Biden joins tribute service for former US first lady Rosalynn Carter

Rosalynn Carter was remembered for her public service at a memorial event attended by President Joe Biden on Tuesday in Atlanta to honor the former first lady, who played a prominent role during the 1977-1981 presidency of her husband, Jimmy.

Rosalynn Carter was remembered for her public service at a memorial event attended by President Joe Biden on Tuesday in Atlanta to honor the former first lady, who played a prominent role during the 1977-1981 presidency of her husband, Jimmy. The 99-year-old former president, who has been in hospice care at his home in Plains, Georgia, arrived at Glenn Memorial United Methodist Church using a wheelchair. He had a blue and white blanket, embroidered with a portrait of Rosalynn, folded on his lap. She died at age 96 on Nov. 19.

Jimmy Carter was joined in the front two rows by U.S. President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill Biden; Vice President Kamala Harris; former President Bill Clinton and former first ladies Melania Trump, Michelle Obama, Hillary Clinton and Laura Bush. Jimmy Carter has called her "my equal partner in everything I ever accomplished." As first lady, she often was invited to sit in as an observer at cabinet meetings and political strategy discussions.

"Mom was always well-informed on the issues of the day," Carter's son James Earl "Chip" Carter III told the congregation, describing her "partnership" with Jimmy Carter during his presidency. "In the White House, mom asked so many questions that he finally said that she should attend cabinet meetings. So she did and caught a lot of flack for that." "The alleviation of suffering has been an integral part of Rosalynn's life for as long as I've known her," Kathryn Cade, a longtime aide and friend, told the audience.

Cade described the former first lady's work to eradicate Guinea worm disease in West Africa, prevent the loss of habitat for the monarch butterfly and her years of advocacy for mental health and women's equality. The former first lady died shortly after entering hospice care at her home in Plains, Georgia. Her family announced in May that she had been diagnosed with dementia.

Her funeral is scheduled for Wednesday at the Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, before an internment at the family residence. Her body lay in repose at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta on Monday. Carter and her husband were the longest-married U.S. presidential couple, having wed in 1946 when he was 21 and she was 18.

Since his single term as president, Jimmy Carter has lived more post-White House years than any president before him, and Rosalynn played an instrumental role during those years, building the Carter Center nonprofit and the Habitat for Humanity charity.

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