NPR

'My equal partner in everything': Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter's 77-year marriage

By their own accounts, the former president and first lady weren't just spouses, but full partners who counted their relationship as their greatest achievement.
Former U.S. president Jimmy Carter receives a kiss from his wife Rosalynn Carter after a press conference in Plains, Ga., in Oct. 2002.


They met when he was 3 and she was just one day old. They'd go on to be married for 77 years — the longest married couple in presidential history.

By their own accounts, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter weren't just spouses, but full partners who counted their relationship as their greatest achievement. Their bond endured a tumultuous single term in the White House, Jimmy's fight with cancer and a long post-presidency life marked by modest living and

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