Rosalynn Carter

First Lady of the United States from 1977 to 1981

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Lived 1927–2023, aged 96United States

United States PoliticiansPolitician

Wikipedia
68 languages
Cross-language footprint
Era
1927–2023
Aged 96
Known for
Miracle
2004

Summary

Updated 2026-06-11

She sat in on Cabinet meetings, flew to Latin America as a presidential envoy, and never pretended to be decorative. Rosalynn Carter redefined the job of first lady by treating it as actual policy work—and spent the next four decades proving the point.

Biography

About

Born in Plains, Georgia, she graduated valedictorian in 1946, the same year she married Jimmy Carter after falling for a photograph of him in his Naval Academy uniform. She helped him win the Georgia governorship in 1970 and used her time as the state's first lady to focus on mental health advocacy. When he won the presidency in 1976, she made it clear she had no interest in tradition: she attended Cabinet meetings, represented him in meetings with foreign leaders, and campaigned hard for causes she believed in. He called her an equal partner. After Reagan's landslide ended their White House t…

Voice

In their own words

Sourced, dated quotes from Rosalynn Carter

Rosalynn Carter

said30 May 2019

We need to end the silence and put pressure on governments and the private sector to prioritize mental health care reform.

— "We Are at the Beginning of a Global Mental Health Revolution" (30 May 2019)

Rosalynn Carter

said30 May 2019

Speaking up about this subject can be difficult. But the time has come for people who have lived with mental health disorders to make sure their voices are heard.

— "We Are at the Beginning of a Global Mental Health Revolution" (30 May 2019)

Rosalynn Carter

said20 Oct 2017

Thirty years is a long time in the history of caregiving as an issue in our country. The world was a very different place then.

— "Opinion: Caregiving Support’s Come a Long Way" (20 October 2017)

Rosalynn Carter

said11 Apr 2017

Compassion is what makes our nation great. When we invest in the health and happiness of our fellow Americans, we reap dividends that pay off for generations.

— "A Sound Mind is a Sound Investment: Rosalynn Carter and Chirlane McCray" (11 April 2017)

Rosalynn Carter

said2010

I want people to know that mental illnesses can be diagnosed, can be treated. The overwhelming majority of people can live full and productive lives in the community.

— "Rosalynn Carter On The Mental Health Crisis" at JFK Presidential Library & Museum (2010)

via Wikiquote · CC BY-SA

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