Jimmy Carter makes rare public appearance at wife Rosalynn's memorial

Jimmy Carter makes rare public appearance at wife Rosalynn's memorial ATLANTA, Nov 28 (Reuters) - Jimmy Carter, the 99-year-old former U.S. president who entered hospice care in February, made a rare public appearance on Tuesday, looking frail as he attended a memorial service in Atlanta for his wife, Rosalynn Carter, who died on

 

Using a wheelchair and dressed in a dark suit and tie, he entered the Glenn Memorial United Methodist Church and was helped to the front row near his wife's flowered-covered casket, where he sat flanked by his children.

Folded across his lap was a blue-and-white blanket, embroidered with a smiling portrait of his wife. The couple was married for 77 years.

As first lady, Rosalynn Carter played a prominent role in his presidency from 1977 to 1981, and in his humanitarian work after the couple left the White House. She died at age 96

Jimmy Carter did not address mourners during the service. His son James Earl "Chip" Carter III kissed him on the forehead after delivering a tribute to Rosalynn Carter, calling her "the glue" that held the family together.

The former president has faced a number of health issues, including cancer, and decided to end medical intervention and enter hospice care at his home in Plains, Georgia, nine months ago. His wife, who had been diagnosed with dementia, joined him in hospice care only a few days before her death.

‘In love’

Fighting back tears, their daughter Amy Lynn Carter read out a love letter her father wrote to her mother while he was in the US navy three quarters of a century ago.

"My mum spent most of her life in love with my dad," she told the congregation at the Glenn Memorial Church.

Sitting in the front row of the church were Biden -- who had backed Carter before the Democrat's 1976 election win -- and First Lady Jill Biden.

Alongside them were former president Bill Clinton, who was in office from 1993-2001, and former secretary of state Hillary Clinton; and former first ladies Melania Trump, Michelle Obama and Laura Bush.

The service included her favorite music, including a performance of the John Lennon song "Imagine" by husband-and-wife US country music stars Tricia Yearwood and Garth Brooks.

The turnout showed the high regard in which Rosalynn Carter was held in the United States.

Celebrated as an active first lady who championed then little-discussed issues of mental health, Rosalynn Carter's reputation only grew, along with her husband's, once they left the White House.

Losing his 1980 reelection bid to Republican Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter was widely dismissed as a failure.

However, the couple went on to build a global network of charity activities and earned plaudits for their humble lifestyle.

‘Equal partner’

Chip Carter hailed his mother for helping him overcome his own drug and alcohol addiction, saying the former first lady made a "positive difference in people's lives.

Joe and Jill Biden flew from Washington early Tuesday -- and gave the Clintons and Michelle Obama a lift on the presidential plane Air Force One, the White House said. Melania Trump did not take the same plane, it added.

The more private funeral on Wednesday in Plains will inevitably shift attention to the health of Jimmy Carter, who is the oldest living US ex-president in US history and moved into hospice care 10 months ago.

Presidential funeral services typically are attended by all living presidents -- Carter attended the Washington memorial for George W. Bush in 2018 -- providing a moment for national unity.

With Biden and Donald Trump likely to face each other in a 2024 rematch of their bitter 2020 election battle, however, even the solemn occasion of a Carter presidential funeral would be scrutinized for signs of tension.

The Carters married in 1946 and held the record of longest-wed presidential couple.

When she died, Jimmy Carter said in a statement that she'd been "my equal partner in everything I ever accomplished."

Throughout Jimmy Carter's long political career, his wife was at the heart of his campaigns. And during the 1977 to 1981 White House term, Rosalynn Carter worked to raise the status of the first lady's office, even sitting in on cabinet meetings.

She met Jimmy Carter in 1945 while she was in college and he was on leave from the US Naval Academy in Annapolis.