On July 7, 2023, the couple celebrated 77 years in their love journey. Rosalynn Carter died in November 2023, while Jimmy Carter just over a year later on Dec. 29.
PLAINS, Ga. โ Before Jimmy Carter was president, before the humanitarian work and Nobel Peace Prize, there was just a small town called Plains, Georgia – and a love story. On Sunday, December 29, 2024 Jimmy Carter died in that same town where it all began, just 13 months after saying goodbye to his beloved Rosalynn, who passed away on November 19, 2023.
They were hometown sweethearts, these two. “Jimmy and I grew up three years and three miles apart,” Rosalynn would later write in her memoir “First Lady from Plains.” Before her death, they reached an incredible milestone – 77 years of marriage – celebrating what would be their final anniversary together on July 7, 2023. It was the longest marriage of any presidential couple in American history.
The Carters would return to Plains throughout their career and settle there later in life.
โWe do a lot of things, go a lot of places, but Plains is home, and we always come home,โ Rosalynn said in the book.
After Jimmy proposed for a second time, Rosalynn accepted and the two were married on a warm Southern summer day, July 7, 1946. There wasnโt a ton of fuss, no invitations or anything like that. He was 21, she was 18 and they were in love. Rosalynn reportedly refused the first proposal and promised her father, on his deathbed, to finish college at Georgia Southwestern before getting married.
On their wedding day, Rosalynn said Jimmy picked her up from her parentโs home to drive to the church together. She wore a short dress, opting for a corsage in lieu of a bouquet. He wore his white Navy Uniform. They walked into the church and down the aisle hand-in-hand, when they emerged, they were man and wife.
The newlyweds began their life together in Norfolk, Virginia, where Jimmy was stationed with the Navy on the USS Wyoming. Their family grew quickly: John Williams, named after Rosalynn’s grandfather, arrived in 1947; James Earl III was born in Hawaii in 1950; and Donnell Jeffrey followed in 1952. Their fourth child and only daughter, Amy Lynn, completed the family in 1967. They raised Amy together in the White House and Rosalynn would become a confidant to the most powerful man in the world.ย
Throughout Jimmy’s political ascent from Georgia governor to U.S. president, the Carters remained inseparable partners. Rosalynn became more than a first lady โ she was a trusted political advisor. Jimmy consistently acknowledged their partnership, using “Rosalynn and I” in speeches about their humanitarian work both domestically and abroad.ย
In an op-ed published in 1996, Jimmy described her as a โkey player in political strategy meetings.โ
He said, โI shared almost all problems and questions with Rosalynn. In fact, we met in the Oval Office for regular weekly luncheons devoted exclusively to public affairs.โ
After leaving the White House, the couple established The Carter Center and The Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta. Their partnership faced its greatest test while co-authoring “Everything to Gain: Making the Most of the Rest of Your Life.”
โIt was amazing to find how differently we remembered the important events of our lives together, and how differently we reacted to them. As the writing progressed, we couldn’t speak to each other about the book, and could communicate only by writing vituperative notes back and forth on our word processors,โ he said in a speech in 1995.
Their marriage survived the book.
The Carter legacy lives on through their beloved family: three granddaughters, nine grandsons โ including one who lives on in their hearts โ and more than a dozen great-grandchildren. Jimmy spoke warmly of their family in 2015, describing it as “good and harmonious.”ย
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