By Sarah Becker ©
February 14th is Saint Valentine’s Day, a day of celebration for sweethearts and friends. Rosalynn and Jimmy Carter shared 77 years of marriage, more years than I am old. They married in 1946, the same year Jimmy graduated with distinction from the U.S. Naval Academy. Carter was 21 and she was 18.
“My darling [Rosalynn], every time I’ve ever been away from you, I have been thrilled when I returned to discover just how wonderful you are,” husband Jimmy wrote in 1948. “While I am away, I try to convince myself that you really are not, could not be, as sweet and beautiful as I remember. But when I see you, I fall in love with you all over again….” The Carters were the longest married Presidential couple in U.S. history.
“It was during the early years of the 14th century that the shape of the St. Valentine heart made its appearance,” The Lancet’s Pierre Linken wrote. Rosalynn, Jimmy Carter’s forever Valentine died on November 19, 2023, at age 96.
Three years her senior former President Carter now lives alone at home in Plains, Georgia: his sweetheart held securely in his heart. According to Fox 5 Atlanta Rosalynn was buried by a willow tree near the edge of a pond—their fly-fishing pond—“within view of the front porch” of their home. “He never wants to be very far from her,” Carter Center CEO Paige Alexander said.
“My grandmother’s…life was a mighty testament to the power of faith and…a deep and determined love,” grandson Jason Carter added.
President Jimmy Carter [D-GA, 1977-1981], a Southern Baptist is long known for his church teachings, the morality he brought to the White House. “In this outward and physical ceremony we attest once again to the inner and spiritual strength of our Nation,” Carter said on January 20, 1977. “Here before me is the Bible used in the inauguration of our first President [George Washington], in 1789.…”
Relatedly President Jimmy and First Lady Rosalynn Carter visited Alexandria’s Episcopal Christ Church, a church which opened in 1773. President Carter’s Daily Diary confirms their last Church visit as Tuesday January 6, 1981. They sat in George Washington’s Box Pew while attending Epiphany services.
“The [39th] inauguration ceremony marks a new beginning, a new dedication within our Government, and a new spirit among us all,” Carter continued. “Two centuries ago, our Nation’s birth was a milestone in the long quest for freedom.”
“Ours was the first society openly to define itself in terms of both spirituality and of human liberty,” Carter claimed. “It is that unique self-definition which has given us an exceptional appeal.”
“Let us learn together and laugh together and work together and pray together, confident in the end that we will triumph together in the right,” Carter concluded. “The American dream endures [as does] our Nation’s continuing moral strength.”
“[My grandfather] has been the moral rock for so many people,” Jason Carter mused, “but Rosalynn really was that rock for him.”
“Philosophers, theologians and now neuroscientists think a lot about love,” University of Utah Health suggested. “Maybe as Valentine’s Day approaches we should think a little bit about the different kinds of love: Eros—passionate love, Philia—love of friends and equals, Storge—love of parents for children, and Agape—love modeled on the love of the Christian God.”
Jimmy Carter describes himself as a born-again Christian. Said candidate Carter in 1976, his Presidential election year: “Love alone is not enough for man to win salvation for eternal life.”
“Out of love has to come one more step,” Carter explained. “The step: Simple justice.” He “repeatedly stressed his belief in equality…Christ chose to deal with ‘prostitutes, tax collectors, dark-skinned people and lepers.’”
Song of Solomon, 1.5: “I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon.”
Both Carters have long dedicated themselves to others achievement of the American Dream. “Rarely do we honor two people who have devoted themselves so effectively to advancing freedom,” President Bill Clinton [D-AR, 1993-2003] said. “Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter have done more good things for more people in more places than any other couple on the face of the Earth.” Each received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1999.
“To be sure, there have been other Presidents who have continued to contribute to the public good once they left office: Thomas Jefferson founded the University of Virginia; John Quincy Adams returned to Congress for eight terms and fought slavery; William Howard Taft became Chief Justice,” Clinton continued.
“But the work President Carter has done through this extraordinary Carter Center to improve our Nation and our world is truly unparalleled in our Nation’s history,” Clinton declared. “We’ve all gotten used to seeing pictures of the Carters building homes for people through Habitat for Humanity. But the full story lies in pictures we don’t see of the 115 countries he’s visited since leaving office, to end hunger and disease and to spread the cause of peace….” Former President Carter was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.
As for Habitat for Humanity: Jimmy and Rosalynn routinely volunteered to build housing in low-income neighborhoods. The sell: home ownership, sweat equity style. In 1995, 1998-99 and 2005 Habitat for Humanity purchased and rebuilt several dilapidated homes in Alexandria’s crime ridden inner city. 1107, 1109, 1111, 1112 and 1114 Princess Street included.
“For…years Rosalynn Carter has made it her mission to erase the stigma surrounding mental health,” Clinton reminded. “As First Lady of Georgia she…volunteered her time at a State hospital. She then took what she learned to the White House where she chaired the President’s Commission on Mental Health. Afterwards she initiated the Rosalyn Carter Symposium on Mental Health Policy and…promoted action. We also owe Rosalynn our gratitude for her efforts to ensure that all our children are immunized.”
Rosalynn was Jimmy’s “equal partner.” It was President Carter who in 1978 partnered with Congress to extend the 1972 Equal Rights Amendment’s deadline for ratification—from 1979 to 1982.
“The extraordinary partnership between these two remarkable Americans has long remained strong,” Clinton concluded. “At its heart, those of us who admire them see their journey as one of love and faith.”
If you really want to spoil your Valentine try serving Rosalynn’s favorite Strawberry Cake. From The White House: Ingredients include 1 package yellow or white cake mix, 1 3-oz. package of strawberry jello, ¾ cup cooking oil, 1 cup chopped nuts, 4 eggs, 2-tbsps. flour, 1 10-oz. package frozen strawberries or 1 pint fresh strawberries with ½ cup sugar.
Mix all ingredients and beat well; pour into angel food cake pan and bake at 3500 for 45 minutes or until done. Serve plain or with whipped cream.
Jimmy Carter, with Rosalynn’s able assistance “gave the country an administration that was marked by integrity,” Smithsonian historian Carter Smith concluded.
In 1979 President Carter installed 32 thermal-solar panels on the White House roof, panels which could “harness the power of the sun [and lessen] our crippling dependence on foreign oil.” Seven years later President Ronald Reagan [R-CA, 1981-89] gutted DOE’s renewable energies budget and removed them. Three of the discarded panels are now museum pieces, one displayed in China’s Solar Science and Technology Museum.
Time has proven the Carters right is so many ways! Seventy-seven Valentine Day celebrations included.
Sarah Becker started writing for The Economist while a graduate student in England. Similar publications followed. She joined the Crier in 1996 while serving on the Alexandria Convention and Visitors Association Board. Her interest in antiquities began as a World Bank hire, with Indonesia’s need to generate hard currency. Balinese history, i.e. tourism provided the means. The New York Times describes Becker’s book, Off Your Duffs & Up the Assets, as “a blueprint for thousands of nonprofit managers.” A former museum director, SLAM’s saving grace Sarah received Alexandria’s Salute to Women Award in 2007. Email: abitofhistory53@gmail.com