The Carters are a legendary couple.
At 97, former President Jimmy Carter is the longest-lived president in American history, and former first lady Rosalynn turns 95 next month. In 2019, the pair became the longest-married couple in presidential history when they bested the record held by the late George H.W. Bush and Barbara Bush, who were married for 73 years.
Today’s rare 76th wedding anniversary adds one more milestone to the Carters’ achievements, which also include being the governor and first lady of Georgia, stewards of the Carter Center and volunteers for Habitat for Humanity.
The Carter Center’s work has allowed Jimmy Carter to maintain global influence in the areas of peace, democracy, human rights and ending disease — and, until recently, time on the weekends to teach a hometown Sunday school class at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Georgia.
The mental health advocacy work Rosalynn Carter pioneered during her White House years also continues at the Carter Center through Georgia-based programs and U.S. and international mental health initiatives.
The Carters have “provided Americans with an ideal model of post-presidential life,” Robert Strong, a presidential historian wrote in the Presidential Oral History program at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center. “In fact, some consider him to be the nation’s greatest former president.”
Lovers of music, sports and summer gatherings, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter have been spotted over the years singing “Amazing Grace” with Willie Nelson on stage at Atlanta’s Chastain Park Amphitheatre and kissing at an Atlanta Braves baseball game.
Tonight, they will celebrate at home, said Carter Center spokesperson Rennie Sloan. But the Center’s Board Chair, Jason Carter, will throw the first pitch in honor of his grandparents as the Braves take on the St. Louis Cardinals at Truist Park.
Here’s to another year.
This story comes to The Georgia Sun through a reporting partnership with GPB a non-profit newsroom focused on reporting in Georgia.
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