Rosalynn Carter Has Dementia, Is Living 'Happily at Home' with Husband Jimmy Carter
The former first lady's diagnosis was revealed more than three months after her husband, President Carter, began receiving hospice care
Former first lady Rosalynn Carter, 95, has been diagnosed with dementia, her family revealed on Tuesday. The announcement comes more than three months after Rosalynn's 98-year-old husband, former President Jimmy Carter, entered hospice care.
"Mrs. Carter has been the nation’s leading mental health advocate for much of her life. First in the Georgia Governor’s Mansion, then in the White House, and later at The Carter Center, she urged improved access to care and decreased stigma about issues surrounding mental health," a statement released by her family reads.
The statement continues: "One in 10 older Americans have dementia, a condition that affects overall mental health. We recognize, as she did more than half a century ago, that stigma is often a barrier that keeps individuals and their families from seeking and getting much-needed support. We hope sharing our family's news will increase important conversations at kitchen tables and in doctor’s offices around the country."
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On Feb. 18, the Carter family announced that President Carter — the longest-living president of the United States — had terminated medical intervention and would live out the rest of his days at home in Georgia with loved ones.
Few updates have been provided on the former president's condition, but on Tuesday, the Carter family offered an update on Rosalynn's health, noting that she "continues to live happily at home with her husband, enjoying spring in Plains and visits with loved ones."
"As the founder of the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregivers, Mrs. Carter often noted that there are only four kinds of people in this world: those who have been caregivers; those who are currently caregivers, those who will be caregivers, and those who will need caregivers," the Carter family statement says. "The universality of caregiving is clear in our family, and we are experiencing the joy and the challenges of this journey. We do not expect to comment further and ask for understanding for our family and for everyone across the country serving in a caregiver role."
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Rosalynn met her husband when Jimmy was 3 years old and she was just a newborn. Their parents were close friends and neighbors, and Jimmy's mother, Bessie Lillian Carter, helped deliver Rosalynn, according to Biography.com.
President Carter told his mother he wanted to marry Rosalynn after their first date and the two have remained as smitten since becoming nonagenarians.
The Carters celebrated their 76th wedding anniversary on July 7, 2022 and have four children, 12 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren.
"The best thing I ever did was marrying Rosalynn," the former president said in a 2015 interview. "That's the pinnacle of my life."
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Rosalynn served as a constant campaign surrogate during her husband's political career and, upon his inauguration as Georgia governor in November 1970, began her work on destigmatizing mental illness and raising awareness of mental health, as well as championing other causes as the state's first lady.
"Jimmy gave me the confidence to do things I was afraid of," Rosalynn has said of her time as Georgia's first lady. "I remember when we were in the Georgia governor's mansion, I used to greet tourists and talk to everybody who came through. One day, Jimmy told me I was going to have to make a speech. I was so nervous, and he said, 'Why don't you just do what you do at the governor's mansion when you're talking to the tourists?' So I made the speech with no problem, ran to the telephone and called Jimmy to say, 'I did it!' I did it because I had to do it."
Shortly after the Carters left the White House in 1981, they co-founded The Carter Center, a private, not-for-profit institution based in Atlanta. In the decades since, Rosalynn has served on the Center's Board of Trustees and has participated in many of the Center's programs, particularly to the Mental Health Programs.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
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