Rosalynn Carter

Early life

Eleanor Rosalynn Smith was born on August 18, 1927, in Plains, Georgia. She was the eldest of four children of Wilburn Edgar Smith, an auto mechanic, bus driver, and farmer, and Frances Allethea "Allie" Murray Smith, a teacher, dressmaker, and postal worker. Her brothers were William Jerrold "Jerry" Smith (1929–2003), an engineer, and Murray Lee Smith (1932–2003), a teacher and minister. Her sister, Lillian Allethea (Smith) Wall (born 1936), known as Allethea, named for her mother and for Lillian Gordy Carter (the Smith and Carter families being friends), is a real estate broker. Rosalynn was named after Rosa Wise Murray, her maternal grandmother. Smith's grand-uncle W.S. Wise was one of the American Brazilians known as Confederados who emigrated from the United States to the Brazilian Empire after the American Civil War.

Smith's family lived in poverty, although she later said that her siblings and she were unaware of it, because even though their family "didn't have much money [...] neither did anyone else, so as far as we knew, we were well off." Churches and schools were at the center of her family's community, and the people of Plains were familiar with each other. Smith played with the boys during her early childhood, since no girls on her street were her age. She drew buildings and was interested in airplanes, which led her to believe that she would someday become an architect.

Rosalynn's father died of leukemia in 1940, when she was 13. She called the loss of her father the conclusion of her childhood. Thereafter, she helped her mother raise her younger siblings, and assisted in the dressmaking business to meet the family's financial obligations. Rosalynn would credit her mother with inspiring her own independence and said that she learned from her mother that "you can do what you have to do". At Plains High School, Rosalynn worked hard to achieve her father's dream of seeing her go to college. Rosalynn graduated as valedictorian of Plains High School. Soon after, she attended Georgia Southwestern College and graduated in 1946. During her time in college, Rosalynn served as vice president of her class and was a founding member of her school's Young Democrats, Campus Marshal, and Tumbling Clubs. She graduated with a junior college diploma.

Rosalynn first dated Jimmy Carter in 1945 while he was attending the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis. Rosalynn agreed to marry Jimmy in February 1946, when she went to Annapolis with his parents. The two scheduled their marriage to take place in July and kept the arrangement secret. Rosalynn was hesitant to tell her mother she had chosen to marry instead of continuing her education. On July 7, 1946, they married in Plains. Their marriage caused Rosalynn to cancel her plans to attend Georgia State College for Women, where she had planned to study interior design. The couple had four children: John William "Jack" (b. 1947), James Earl "Chip" III (b. 1950), Donnel Jeffrey "Jeff" (b. 1952), and Amy Lynn (b. 1967).

First Lady (1971–1981)

First Lady of Georgia (1971–1975)

After helping her husband win the governorship of Georgia in 1970, Rosalynn decided to focus her attention mainly in the field of mental health when she was that state's first lady. She was appointed to the Governor's Commission to Improve Services for the Mentally and Emotionally Handicapped. Many of the commission's recommendations were approved and became law. In August 1971, Carter engaged in a statewide tour of mental-health facilities across Georgia. She described her efforts on behalf of mentally disabled children as her proudest achievement as First Lady of Georgia.

Carter also served as a volunteer at the Georgia Regional Hospital at Atlanta, and for four years was honorary chairperson for the Georgia Special Olympics.

Her work in addressing social issues made her "virtually revered in professional health-care circles." Her activities included entertaining as many as 750 people a week for dinner at the Governor's Mansion. Governor Carter once claimed that he had supported the Equal Rights Amendment, while his wife was opposed to the measure; the First Lady privately confronted him upon hearing news of the claim, and Carter corrected himself by later announcing to the press, "I thought I knew what Rosalynn thought, but I was wrong."

1976 presidential campaign

When her husband's gubernatorial term ended in January 1975, Rosalynn, Jimmy, and Amy Carter returned to Plains. Jimmy had already announced his plans to run for president of the United States. Rosalynn got back on the campaign trail, this time on a national quest to gather support for her husband. She campaigned alone on his behalf in 41 states. Because of her husband's obscurity at the time, she often had to answer the question, "Jimmy who?" She promoted the establishment of additional daycare facilities and adjustments to "Social Security and so many other things to help the elderly." In summer 1975, Rosalynn left the campaign trail to spend weeks at the Carter campaign's Atlanta headquarters raising money. She would later write that asking for donations was the part of campaigning she liked the least.

During the months when she was campaigning across the country, she was elected to the board of directors of the National Association of Mental Health, honored by the National Organization for Women with an Award of Merit for her vigorous support for the Equal Rights Amendment, and received the Volunteer of the Year Award from the Southwestern Association of Volunteer Services.

Rosalynn sat in the balcony at Madison Square Garden with friends and family the night of the nomination, while her husband was with his mother and daughter. She had "butterflies in her stomach" until the Ohio delegation announced its votes were for her husband. Rosalynn wished she could have been with him at that time. The Carters met with all the potential running mates, and instantly gained affinity for Walter Mondale after meeting with him and his wife Joan. Rosalynn was unaware of her husband's choice in running mate until the 1976 Democratic National Convention, where Jimmy Carter telephoned Mondale to confirm him as his pick. At the convention, Rosalynn made several speeches to various state delegations. The Carters invited the five thousand delegates to a party where they shook the hands with all who attended, and by the event's last hour, Rosalynn was left only able to nod at guests after her mouth became dry.

After the 1976 Republican National Convention, Jimmy's lead in the polls lessened, making Rosalynn more anxious as they headed into the campaign's final months. Weeks before the election, Jimmy gave a Playboy interview where he admitted that he "looked on a lot of women with lust. I've committed adultery in my heart many times." His response would become the first question Rosalynn was asked while campaigning, and she would say she had never questioned her husband's fidelity. Jimmy Carter defeated Ford in the election. The Carters were at the campaign headquarters when the results came in. Both cried, and Rosalynn would later write that she had never been more proud. Following the election, the Carters traveled to the White House and met with President Ford and First Lady Betty Ford, the latter becoming a role model for Rosalynn.

First Lady of the United States (1977–1981)

When her husband assumed the presidency in January 1977, Rosalynn and Jimmy Carter walked hand-in-hand down Pennsylvania Avenue during his presidential inauguration parade. The gown that she wore to the inaugural balls was the same one that she had worn six years earlier at the Atlanta balls when Jimmy became governor.

Carter declared that she had no intention of being a traditional first lady of the United States. During her husband's administration, she supported his public policies, as well as his social and personal life. To remain fully informed, she sat in on Cabinet meetings at the invitation of the President. The first meeting she attended was on February 28, 1977, where she felt comfortable since she was among other officials who were not members. The idea for her to be in attendance came at her husband's suggestion when she started to question him about a news story.

Carter took notes at the meetings, but never spoke. As she put it, "I was there to be informed so that when I traveled across the country, which I did a great deal, and was questioned by the press and other individuals about all areas of government, I'd know what was going on." When the cultural exchange program Friendship Force International launched at the White House on March 1, 1977, she became honorary chairperson, a position she held until 2002. She joined Lady Bird Johnson and Betty Ford in supporting the unsuccessful campaign for the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) at the Houston conference celebrating the International Women's Year in 1977.

In 1977, Carter was a speaker at the 1977 National Women's Conference among other speakers including Betty Ford, Bella Abzug, Lady Bird Johnson, Barbara Jordan, Audrey Colom, Claire Randall, Gerridee Wheeler, Cecilia Burciaga, Gloria Steinem, Lenore Hershey and Jean O'Leary.

For Christmas 1977, she decorated the White House's Christmas tree with ornaments made from pine cones, peanuts, and egg shells. On July 27, 1978, Carter was the host of "First Lady's Employment Seminar". Between 200 and 300 delegates came and shared information to learn how other communities responded to the problem of unemployment. Carter remembered 1979 and 1980 as years of never-ending crises, the years having "Big ones and small ones, potential disasters and mere annoyances."

1980 presidential campaign

In November 1979, a group of Iranian students took over the US Embassy in Tehran. The students belonged to the Muslim Student Followers of the Imam's Line and supported the Iranian revolution. They held fifty-two American diplomats and citizens hostage. Carter addressed the Florida Democratic Convention later that month in St. Petersburg, Florida, calling the crisis "an outrage totally outside the bounds of international law." She furthered that the administration's goal was getting each hostage released safely and referred to the situation as "the most trying period" of her husband's presidency. President Carter announced his re-election campaign in December 1979, and was challenged by Ted Kennedy in the Democratic presidential primaries. He would later write that the ongoing Iran hostage crisis impacted his choice to rely on his wife among others in his administration to advocate for his policies on the campaign trail. Vice President Mondale would come to view himself and Rosalynn as President Carter's proxies through much of the spring portion of the election cycle. She would reflect that the Iowa victory of the Carter re-election campaign, which saw President Carter defeat Kennedy 59.2% to 31.2%, made it easier for her to be unbothered by Kennedy's attacks. Although President Carter was able to secure the nomination, Rosalynn would come to believe that Kennedy had damaged the Democratic Party through his campaign and inadequately assisted in the general election: "He was a poor loser. I thought that once he saw that he could not win, he would try to help the Democratic Party, because I thought it was so important to keep Ronald Reagan out of the White House and I thought he should have helped. Instead, he tore the Democratic Party to pieces."

President Carter faced Reagan in the general election. Rosalynn was confident her husband would get re-elected. On her birthday, she saw polls that showed they were gaining on Reagan, whose previous lead of 25% had decreased to 7%. Jerry Falwell, who had opposed Carter in 1976, had become a national force with his daily television programs and supporters of him and his organization, the Moral Majority, made appearances protesting Rosalynn's campaign stops in the South and West. Carter visited Centenary College of Louisiana in September, and was met by anti-abortion protestors carrying signs and infants. While she did not directly speak to the protestors, she told a news conference that she and the president had always been against abortion and they had authored "the most conservative law (on abortion) that the Supreme Court would allow" during his governorship. In the November 4 election, Carter lost to Reagan in a landslide. She later cited Christian conservatives, the Iran hostage crisis, inflation, and the desire to wage a protest vote against the current administration with having contributed to Carter's defeat. Her husband's loss came shortly after the passing of the Mental Health System Act, which sought to do much of what she had worked for during her tenure as first lady. However, after Ronald Reagan was elected, she reflected, "funding of our legislation was killed, by the philosophy of a new President. It was a bitter loss."

Later life (1981–2023)

Activism

After the Carters left the White House in 1981, they continued to lead a very active life. In 1982, she co-founded the Carter Center, a private, nonprofit institution based in Atlanta, Georgia. The Carters returned to the home they had built in 1961 in Plains, Georgia. She was a member of the center's board of trustees and participated in many of the center's programs, but gave special attention to the mental health program. Carter and her husband fell into serious debt immediately after leaving the White House, but were able to pay off their debts by engaging in writing projects and eventually were able to open the Carter Center from their revenue. She, like Betty Ford before her, would say the American people made a mistake in not re-electing her husband and was bitter over the election. At this time she expressed resentment of Ronald Reagan, and even told interviewer Mike Wallace that he was ruining the country. Rumors at this time spread that she was running for Governor of Georgia, which she denied and outright stated that she had no political ambition. Nearly two decades later when Hillary Clinton was pondering whether or not to run for Senator in New York, Carter was asked why she had not run for the Georgia Senate. She responded "What would I have done in Washington, with Jimmy in Georgia?"

Carter and her husband's first major project with the Carter Center was to help broker a peace deal between Israel and its neighbors. They visited the Middle East in March 1983 and worked with Kenneth W. Stein and other associates of the Carter administration. They invited top leaders from a wide range of cities and countries to participate, including the Palestinians, Jordan, Syria, and Egypt.

In the early summer of 1986, the Carters aided the poor by helping to build homes on the north and west sides of Chicago. They were accompanied by members of Habitat for Humanity as they wielded hammers and saws while working for a week to construct homes in a vacant lot. In 1991, the Carters removed themselves and the Carter Center from direct involvement in the Middle East at the time that President George H. W. Bush's administration, especially Secretary of State James Baker, became more active in that region. However, they did monitor the Oslo peace agreement of 1993, which sprang from the President and Secretary of State's bringing Palestinians and other parties involved in the matter to a conference in Madrid.

Carter created and served as the chair of The Carter Center Mental Health Task Force, an advisory board of experts, consumers, and advocates promoting positive change in the mental health field. She hosted the annual Rosalynn Carter Symposium on Mental Health Policy, bringing together nationwide leaders in the mental health field.

Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregivers

Carter was president of the board of directors for the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregiving (RCI) at Georgia Southwestern State University, her alma mater in Americus, Georgia. The RCI, which was established in 1987, aims to address issues related to caregiving in both the United States and internationally. The institute focuses its work on both family and professional caregivers for individuals living with chronic illness and disabilities, limitations related to aging, and other health concerns people encounter in their lifespan. It plays a major role in moving science into practice for caregivers by supporting the implementation of evidence-based programs and interventions for caregivers in community settings. The inaugural Rosalynn Carter Institute Gala Celebration of Caregivers took place in June 2004 in Atlanta Symphony Hall and featured Carter presenting bronze medallions to award winners. In June 2025, nineteen months after Carter's death, RCI announced it was merging with the Carter Center and the merger would build "on Mrs. Carter’s vision and leadership and on the tireless work of generations of staff and partners to serve the millions of family caregivers in need. Our united efforts will improve outcomes by dramatically increasing our impact on seeing, hearing, and supporting family caregivers."

Advocacy for women and children

In January 1982, Carter relayed a telegram to the Georgia House in which former Presidents Ford and Carter expressed their support for the state to adopt the Equal Rights Amendment. The proposal was rejected in a vote of 116 to 57.

In 1988, she convened with three other former first ladies—Betty Ford, Lady Bird Johnson, and Pat Nixon—at the "Women and the Constitution" conference in The Carter Center to assess that document's impact on women. The conference featured over 150 speakers and 1,500 attendees from all 50 states and 10 foreign countries. The conference was meant to promote awareness of sexual inequality in other countries, and to fight against it in the United States.

Carter served on the Policy Advisory Board of The Atlanta Project (TAP) of The Carter Center, addressing social ills associated with poverty and quality of life citywide.

In 1991, Carter launched Every Child By Two, a nationwide campaign that sought to increase early childhood immunizations along with Betty Bumpers, wife of former U.S. Senator Dale Bumpers of Arkansas. Carter served as president of the organization and Bumpers as vice president. The campaign's launch was in response to the deaths of nearly 150 people after a resurgence of measles.

In August 2004, as Every Child by Two President, Carter released a report showing 20 percent of U.S. preschoolers do not get routine vaccinations on time. The report called for using immunization registries to ensure vaccines are kept up-to-date, more access for the underinsured to vaccinations and obligating insurers to cover all childhood vaccines, informing the public of benefits and safety of vaccines, and increasing funding for vaccines.

Carter also served on the board of advisors for Habitat for Humanity and as an honorary chair of Project Interconnections, both of which aim to provide housing for those in need. Additionally, she was a deacon at her and her husband's Plains Baptist church.

General activities

After the October 1981 assassination of Anwar Sadat, the Carters contacted his wife Jehan Sadat and traveled with former presidents Nixon and Ford to represent the United States at his funeral. The Carters visited Jehan, who Rosalynn pledged to stay with during the funeral. Later that month, the Carters attended the National Mental Health Association's gala dinner dance, their first visit to Washington since leaving the White House. Carter presented former Governor of New York W. Averell Harriman with an award during the event. In December, she released a statement on the death of her personal secretary Rita Regina Merthan.

In May 1982, the Carters traveled to Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and France. In October, Carter attended the funeral of Bess Truman in Independence, Missouri.

In March 1983, the Carters traveled throughout the Middle East. In August, Carter was elected to the board of directors of Gannett Co. Inc., notable as her first business association since leaving the White House. Carter pledged "to make a significant contribution" to Gannett. In late 1983, Carter visited her ailing mother-in-law Lillian Carter at Americus-Sumter County Hospital, and was by her bedside when she died. Days later, she attended the funeral, where a eulogist hailed Lillian's many good works.

Leading up to the 1984 election, former President Carter was mentioned as a possible candidate (a prospective run supported by his wife), but announced he would not be a candidate.

Mondale, Carter's former Vice President, ran for the nomination. In October 1983, while attending a conference of Friendship Force, Carter expressed that there was a gender gap in the Reagan administration that would take "sincerity on the part of the president to be able to overcome that". She mentioned being a member of the Mondale election committee and said, 'I am going to do everything I can that is possible to get a Democratic White House." In June 1984, Carter told U.S. News & World Report that she understood why some Democrats would view her husband as a liability when campaigning, but that it nonetheless upset her because he was "an asset to the party". Mondale became the Democratic nominee the following month, and selected Geraldine Ferraro as his running mate. In October, Carter said "the respect for our country has plummeted under the leadership of this president, who thinks all world problems can be solved with military force and has led us into one of the worst arms races ever -- an arms race that can destroy our entire world." She praised the debating skills of Ferraro and predicted the Mondale-Ferraro ticket would win. Reagan defeated Mondale in the election.

Author

Shortly after leaving office, Carter signed with Houghton Mifflin for the writing of her autobiography. Writing began within the first months of her retirement. Carter's memoir, First Lady from Plains, was released in 1984. The book was well-received, with Phil Gailey calling it "probably the most useful to those still trying to understand Jimmy Carter" of the four memoirs of the Carters, Hamilton Jordan, and Jody Powell. Lucille Deview noted that Carter wrote of "many historic events with her warm reminiscences" and opined that the book's sole flaw would be Carter's "almost desperate yearning to justify everything in her husband's presidency -- a wish to have all Americans love the man they turned out of office." First Lady From Plains was a bestseller in the non-fiction category. Mark Updegrove wrote that her memoir, and that of her husband, Keeping Faith: Memoirs of a President, succeeded in "boosting the bank account and spirits of their authors."

In 1987, the Carters wrote Everything to Gain: Making the Most of the Rest of Your Life. The book was the first the Carters had written together and saw their conflicting writing styles and manner of working clash. Former President Carter admitted the two were both strong-willed, and said of his wife, "If Rosalynn wrote something, it was sacred. It was like she just came down off Mount Sinai with it. It was painful to her if I suggested that we change a few words." The two also disagreed on how personal the book would be, and eventually became so strained that their communication became limited to their word processors. The Washington Post described it as "a curious production, half memoir and half self-help book", and concluded that much of the advice was not unique to the book, saying it raised the question "Was this book really necessary?" A United Press International review remarked that the result of their collaboration was "an uneven style -- her contributions warm and personal, his detailed but dry. For readers wanting to know more about the lives of the authors, the temptation is to skip ahead to the parts by Rosalynn."

In 1994, Carter and Susan K. Golant wrote Helping Yourself Help Others: A Book for Caregivers. Frances Well Burck called the book useful due to Carter's "focus on both the burdens and the gifts" of caregiving and credited Carter and Golant with offering "solid and sensible recommendations for change, ranging from the development of training programs, networks and resource centers to campaigns to socialize men for broader roles and sensitize professionals to caregivers' needs." Twenty years after its publication, the New York Times would cite it as one of the five books that made caregiving more manageable.

Personal life

Marriage and family

Their families were already acquainted when Rosalynn first dated Jimmy Carter in 1945 while he was attending the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis. She became attracted to him after seeing a picture of him in his Annapolis uniform. The two were riding in the back seat of the car of Ruth Carter Stapleton's boyfriend when Jimmy surprised Rosalynn by kissing her. This was the first time that Rosalynn had ever allowed a boy to do so on the first date. Rosalynn agreed to marry Jimmy in February 1946 when she went to Annapolis with his parents. The two scheduled their marriage to take place in July, and kept the arrangement secret. Rosalynn resisted telling her mother she had chosen to marry instead of continuing her education. On July 7, 1946, they married in Plains. Their marriage caused Rosalynn to cancel her plans to attend Georgia State College for Women, where she had planned to study interior design.

The couple had four children: John William "Jack" (b. 1947), James Earl "Chip" III (b. 1950), Donnel Jeffrey "Jeff" (b. 1952), and Amy Lynn (b. 1967). Due to Jimmy's military duties, the first three were born in different parts of the country and away from Georgia. During that time, Rosalynn enjoyed the independence she had gained from raising the children on her own. However, their relationship faced its first major crisis when she opposed Jimmy's resigning to return to Plains in 1953 after he learned his father was dying. Jimmy reflected that she "avoided talking to me as much as possible" as a result of his decision and would interact with him through their children. The Carters were fans of the New York Yankees until the Braves moved to Atlanta. They said they never went to bed arguing with each other.

In 1953, after her husband left the Navy, Rosalynn helped run the family peanut farm and warehouse business, handling accounting responsibilities. Around this time, yearning for another child, the Carters discovered Rosalynn had physical ailments preventing pregnancy. She underwent surgery to remove a large tumor from her uterus 12 years later. Her obstetrician confirmed she could have another child, and their daughter Amy was born thereafter.

Rosalynn had different relationships with each member of Jimmy's family. Becoming friends with his sister, who was two years younger than she, Rosalynn gave her dresses she had outgrown. However, she and Jimmy's mother, Lillian Gordy Carter, had difficulty living together.

Other activities

Rosalynn and her husband former President Jimmy Carter traveled to Mongolia in 2013 and both Carters fished for taimen.

Rosalynn created the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregivers in 1987.

Health and death

In April 1977, Carter underwent surgery to remove a nonmalignant breast tumor. She underwent a gynecological procedure at Bethesda Naval Hospital in August 1977, which her press secretary Mary Hoyt described as a routine private matter.

On May 30, 2023, the Carter Center announced that Carter had been diagnosed with dementia. The statement also noted that she continued to live at home with her husband – who was in hospice care at the time of the announcement – "enjoying spring and visits with loved ones". On November 17, 2023, Carter entered hospice care herself. Her health had been failing amid a urinary tract infection which had not improved with antibiotics. She died two days later at her home in Plains, Georgia, at age 96.

Jimmy Carter said of his wife following her death, "Rosalynn was my equal partner in everything I ever accomplished." He died thirteen months later on December 29, 2024.

Funeral

On November 27, a motorcade which began in Plains arrived in Americus, where Carter's casket was carried from the Phoebe Sumter Medical Center to a waiting hearse by former members of Carter's United States Secret Service detail. The motorcade stopped at Carter's alma mater Georgia Southwestern State University (GSW), where GSW president Neal Weaver and Jennifer Olsen, CEO of the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregivers, placed two wreaths near her statue at the university's Rosalynn Carter Health and Human Sciences Complex. The motorcade then traveled via Interstates 75 and 285 to The Carter Center in Atlanta, where she lay in repose at the center's Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum. During this time, a service was held and the public paid their respects.

A tribute service was held at the Glenn Memorial United Methodist Church at Emory University in northeast Atlanta on November 28. The service was televised on all television stations in the Atlanta market, and was also carried on some networks nationally. Jimmy Carter, who was in hospice care, attended, donning a blanket featuring images of Rosalynn and himself and with references to their hometown of Plains. President Joe Biden, First Lady Jill Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, and former president Bill Clinton also attended. All living former first ladies, Hillary Clinton, Laura Bush, Michelle Obama, and Melania Trump attended the tribute service. Georgia governor and first lady Brian and Marty Kemp were also in attendance, as well as Atlanta mayor Andre Dickens. In addition to several others, friend and PBS journalist Judy Woodruff offered a spoken tribute. Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood performed John Lennon's "Imagine" at the ceremony.

A private funeral was held on November 29 at the Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, with the Carter family and invited close friends in attendance. Jimmy Carter attended the Plains funeral, where he and their children wore leis to reference the family's time in Hawaii. After a final procession through Plains, Carter was buried during a private service at her residence.

Awards and honors

In 1999, Rosalynn and Jimmy Carter received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor.

In 2001, Carter was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, New York. She became the third first lady inducted into the Hall of Fame, joining Abigail Adams and Eleanor Roosevelt.

Among Carter's many other awards for service are:

Dorothea Dix Award, Mental Illness Foundation, 1988

Jefferson Award for Greatest Public Service Benefiting the Disadvantaged, 1996

Rhoda and Bernard Sarnat International Prize in Mental Health, Institute of Medicine, 2000

American Peace Award along with Jimmy Carter, 2009

Carter received honorary degrees from the following institutions:

LL.D., University of Notre Dame, 1987

D.Litt., Emory University, 1991

L.H.D., Georgia Southwestern State University, 2001

Queen's University, 2012

Carter served as distinguished centennial lecturer at Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Georgia, from 1988 to 1992. She was a Distinguished Fellow at the Emory University Department of Women's Studies in Atlanta from 1989 to 2018.

Books

Carter wrote five books:

First Lady from Plains (autobiography), 1984, ISBN 1-55728-355-9

Everything to Gain: Making the Most of the Rest of Your Life (with Jimmy Carter), 1987, ISBN 1-55728-388-5

Helping Yourself Help Others: A Book for Caregivers (with Susan K. Golant), 1994, ISBN 0-8129-2591-2

Helping Someone with Mental Illness: A Compassionate Guide for Family, Friends, and Caregivers (with Susan K. Golant), 1998, ISBN 0-8129-2898-9

Within Our Reach: Ending the Mental Health Crisis (with Susan K. Golant and Kathryn E. Cade), 2010, ISBN 978-1-59486-881-8