Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter (née Eleanor Rosalynn Smith) – wife of Jimmy Carter, the 39th President of the United States – has died at the age of 96.
According to a statement from the Carter Center, Mrs. Carter passed away peacefully at her home in Plains, Georgia, with family by her side. (She had recently moved to a hospice after being diagnosed with dementia earlier this year.) The Carters married in 1946, shortly after Jimmy Carter’s graduation from the United States Naval Academy, making them the longest married presidential couple in American history.
During her time in the White House, from 1977 to 1981, Mrs. Carter became known as a committed humanitarian and fierce advocate for mental health care. She was among her husband’s most trusted confidantes and attended many of President Carter’s cabinet meetings and traveled abroad to meet with various heads of state. She also brought her own sense of style to the interior design of the White House: “Carter is the first First Lady to make a major effort to bring the 20th century to the interior design of the White House,” she says. WashingtonPost reported approvingly in 1977. Her additions include important examples of “American pottery and glassware, wrought-iron napkin rings, honeysuckle and white oak baskets filled with corn husks and wood shaving flowers, and handmade book favors.” She also had a distinctive approach to entertainment: ‘white wine instead of spirits, classical music instead of nightclub humor, and open days for the disabled and the elderly, but also for politicians and potentates.’ Mrs. Carter especially liked an extended version holiday viewdecorating the White House Christmas trees with things like nut pods and Victorian dolls.
