Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter has died at the age of 96. She died in Plains, Georgia, in the house where she lived with her husband, 99-year-old Jimmy Carter to whom she was married for 77 years.
Just a few days ago, the Carter Center announced that Rosalynn had begun palliative care after years of dementia and a prolonged period of deteriorating health. Now the husband is left to fight alone: the former president has also been undergoing palliative care for months.
“Rosalynn has been my partner in everything I've done. She was my guidance and encouragement when I needed it. As long as she was in the world, I knew there was someone who loved me and supported me," said the former president who, when he was still in the White House, called Rosalynn his "best friend, my perfect extension, probably the most influential person in my life."
By participating in cabinet meetings and speaking out on the most controversial issues, Rosalynn revolutionized the role of First Lady in her four years in the White House between 1977 and 1981. Her influence was so strong that some in the White House called her the "co- president": "I am more political than my husband", she often repeated. After Carter's defeat in 1980 she continued to fight for his causes: with her husband she founded the Carter Center and wrote "Helping Yourself Help Others" on the difficulties of taking care the elderly or relatives in crisis.
(Unioneonline/D)