Photos: Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter's 70-plus year marriage

Metro Atlanta

Photos: Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter's long marriage

Former President Jimmy Carter and first lady Rosalynn Carter were married for 77 years.

Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter were married for 77 years before Rosalynn's death in 2023. Here are images from their amazing life together. (Jimmy Carter Presidential Library)

Before 1946: Jimmy Carter and Rosalynn Smith knew each other distantly growing up, but it was while Carter was attending the U.S. Naval Academy from 1943-46 that the two fell in love. They were married shortly after his graduation in 1946. Carter's portrait here is from sometime during his years in the Academy and Rosalynn's picture is from 1944, when she was 17. (Jimmy Carter Library)

1945: Jimmy Carter gave this compact with ILYTG engraved on it to Rosalynn Smith on Christmas morning of 1945. ILYTG stands for: I Love You The Goodest, a Carter family term of endearment. (Jimmy Carter Library)

1946: Ensign Jimmy Carter gets help with his epaulets from his fiancee Rosalynn, at left, and his mother Miss Lillian, right, on the day of his graduation from the Naval Academy. Jimmy and Rosalynn began dating in 1945 and married one month after this photo. (Jimmy Carter Presidential Library)

1946: Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter drive off on their wedding day. The couple, who had both attended Plains High School, met through a mutual friend when Jimmy Carter was serving in the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Md. (Jimmy Carter Presidential Library)

1946: The marriage license for Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, filed July 7, 1946, in Sumter County, Georgia. (Jimmy Carter Library)

1952: Jimmy Carter's active naval service lasted from 1946-1953. (He's seen here in 1952, in the top center in the background looking at instruments on the submarine USS K-1.) During that time, the couple lived in Norfolk, Va., and had their first three children -- John, James and Jeffrey. (Amy was born in 1967.) (AP file)

1965: Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter in front of their home. In 1953, they returned to Plains to take over the family peanut business after Jimmy Carter's father died. Carter began his political career in the early 1960s and became a state senator in 1963, an office he would hold until 1967. (Carter family photo / Jimmy Carter Library)

1966: Jimmy and Rosalynn further became public figures when he first ran for governor in 1966. That year, he lost the Democratic primary election. The couple are seen here on that otherwise disappointing election night. (AP file)

1970: Four years later, Jimmy Carter would be elected governor on his second try. Here, he celebrates on election night with Rosalynn and his mother Miss Lillian. (Billy Downs / AJC Archive at the GSU Library AJCN089-019b)

1971: Gov. Jimmy Carter and Georgia's new First Lady Rosalynn Carter dance at the inaugural ball at the Regency Hotel in downtown Atlanta. (Billy Downs / AJC Archive at the GSU Library AJCN089-023a)

1971: The Carters pose for a family portrait with their three sons — from left, Jeff, Jack and Chip — during his inauguration as governor in January 1971. Daughter Amy would have been three years old at the time. (Carter family photo / Jimmy Carter Library)

1972: Georgia's First Couple travel through South America. Decades later the couple would put their wanderlust to good use through the Carter Center. (AJC Archive at the GSU Library AJCN089-100c)

1976: Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter greet the crowd during the Democratic National Convention at Madison Square Garden. They are joined by Walter Mondale and his wife Joan. (AP file)

1977: Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter are all smiles at Jimmy's Presidential Inauguration. At their side is the outgoing President Gerald Ford and his wife Betty. (AJC file)

1977: Jimmy, Amy, and Rosalynn Carter walk down Pennsylvania Avenue from the Capitol to the White House after the inauguration ceremony. (AJC file)

1977: The nation's First Couple poses on the White House lawn with daughter Amy. (Jimmy Carter Presidential Library)

1978: First Lady Rosalynn Carter checks in with guests to Camp David — Eqypt President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin on Sept. 7, 1978. The peace talks would be one of signature achievements of President Carter's administration. (White House Staff Photographer / Jimmy Carter Library)

1980: In the last year of his term, President Jimmy Carter and First Lady Rosalynn Carter attend Sunday School at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains. (Calvin Cruce / AJC file)

1993: Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter pose at the Carter Center in 1993. The Center, founded in 1982 in partnership with Emory University, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to "improve life for people in more than 80 countries by resolving conflicts; advancing democracy and human rights; preventing diseases; and improving mental health care." (The Carter Center)

1999: Carter Center missions have sent the couple around the world for almost 35 years, such as this trip to observe elections in Indonesia in 1999. (The Carter Center)

2002: Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter pose for a portrait in their Plains home. (Bita Honarvar / AJC file)

2002: In May 2002, President Carter, joined by his wife, Rosalynn, became the first former or sitting U.S. president to travel to Cuba since the 1959 Cuban revolution. In an unprecedented live speech broadcast on Cuban television, President Carter called on the United States to end an "ineffective 43-year-old economic embargo" and on President Castro to hold free elections, improve human rights, and allow greater civil liberties. (The Carter Center)

2007: Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter wear traditional Ghanaian attire, a gift from the chief of Tingoli village in northern Ghana, during a field trip to assess Carter Center disease prevention work in Africa. (Carter Center)

2009: Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter kiss during the reopening ceremony of the Carter Presidential Museum after a major five-month renovation. The event also marked Jimmy Carter's 85th birthday. (Brant Sanderlin / bsanderlin@ajc.com)

2011: President and Mrs. Carter leave a polling center near Juba after observing voting during the referendum on the self-determination of Southern Sudan. The Carter Center deployed more than 100 observers across Sudan and the overseas voting locations to assess the referendum process. (Deborah Hakes / The Carter Center)

2014: Rosalynn Carter gets emotional during a dedication ceremony and birthday celebration with staff and guests at the Day Chapel of the Ivan Allen III Pavilion at the Carter Center. (Hyosub Shin / hshin@ajc.com)

2014: Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter join in the Festival Dance on Main Street during the 18th Annual Plains Peanut Festival in Plains. (Curtis Compton / ccompton@ajc.com)

2014: Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter hold hands as they leave the Maranatha Baptist Church following church services in Plains. (Curtis Compton / ccompton@ajc.com)

2015: Jimmy Carter sneaks a kiss with Rosalynn while the couple works on a Habitat for Humanity build in Memphis. (Ben Gray / bgray@ajc.com)

2015: Jimmy Carter kisses Rosalynn on the "Kiss Cam" during a baseball game between the Atlanta Braves and the Toronto Blue Jays in Atlanta. Carter had recently announced his cancer diagnosis. (John Bazemore / AP)

2016: Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter talk about their years together in his office at the Carter Center in Atlanta, on the occasion of their 70th wedding anniversary. BOB ANDRES / BANDRES@AJC.COM

2018: Former president Jimmy Carter and first lady Rosalynn Carter give Falcons head coach Dan Quinn a thumbs up before Quinn’s squad faces off against the Bengals Sunday, Sept 30, 2018, in Atlanta. (Curtis Compton/ccompton@ajc.com)

2019: President Jimmy Carter and Rosalynn bow in prayer Sunday, June 9, along with members and visitors during the worship service at Maranatha Baptist Church in their hometown of Plains, Ga., less than a month after the 39th U.S. president and Plains native fell, breaking his hip. (Curtis Compton/ccompton@ajc.com)

2023: Rosalynn Carter died in Nov. 19, 2023 at the age of 96. Several days later, earthworks artist Stan Herd created a portrait of the Carters in Freedom Park near the Carter Center. Jimmy Carter died on Dec. 29, 2024. (Ben Gray / Ben@BenGray.com)

1/35

Credit: Courtesy photo

Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter were married for 77 years before Rosalynn's death in 2023. Here are images from their amazing life together. (Jimmy Carter Presidential Library)

Today's Gallery Headlines

Jimmy Carter ‘forever’ stamp

PHOTOS: 2025 AJC Photos of the Year

Coca-Cola first ad

PHOTOS: Coca-Cola ads over time

Alonzo Herndon

PHOTOS: Philanthropists leave mark on Atlanta

gainesville, thomas county central

PHOTOS: Thomas County Central pummels Gainesville for 5A state title

More Galleries

People are silhouetted against a huge Pride flag before the start of the Atlanta Pride Parade on Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025. (Ben Gray for the AJC)

Photos: Atlanta Pride Parade 2025

Splish Splash Doggie Bash at Piedmont Park

Photos: Splish Splash Doggie Bash at Piedmont Park

Fallen Dekalb County Firefighter Preston Fant arrives at West Cobb Funeral Home

PHOTOS: Fallen DeKalb firefighter honored with processional through metro Atlanta

Dragon Con Parade

PHOTOS: Dragon Con Parade 2025 brings out colorful characters