Former President Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn Carter have been married 76 years.
According to Biography.com, Rosalynn Carter was a close childhood friend of Jimmy’s sister Ruth. But it wasn’t until 1945 that Jimmy noticed Rosalynn.
Carter was in his final year at Annapolis and had returned home for a visit.
Rosalynn was a freshman at nearby Georgia Southwestern College.
One night when Jimmy’s plans fell through with another girl, he impulsively asked Rosalynn to the movies. They shared a kiss afterward and Jimmy told his mother that he had met his future wife.
The couple were married on July 7, 1946, at the Plains Methodist Church just weeks after Jimmy’s graduation.
The couple moved to Norfolk, Virginia, for Jimmy’s first naval assignment. It was there that Rosalynn gave birth to the first of the couple’s four children.
The family would also live in Hawaii, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts before settling in New York state.
When Jimmy’s father died in 1953, they moved back to Georgia to run the family’s interests, including a peanut farm. Rosalynn was initially unhappy about the move but eventually settled in.
In 1962, Carter won a seat in the Georgia State Senate and his political career began.
He became governor in 1970 and then ran for president in 1976.
Rosalynn became the first presidential spouse to have her own office in the East Wing and was a close advisor to her husband.
After failing to be re-elected in 1980, the couple moved back to Georgia. They co-founded The Carter Center in Atlanta and spent decades fighting for peace and fighting against diseases around the world.
They also began working with Habitat for Humanity, helping build thousands of homes over the years in countries around the world.
In 2002, Jimmy was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work.
In March 2019, Carter became the longest-living president in American history and the couple celebrated their 73rd anniversary.
