© 2026 WUGA | University of Georgia
Donate
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Local Programs
Remember the Ladies

Rosalynn Carter

Published July 1, 2026 at 10:00 AM EDT
This is the official White House portrait of Mrs. Rosalynn Carter, wife of President Jimmy Carter, July, 1978. (AP Photo/The White House)
1 of 3  — ROSALYNN CARTER
This is the official White House portrait of Mrs. Rosalynn Carter, wife of President Jimmy Carter, July, 1978. (AP Photo/The White House)
Anonymous/ASSOCIATED PRESS / THE WHITE HOUSE
FILE - President Jimmy Carter talks with his wife, first lady Rosalynn Carter, prior to signing an executive order establishing a Presidential Commission on Mental Health, Feb. 17, 1977, in the East Room of the White House in Washington. Health care experts say the advocacy of Rosalynn Carter, who died Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023, at age 96, created a framework for much of the progress on mental illness in America. (AP Photo/Charles Tasnadi, File)
2 of 3  — Rosalynn Carter Mental Health
FILE - President Jimmy Carter talks with his wife, first lady Rosalynn Carter, prior to signing an executive order establishing a Presidential Commission on Mental Health, Feb. 17, 1977, in the East Room of the White House in Washington. Health care experts say the advocacy of Rosalynn Carter, who died Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023, at age 96, created a framework for much of the progress on mental illness in America. (AP Photo/Charles Tasnadi, File)
Charles Tasnadi/AP / AP
FILE - In this March 5, 2008 file photo, former first lady Rosalynn Carter, center, flanked by Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., left, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., right, participates in rally on the Capitol Hill in Washington to discuss bipartisan mental health parity legislation. As her husband's political career catapulted him to the White House, Mrs. Carter worked to bring mental health to the fore. Her advocacy has continued long after the couple left the nation's capital and established the Carter Center in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)
3 of 3  — Rosalynn Carter, Patrick Kennedy, Nancy Pelosi
FILE - In this March 5, 2008 file photo, former first lady Rosalynn Carter, center, flanked by Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., left, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., right, participates in rally on the Capitol Hill in Washington to discuss bipartisan mental health parity legislation. As her husband's political career catapulted him to the White House, Mrs. Carter worked to bring mental health to the fore. Her advocacy has continued long after the couple left the nation's capital and established the Carter Center in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)
Manuel Balce Ceneta/ASSOCIATED PRESS / AP

Rosalynn Carter was the First Lady of the United States during the tenure of her husband, Jimmy Carter.

High School sweethearts from Plains, GA, they were always equal partners. Rosalynn sat in on Cabinet meetings and represented President Carter on occasion in meetings with domestic and foreign leaders. Her activism in the White House helped shape and transform the role of First Lady.

Rosalynn was a strong advocate for mental health, serving as the honorary chairperson of the President's Commission on Mental Health, and later establishing the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregiving. Together, she and her husband founded The Carter Center - a nonprofit dedicated to human rights and conflict resolution.

They were awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1999.

Remember the Ladies