Uploaded November 2023 | Updated September 2026, 13 hours ago
Eleanor Rosalynn Carter (/ˈroʊzəlɪn/ ROH-zə-lin; née Smith; August 18, 1927 – November 19, 2023) was an American writer and activist who served as the first lady of the United States from 1977 to 1981, as the wife of President Jimmy Carter. For the decades she was in public service, she was a leading advocate for numerous causes, including mental health.
Carter was born and raised in Plains, Georgia, graduated as valedictorian] of Plains High School, and soon after attended Georgia Southwestern College, where she graduated in 1946. She first became attracted to her husband, also from Plains, after seeing a picture of him in his U.S. Naval Academy uniform, and they married in 1946. Carter helped her husband win the governorship of Georgia in 1970, and decided to focus her attention in the field of mental health when she was that state's first lady. She campaigned for her husband during his successful bid to become president of the United States in the 1976 election, defeating incumbent Republican president Gerald Ford.
Eleanor Rosalynn Carter (/ˈroʊzəlɪn/ ROH-zə-lin; née Smith; August 18, 1927 – November 19, 2023) was an American writer and activist who served as the first lady of the United States from 1977 to 1981, as the wife of President Jimmy Carter. For the decades she was in public service, she was a leading advocate for numerous causes, including mental health.
Carter was born and raised in Plains, Georgia, graduated as valedictorian] of Plains High School, and soon after attended Georgia Southwestern College, where she graduated in 1946. She first became attracted to her husband, also from Plains, after seeing a picture of him in his U.S. Naval Academy uniform, and they married in 1946. Carter helped her husband win the governorship of Georgia in 1970, and decided to focus her attention in the field of mental health when she was that state's first lady. She campaigned for her husband during his successful bid to become president of the United States in the 1976 election, defeating incumbent Republican president Gerald Ford.
