First Date, Proposal & Sexy Letters: Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Love Secrets Revealed!

When Carter first proposed to Rosalynn Smith, she said no. But a year later, the second time was the charm and the couple was married on July 7, 1946.

When former First Lady Rosalynn Carter died at 96, she and President Jimmy Carter had been married for an incredible 77 years.

The two wed when he was 21 and she was just 18. It became the longest marriage in American presidential history.

In 2021, Jimmy told the AP, “My biggest secret is to marry the right person if you want to have a long-lasting marriage.”

Here, Parade reveals more of the details and secrets of their long and happy union.

Related: See Jimmy Carter's Brood of Children and Grandchildren

How long were Rosalynn and Jimmy Carter married?

The couple married July 7, 1946 and were together for 77 years.

How old is Rosalynn Carter?

She was 96.

How old is Jimmy Carter?

Former President Jimmy Carter was born Oct. 1, 1924. He is 99.

How did Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter meet?

The two reportedly first met in their Plains, Georgia hometown when he was three years old and she was only one day old! Jimmy’s mother, Lillian Carter, a nurse, helped deliver Rosalynn Smith. She brought her young son over to see the baby.

Related: 22 Fun Facts About the White House—Including Why It's White

How did they start dating?

Jimmy and Rosalynn connected through her close friendship with his sister, Ruth Carter. When teenage Rosalynn saw Jimmy’s photo on Ruth’s wall, she believed “he was the most handsome man I’d ever seen.” Rosalynn told Ruth about her crush on Jimmy, who was attending the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. According to the book Jimmy Carter, by Julian E. Zelizer, the beautiful but shy Southern brunette later recalled, “He seemed so glamorous and out of reach.” Still, when Jimmy got a break from Annapolis and returned to Plains in summer 1945, he ran into Rosalynn and asked her out to the movies. It became a double date with his sister Ruth and her boyfriend. The future political couple hit it off having conversations “on the rumble seat of the Ford Coupe,” Jimmy later remembered. “I kissed her on that first date.” The two then wrote each other letters while he was in the military Academy.

How fast did Jimmy fall in love with Rosalynn?

Jimmy Carter recalled how after their first date, he told his mother, "That was the girl I wanted to marry." He later said to Oprah Winfrey, "There was just something about her that was irresistible."

Related: Jimmy Carter Looks Back on a Life of Faith and Service, and Ahead to a More Peaceful World

When did Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter get married?

Jimmy noted at a 2019 Habit for Humanity event in Nashville, "When I asked Rosalynn to marry me for the first time, she said no." But it wasn’t because she didn’t want to be his wife. Rosalynn thought she would finish college first. However, she changed her mind and a year later, the two got hitched on July 7, 1946, at the Plains Methodist Church, after his graduation from the Naval Academy. In his biography The Outlier, author Kai Bird wrote, “They were both virgins.”

What were Jimmy’s letters to Rosalynn like?

Surprisingly steamy! As newlyweds, the future President and First Lady lived on various East Coast navy bases. But when they were posted to Hawaii, Jimmy had to go to sea and missed Rosalynn terribly. The book The Outlier reported that he wrote to her in 1949, “I love you so very, very much. It’s funny, but when I first leave you, I miss more than anything your mouth and breasts and body and the way you feel and smell to me when we’re making love. But after a day or so those things become less and less important to me, and I want to touch your hair and hold your hand or look at you across the room.”

What was their biggest marriage crisis?

According to an interview the Carters gave to The New York Times in 2021, Rosalynn was livid when Jimmy decided to leave the Navy and move their family back to Plains, Georgia in 1953. Jimmy felt he had to help at the Carter family’s peanut farm after his father died. Spirited Rosalynn had set up their household in New York but she soon embraced their small town return. In fact, she thrived working for the Carter family’s peanut business. And her support was crucial to Jimmy’s later political career.

How did their mutual ambition lead to the White House?

Jimmy was elected Governor of Georgia in 1970 and ran for President in 1976. Author Bird wrote that Jimmy’s aide Hamilton Jordan said of Steel Magnolia Rosalynn, “She wants to be first lady as bad as he wants to be president. Hell, she wants it worse than he does.”

How many children did Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter have?

The ex-President and his wife had four children—sons Jack, now 76, James III, 73, Donnel, 71, and daughter Amy, 56.

Did absence make the heart grow fonder?

Jimmy told the media about his union with Rosalynn, "We've had a kind of policy on which we've agreed. We give each other plenty of space to do our own things.” However, they also enjoyed mutual activities. He said, “We try to find things we like to do together, and we try to concentrate on them. We took up downhill skiing when I was 62 years old. She was 59. We've taken up bird-watching and playing tennis and fly-fishing.” Also, Rosalynn told Parade during a 2013 interview, "We learned to respect each other."

What was their bedtime rule?

"We try to make sure we never go to sleep at night angry at each other," Jimmy said. He candidly admitted, "We get angry often, but we try to get over it before we go to sleep."

Related: First Lady Rosalynn Carter Dies at 96

How did Rosalynn see herself in the marriage?

The strong former First Lady once opined that she wanted to be more a “political partner than just an appendage as a wife.” And she was, even attending Jimmy’s cabinet meetings and taking notes when he was President, a move that was controversial at the time. President Carter: The White House Years author Stuart E. Eizenstat wrote, “She had no compunction about telling him if she disapproved of anything.”

How did Jimmy pay tribute to his wife?

In his 1995 book, Always a Reckoning, Jimmy shared a moving poem called "Rosalynn," in which he’d reflected on growing old together. "With shyness gone and hair caressed with gray, her smile still makes the birds forget to sing and me to hear their song," he wrote of his life partner.

What did Jimmy give Rosalynn for their 75th anniversary?

When they celebrated their diamond anniversary in 2021, the ex-President bought his wife a diamond necklace, with the number "75" on the back.

How did Jimmy view Rosalynn in later years?

The ex-President reflected to The New York Times in 2021, “It’s been the best thing I’ve ever had happen to me—marrying Rosalynn and living together for so long, growing to know each other more and more intimately every day in married life.” Jimmy said with Rosalynn sitting by his side during the touching interview, “I love her more now than I did to begin with—which is saying a lot, because I loved her a lot.”

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