Jimmy Carter, 99, joins US presidents at wife Rosalynn’s memorial
- The former US leader briefly left hospice care to make a rare public appearance with successors Biden and Clinton and all 5 living first ladies at the service
- Carter himself did not speak, but the couple’s children and grandchildren celebrated the ‘life well lived’ of his spouse of 77 years
Former US president Jimmy Carter, 99, made a rare public appearance on Tuesday to join his successors Joe Biden and Bill Clinton and all five living first ladies at the memorial service for his wife Rosalynn.
A frail-looking Carter briefly left hospice care to attend the service at a church in Atlanta, Georgia, arriving in a wheelchair wearing a dark suit and tie, and with a blanket over his knees.
Carter did not speak, but the couple’s children and grandchildren celebrated the “life well lived” of Rosalynn Carter, a humanitarian and mental health advocate who redefined the role of the modern first lady.
Rosalynn Carter died on November 19, aged 96, at their home in Plains, Georgia, after a 77-year marriage that became a legend in US politics.
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.
