influencial figure in the Habitat for Humanity charity works, helping to build homes for needy families. Their humanitarian efforts were crowned when Jimmy Carter was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Rosalynn Carter was elected to the Gannett Company Board of Directors in 1983. She campaigned for the Equal Rights Amendment, which would have given women and men legal gender equality.
Carter and her husband fell into serious debt immediately after leaving the White House, but were able their debts by engaging in writing projects. She has written several books, including the 1984 autobiography “First Lady from the Plains” and three books about mental health.
Former colleagues relatives, followers and observers described her as a genuine, warm and selfless human being.
According to the Tribune page, the former first ladyof US will then be buried in a private ceremony. The funeral service will be private for family and friends on November 29 at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains.
Throughout most of her life, Rosalynn Carter will be remembered by all as the epitome of the modern working woman, loving mother and ideal wife.
President Joe Biden paid tribute to the former first lady of US , by posting a note on his X handle she “walked her own path, inspiring a nation and a world along the way”.
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