User:Informant16/Rosalynn Carter: Difference between revisions

 

Line 81: Line 81:

Leading up to the 1984 election, former President Carter was mentioned as a possible candidate (a prospective run supported by his wife),<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/1981/0310/031029.html |title=Mondale in ’84: he may run if Jimmy Carter doesn’t |first=Godfrey Jr. |last=Sperling |date=March 10, 1981 |access-date=September 8, 2021 |work=The Christian Science Monitor |archive-date=August 17, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210817231518/https://www.csmonitor.com/1981/0310/031029.html |url-status=live}}</ref> but announced he would not be a candidate.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/05/11/us/carter-backs-mondale-for-presidency-in-1984.html |title=Carter Backs Mondale For Presidency in 1984 |date=May 11, 1982 |access-date=September 8, 2021 |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |archive-date=August 15, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210815082521/https://www.nytimes.com/1982/05/11/us/carter-backs-mondale-for-presidency-in-1984.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

Leading up to the 1984 election, former President Carter was mentioned as a possible candidate (a prospective run supported by his wife),<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/1981/0310/031029.html |title=Mondale in ’84: he may run if Jimmy Carter doesn’t |first=Godfrey Jr. |last=Sperling |date=March 10, 1981 |access-date=September 8, 2021 |work=The Christian Science Monitor |archive-date=August 17, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210817231518/https://www.csmonitor.com/1981/0310/031029.html |url-status=live}}</ref> but announced he would not be a candidate.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/05/11/us/carter-backs-mondale-for-presidency-in-1984.html |title=Carter Backs Mondale For Presidency in 1984 |date=May 11, 1982 |access-date=September 8, 2021 |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |archive-date=August 15, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210815082521/https://www.nytimes.com/1982/05/11/us/carter-backs-mondale-for-presidency-in-1984.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

Mondale, Carter’s former Vice President, ran for the nomination. In October, while attending a conference of Friendship Force, Carter expressed that there was a gender gap in the Reagan administration that would take “sincerity on the part of the president to be able to overcome that”. She mentioned being a member of the Mondale election committee and said, ‘I am going to do everything I can that is possible to get a Democratic White House.”<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1983/10/10/Former-first-lady-Rosalynn-Carter-said-Monday-the-gender/3181434606400/|title=Former first lady Rosalynn Carter said Monday the gender…|date=October 10, 1983|publisher=UPI}}</ref> In June 1984, Carter told ”[[U.S. News & World Report]]” that she understood why some Democrats would view her husband as a liability when campaigning, but that it nonetheless upset her because he was “an asset to the party”.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1984/06/16/Former-first-lady-Rosalynn-Carter-says-presidential-candidate-Walter/2398456206400/|title=Former first lady Rosalynn Carter says presidential candidate Walter…|date=June 16, 1984|publisher=UPI}}</ref> Mondale became the Democratic nominee the following month,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/address-accepting-the-presidential-nomination-the-democratic-national-convention-san|title=Address Accepting the Presidential Nomination at the Democratic National Convention in San Francisco|date=July 19, 1984|first=Walter|last=Mondale|publisher=American Presidency Project}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/politics/camp/840719convention-dem-ra.html|title=Mondale is Nominated on First Ballot; He and Two Rivals Join in Pledging Unity|date=July 19, 1984|first=Howell|last=Raines|publisher=The New York Times}}</ref> and selected [[Geraldine Ferraro]] as his running mate.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1984/07/12/Mondale-reportedly-picks-Ferraro-as-running-mate/4122458452800/|title=Mondale reportedly picks Ferraro as running mate|first=Clay F.|last=Richards|publisher=UPI}}</ref> In October, Carter said “the respect for our country has plummeted under the leadership of this president, who thinks all world problems can be solved with military force and has led us into one of the worst arms races ever — an arms race that can destroy our entire world.” She praised the debating skills of Ferraro and predicted the Mondale-Ferraro ticket would win.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1984/10/17/Former-first-lady-Rosalynn-Carter-said-President-Reagan-resorts/8452466833600/|title=Former first lady Rosalynn Carter said President Reagan resorts…|date=October 17, 1984|publisher=UPI}}</ref> Reagan defeated Mondale in the election.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1984/11/07/American-voters-gave-President-Reagan-a-massive-49-state-landslide/2170468651600/|title=American voters gave President Reagan a massive 49-state landslide…|first=Clay F.|last=Richards|date=November 7, 1984|publisher=UPI}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1984/11/07/reagan-wins-reelection-in-landslide-largest-electoral-college-total-ever/894b05ad-417d-41c3-8c98-d1bdfefae901/|title=Reagan Wins Reelection in Landslide, Largest Electoral College Total Ever|date=November 6, 1984|publisher=The Washington Post}}</ref>

Mondale, Carter’s former Vice President, ran for the nomination. In October, while attending a conference of Friendship Force, Carter expressed that there was a gender gap in the Reagan administration that would take “sincerity on the part of the president to be able to overcome that”. She mentioned being a member of the Mondale election committee and said, ‘I am going to do everything I can that is possible to get a Democratic White House.”<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1983/10/10/Former-first-lady-Rosalynn-Carter-said-Monday-the-gender/3181434606400/|title=Former first lady Rosalynn Carter said Monday the gender…|date=October 10, 1983|publisher=UPI}}</ref> In June 1984, Carter told ”[[U.S. News & World Report]]” that she understood why some Democrats would view her husband as a liability when campaigning, but that it nonetheless upset her because he was “an asset to the party”.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1984/06/16/Former-first-lady-Rosalynn-Carter-says-presidential-candidate-Walter/2398456206400/|title=Former first lady Rosalynn Carter says presidential candidate Walter…|date=June 16, 1984|publisher=UPI}}</ref> Mondale became the Democratic nominee the following month,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/address-accepting-the-presidential-nomination-the-democratic-national-convention-san|title=Address Accepting the Presidential Nomination at the Democratic National Convention in San Francisco|date=July 19, 1984|first=Walter|last=Mondale|publisher=American Presidency Project}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/politics/camp/840719convention-dem-ra.html|title=Mondale is Nominated on First Ballot; He and Two Rivals Join in Pledging Unity|date=July 19, 1984|first=Howell|last=Raines|publisher=The New York Times}}</ref> and selected [[Geraldine Ferraro]] as his running mate.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1984/07/12/Mondale-reportedly-picks-Ferraro-as-running-mate/4122458452800/|title=Mondale reportedly picks Ferraro as running mate|first=Clay F.|last=Richards|publisher=UPI}}</ref> In October, Carter said “the respect for our country has plummeted under the leadership of this president, who thinks all world problems can be solved with military force and has led us into one of the worst arms races ever — an arms race that can destroy our entire world.” She praised the debating skills of Ferraro and predicted the Mondale-Ferraro ticket would win.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1984/10/17/Former-first-lady-Rosalynn-Carter-said-President-Reagan-resorts/8452466833600/|title=Former first lady Rosalynn Carter said President Reagan resorts…|date=October 17, 1984|publisher=UPI}}</ref> Reagan defeated Mondale in the election.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1984/11/07/American-voters-gave-President-Reagan-a-massive-49-state-landslide/2170468651600/|title=American voters gave President Reagan a massive 49-state landslide…|first=Clay F.|last=Richards|date=November 7, 1984|publisher=UPI}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1984/11/07/reagan-wins-reelection-in-landslide-largest-electoral-college-total-ever/894b05ad-417d-41c3-8c98-d1bdfefae901/|title=Reagan Wins Reelection in Landslide, Largest Electoral College Total Ever|date=November 6, 1984|publisher=The Washington Post}}</ref>

In October 1985, the Carters traveled to [[Kingdom of Nepal|Nepal]] for a thirteen-day vacation in the Himalayan kingdom.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1985/10/18/carters-begin-trek-toward-a-new-summit/|title=Carters Begin Trek Toward A New Summit|date=October 18, 1985|work=Chicago Tribune|access-date=August 16, 2017|archive-date=August 17, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170817063210/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1985-10-18/news/8503110275_1_president-jimmy-carter-base-camp-annapurna|url-status=live}}</ref>

In October 1985, the Carters traveled to [[Kingdom of Nepal|Nepal]] for a thirteen-day vacation in the Himalayan kingdom.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1985/10/18/carters-begin-trek-toward-a-new-summit/|title=Carters Begin Trek Toward A New Summit|date=October 18, 1985|work=Chicago Tribune|access-date=August 16, 2017|archive-date=August 17, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170817063210/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1985-10-18/news/8503110275_1_president-jimmy-carter-base-camp-annapurna|url-status=live}}</ref>

Informant16/Rosalynn Carter
Official portrait, 1977
In role January 20, 1977 – January 20, 1981
President	Jimmy Carter
Preceded by	Betty Ford
Succeeded by	Nancy Reagan
In role January 12, 1971 – January 14, 1975
Governor	Jimmy Carter
Preceded by	Hattie Cox
Succeeded by	Mary Busbee
Born	Eleanor Rosalynn Smith (1927-08-18)August 18, 1927
Died	November 19, 2023(2023-11-19) (aged 96) Plains, Georgia, U.S.
Resting place	Jimmy Carter House, Plains
Political party	Democratic
Spouse
Children	4, including Jack and Amy
Education	Georgia Southwestern College
Signature

Eleanor Rosalynn Carter ( ROH-zə-lin; née Smith; August 18, 1927 – November 19, 2023) was an American activist and humanitarian who served as the first lady of the United States from 1977 to 1981, as the wife of President Jimmy Carter.^[1] Throughout her decades of public service, she was a leading advocate for women’s rights and mental health.^[2]

Carter was born and raised in Plains, Georgia, graduated as valedictorian^[3] of Plains High School, and soon after attended Georgia Southwestern College, where she graduated in 1946. She first became attracted to her future husband, also from Plains, after seeing a picture of him in his U.S. Naval Academy uniform, and they married in 1946. Carter helped her husband win the governorship of Georgia in 1970, and decided to focus her attention in the field of mental health when she was that state’s first lady. She campaigned for him during his successful bid to become president of the United States in the 1976 election, defeating incumbent Republican president Gerald Ford.

Carter was politically active during her husband’s presidency, though she declared that she had no intention of being a traditional first lady. During his term of office, Carter supported her husband’s public policies, as well as his social and personal life. To remain fully informed, she sat in on Cabinet meetings at the invitation of the President. Carter also represented her husband in meetings with domestic and foreign leaders, including as an envoy to Latin America in 1977. He found her to be an equal partner. She campaigned for his failed re-election bid in the 1980 election, which he lost in a landslide to Republican nominee Ronald Reagan.

After leaving the White House in 1981, Carter continued to advocate for mental health and other causes, wrote several books, and became involved in the national and international work of the Carter Center. Her husband and she also contributed to the expansion of the nonprofit housing organization Habitat for Humanity. In 1987, she founded the Institute for Caregivers, to inform and support the efforts of caregivers. She received the Presidential Medal of Freedom alongside her husband in 1999.

After the Carters left the White House in 1981, they continued to lead a very active life. In 1982, she co-founded the Carter Center, a private, nonprofit institution based in Atlanta, Georgia. The Carters returned to the home they had built in 1961 in Plains, Georgia. She was a member of the center’s board of trustees and participated in many of the center’s programs, but gave special attention to the mental health program.^[4] Carter and her husband fell into serious debt immediately after leaving the White House, but were able to pay off their debts by engaging in writing projects and eventually were able to open the Carter Center from their revenue. She, like Betty Ford before her, would say the American people made a mistake in not re-electing her husband and was bitter over the election.^[5] At this time she expressed resentment of Ronald Reagan, and even told interviewer Mike Wallace that he was ruining the country. Rumors at this time spread that she was running for Governor of Georgia, which she denied and outright stated that she had no political ambition.^[6] Nearly two decades later when Hillary Clinton was pondering whether or not to run for Senator in New York, Carter was asked why she had not run for the Georgia Senate. She responded “What would I have done in Washington, with Jimmy in Georgia?”^[7]

Carter and her husband’s first major project with the Carter Center was to help broker a peace deal between Israel and its neighbors. They visited the Middle East in March 1983 and worked with Kenneth W. Stein and other associates of the Carter administration. They invited top leaders from a wide range of cities and countries to participate, including the Palestinians, Jordan, Syria, and Egypt.^[8]

In the early summer of 1986, the Carters aided the poor by helping to build homes on the north and west sides of Chicago.^[9] They were accompanied by members of Habitat for Humanity as they wielded hammers and saws while working for a week to construct homes in a vacant lot.^[10][11] In 1991, the Carters removed themselves and the Carter Center from direct involvement in the Middle East at the time that President George H. W. Bush‘s administration, especially Secretary of State James Baker, became more active in that region. However, they did monitor the Oslo peace agreement of 1993, which sprang from the President and Secretary of State’s bringing Palestinians and other parties involved in the matter to a conference in Madrid.^[12]

Carter created and served as the chair of The Carter Center Mental Health Task Force, an advisory board of experts, consumers, and advocates promoting positive change in the mental health field. She hosted the annual Rosalynn Carter Symposium on Mental Health Policy, bringing together nationwide leaders in the mental health field.^[13]

In April 1984, she became an Honorary Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and served as a board member emeritus of the National Mental Health Association. In 1985, she started the Rosalynn Carter Symposium on Mental Health Policy. The launch and its proceeds allowed representatives of mental health organizations to come together and collaborate on prominent issues.^[14] The success of the symposium led to the creation of the Mental Health Program in 1991. Carter established the Mental Health Task Force that same year to guide the Symposia as well as other Mental Health programs.^[15] She became chair of the International Women Leaders for Mental Health in 1992,^[16] and three years later she was honored with the naming of the Rosalynn Carter Mental Georgia Health Forum after her.^[17]

The Rosalynn Carter Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism provide stipends to journalists to report on topics related to mental health or mental illnesses. The one-year fellowship seeks to promote public awareness of mental health issues, as well as to erase the stigma associated with them.^[18] In September 2004, Carter met with the recipients of the eighth annual Rosalynn Carter Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism at the Carter Center.^[19]

In 2007, Carter joined with David Wellstone, son of one-time U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone, in pushing Congress to pass legislation regarding mental health insurance.^[20] She and Wellstone worked to pass the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 which requires equal coverage of mental and physical illnesses when policies include both types of coverage. Furthermore, both testified before a House subcommittee regarding the bill in July 2007.^[20]

Legislation requiring parity in health insurance coverage for treatment of mental illnesses was ultimately passed and signed into law in October 2008.^[21]

Carter was president of the board of directors for the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregiving (RCI) at Georgia Southwestern State University, her alma mater in Americus, Georgia. The RCI, which was established in 1987, aims to address issues related to caregiving in both the United States and internationally. The institute focuses its work on both family and professional caregivers for individuals living with chronic illness and disabilities, limitations related to aging, and other health concerns people encounter in their lifespan. It plays a major role in moving science into practice for caregivers by supporting the implementation of evidence-based programs and interventions for caregivers in community settings.^[22] The inaugural Rosalynn Carter Institute Gala Celebration of Caregivers took place in June 2004 in Atlanta Symphony Hall and featured Carter presenting bronze medallions to award winners.^[23]

In 1977, Carter was a speaker at the 1977 National Women’s Conference among other speakers including Betty Ford, Bella Abzug, Lady Bird Johnson, Barbara Jordan, Audrey Colom, Claire Randall, Gerridee Wheeler, Cecilia Burciaga, Gloria Steinem, Lenore Hershey and Jean O’Leary.^[24]

In 1988, she convened with three other former first ladies—Betty Ford, Lady Bird Johnson, and Pat Nixon—at the “Women and the Constitution” conference in The Carter Center to assess that document’s impact on women. The conference featured over 150 speakers and 1,500 attendees from all 50 states and 10 foreign countries. The conference was meant to promote awareness of sexual inequality in other countries, and to fight against it in the United States.^[25]

Carter served on the Policy Advisory Board of The Atlanta Project (TAP) of The Carter Center, addressing social ills associated with poverty and quality of life citywide.^[26]

In 1991, Carter launched Every Child By Two, a nationwide campaign that sought to increase early childhood immunizations along with Betty Bumpers, wife of former U.S. Senator Dale Bumpers of Arkansas. Carter served as president of the organization and Bumpers as vice president. The campaign’s launch was in response to the deaths of nearly 150 people after a resurgence of measles.^[27]

Carter also served on the board of advisors for Habitat for Humanity and as an honorary chair of Project Interconnections, both of which aim to provide housing for those in need. Additionally, she was a deacon at her and her husband’s Plains Baptist church.^[28]

After the October 1981 assassination of Anwar Sadat,^[29] the Carters contacted his wife Jehan Sadat and traveled with former presidents Nixon and Ford to represent the United States at his funeral.^[30] The Carters visited Jehan, who Rosalynn pledged to stay with during the funeral.^[31] Later that month, the Carters attended the National Mental Health Association’s gala dinner dance, their first visit to Washington since leaving the White House. Carter presented former Governor of New York W. Averell Harriman with an award during the event.^[32] In December, she released a statement on the death of her personal secretary Rita Regina Merthan.^[33]

In October 1982, Carter attended the funeral of Bess Truman in Independence, Missouri.^[34][35]

In March 1983, the Carters traveled throughout the Middle East.^[36] In late 1983, Carter visited her ailing mother-in-law Lillian Carter at Americus-Sumter County Hospital, and was by her bedside when she died.^[37] Days later, she attended the funeral, where a eulogist hailed Lillian’s many good works.^[38]

Leading up to the 1984 election, former President Carter was mentioned as a possible candidate (a prospective run supported by his wife),^[39] but announced he would not be a candidate.^[40]
Mondale, Carter’s former Vice President, ran for the nomination.^[41][42] In October 1983, while attending a conference of Friendship Force, Carter expressed that there was a gender gap in the Reagan administration that would take “sincerity on the part of the president to be able to overcome that”. She mentioned being a member of the Mondale election committee and said, ‘I am going to do everything I can that is possible to get a Democratic White House.”^[43] In June 1984, Carter told U.S. News & World Report that she understood why some Democrats would view her husband as a liability when campaigning, but that it nonetheless upset her because he was “an asset to the party”.^[44] Mondale became the Democratic nominee the following month,^[45][46] and selected Geraldine Ferraro as his running mate.^[47] In October, Carter said “the respect for our country has plummeted under the leadership of this president, who thinks all world problems can be solved with military force and has led us into one of the worst arms races ever — an arms race that can destroy our entire world.” She praised the debating skills of Ferraro and predicted the Mondale-Ferraro ticket would win.^[48] Reagan defeated Mondale in the election.^[49][50]

In October 1985, the Carters traveled to Nepal for a thirteen-day vacation in the Himalayan kingdom.^[51]

In July 1986, Carter traveled with her husband to Chicago, Illinois for a weekend assisting with construction projects for Habitat for Humanity.^[52] In October, the Carters gave President Reagan and his wife Nancy a tour of the Jimmy Carter Library and Museum.^[53]

On January 19, 1988, Carter was given the honor of christening the cruise ship Sovereign of the Seas in a gala ceremony in Miami. It was the largest cruise ship in the world at the time. A special oversized 26+1⁄4 liter bottle of Taittinger‘s champagne was used. In March 1988, Carter attended a hearing on mental health by the House Select Committee on Aging. She lamented that ten years after a presidential commission found that 10 percent of Americans needed some form of mental health care, “most who were underserved at that time are still underserved in 1988”.^[54] Later that month, the Carters traveled to Nigeria for discussions with officials on disease control and rural development projects.^[55]

In April 1991, the Carters traveled to Beijing. The couple met with senior Chinese government officials and visited educational and medical facilities aided by in a push for improvements in China’s human rights policy.^[56] Carter attended the November 4, 1991, dedication of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum.^[57]

On September 13, 1993, the Carters returned to the White House for a ceremony that featured the signing by Israel and the PLO of an agreement on Palestinian self-government. Former president George H. W. Bush joined the Carters in staying overnight at the invitation of President Bill Clinton so that they could attend a ceremony promoting the North American Free Trade Agreement the next day. This marked “the first time ever that two former presidents have stayed as guests of the President overnight”, according to a presidential aide.^[58]

In August 1994, the Carters organized a Habitat for Humanity crew for the rebuilding of the house of family friend Annie Mae after it had been destroyed in a flood the previous month.^[59]

On December 4, 2001, Carter delivered a speech to the National Press Club.^[60]

In January 2003, Carter attended the benefit for the 20th anniversary celebration of the Betty Ford Center in Indian Wells, California.^[61]

During the June 5, 2004, christening of the USS Jimmy Carter in Groton, Connecticut, Carter served as the ship sponsor and christened the ship with a bottle of champagne.^[62] On October 11, 2004, Carter delivered the keynote address at the AAP National Conference & Exhibition, stating that she would favor medical school curricula requiring doctors to have the ability to recognize mental health symptoms and stressing the importance of recognizing symptoms in early childhood.^[63]

In December 2006, Carter was ordained a deacon at the Maranatha Baptist Church.^[64]

In January 2007, Carter and her husband joined other first ladies and presidents in attending the funeral of Gerald Ford,^[65] and six months later attended Lady Bird Johnson‘s as well.^[66] In a 2007 interview shortly before her 80th birthday, Carter said she would continue keeping a full schedule despite wanting to curtail it due to her advancing age, and that she had planned to lower her workload, but failed to do so because she still did not “want to miss anything.”^[67]

In March 2009, the Carters met with National Security Advisor James L. Jones for a “general briefing”.^[68] Carter was present for the April 21, 2009, signing by President Barack Obama of the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act.^[69]

In 2010, Carter criticized television crime dramas that portrayed mentally ill people as violent, when in fact they were more prone to being victims of crime.^[70] On May 7, 2010, she attended the Michelle Obama-hosted Mother’s Day Tea at the White House, and was joined by her granddaughter Sarah and infant great-granddaughter.^[71]

After the death of Betty Ford on July 8, 2011, Carter delivered a eulogy during a memorial service.^[72] Carter called her one who had the courage to speak the truth and fight stigmas surrounding illness and addiction, even calling her “a tireless advocate for those struggling.”^[73]

Carter attended a speech given by Georgia National Guard‘s Colonel Brent Bracewell in the morning hours of October 25, 2012.^[74] Carter gave out the Georgia Paraprofessional Caregiver of the Year, Volunteer Caregiver of the Year, Family Caregiver of the Year, and an award with her namesake, the Rosalynn Carter Leadership in Caregiving Award later that day and expressed happiness in the amount of progress that had been made “since we started.”^[75]

On April 25, 2013, Carter attended the dedication of the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum with her husband and other former first ladies and presidents. In October 2013, Carter spoke about her confidence in the American people and her lack of confidence in the government on the issue of the income gap in the United States.^[76] Carter saw “one of the greatest disappointments” corrected in November 2013 when Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced that the Obama administration had passed a mental health insurance rule.^[77] She said she was “shaking” upon learning that the new government rules required equal treatment for mental health care.^[78] She and her husband were saddened by the death of Nelson Mandela.^[79]

In 2013, Rosalynn traveled to the neighborhood of Queens Village in New York City to help with 5 housing construction projects. Jimmy Carter, Chip Carter, and Chip’s wife Becky also traveled to New York with her to volunteer.^[80]

In August 2015, Jimmy announced his cancer diagnosis, stating that it had spread throughout his body.^[81] At the time of the announcement, Betty Pope, cousin of the former president, attested to Rosalynn’s strength and voiced her belief that the former first lady would remain committed to her husband.^[82] Carter made her first public comments about the illness a month later in September, saying, “In spite of what’s going on, it’s been kind of wonderful just to know we have that kind of support, and also Jimmy’s attitude is helping.”^[83] In November 2015, she and her husband traveled to Memphis, Tennessee where they assisted in construction for the town’s Habitat for Humanity affiliate.^[84][85]

In January 2016, Jimmy Carter confirmed that he was having regular treatments and said of Rosalynn at the time, “Her support has helped me through the last 69 years since we’ve been married in everything I’ve ever tried. Of course, when I was ill and thought I might die at any time, she was there for me.”^[86][87] Carter attended the March 11, 2016, funeral of Nancy Reagan at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California.^[88][89] In July 2016, Carter endorsed Proposition 62, which would abolish the death penalty in California, releasing a joint statement with her husband in support of the measure.^[90] She voted for Bernie Sanders in the Democratic presidential primary of that year. Carter differed from her husband in believing Russia had interfered with determining the results of the general election.^[91] Upon the death of Barbara Bush on April 17, 2018, Carter became the oldest living former first lady. On October 17, 2019, she became the longest-married former first lady.^[92]

In April 2021, the Bidens visited the Carters at their home in Plains.^[93] In July, the Carters celebrated their 75th wedding anniversary, becoming the first presidential couple to do so.^[94]

Shortly after leaving office, Carter signed with Houghton Mifflin for the writing of her autobiography.^[95] Writing began within the first months of her retirement.^[96] Carter’s memoir, First Lady from Plains, was released in 1984.^[97] The book was well-received, with Phil Gailey calling it “probably the most useful to those still trying to understand Jimmy Carter” of the four memoirs of the Carters, Hamilton Jordan, and Jody Powell.^[98] Lucille Deview noted that Carter wrote of “many historic events with her warm reminiscences” and opined that the book’s sole flaw would be Carter’s “almost desperate yearning to justify everything in her husband’s presidency — a wish to have all Americans love the man they turned out of office.”^[99] Mark Updegrove wrote that her memoir, and that of her husband, Keeping Faith: Memoirs of a President, succeeded in “boosting the bank account and spirits of their authors.”^[100]

In 1987, the Carters wrote Everything to Gain: Making the Most of the Rest of Your Life.^[101] The book was the first the Carters had written together and saw their conflicting writing styles and manner of working clash. Former President Carter admitted the two were both strong-willed, and said of his wife, “If Rosalynn wrote something, it was sacred. It was like she just came down off Mount Sinai with it. It was painful to her if I suggested that we change a few words.” The two also disagreed on how personal the book would be, and eventually became so strained that their communication became limited to their word processors.^[102] The Washington Post described it as “a curious production, half memoir and half self-help book”, and concluded that much of the advice was not unique to the book, saying it raised the question “Was this book really necessary?”^{[103][104][105]}

In 1994, Carter and Susan K. Golant wrote Helping Yourself Help Others: A Book for Caregivers.^[106] Twenty years after its publication, the New York Times would cite it as one of the five books that made caregiving more manageable.^[107]

In 1998, Carter and Golant wrote Helping Someone with Mental Illness: A Compassionate Guide for Family, Friends, and Caregivers.^[108] When she traveled to Fort Wayne, Carter said the topic of mental illness “is so important to me, and it needs to be important to everybody because of the prevalence of it. So many people suffer unnecessarily when they could get help.”^[109]

In 2010, Carter, Golant, and Kathyyn E. Cade wrote Within Our Reach: Ending the Mental Health Crisis.^[110] In speaking at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum during the book’s promotion, Carter acknowledged the government was doing a better job providing services to veterans with PTSD, but more work was needed to support programs for those with mental illnesses: “You can get all the money you want for jails and prisons. Jails and prisons are the largest mental institutions in the country. You can’t get money for mental health programs.”^[111]