U.S. First Ladies: Rosalynn Carter

Brief biographies and portraits of wives, sisters, daughters, nieces, and other relatives of Presidents who have served as White House hostesses, from Martha Washington to Hillary Clinton.

In this warm and inspiring autobiography, Rosalynn Carter describes her life, from growing up in Plains, Georgia, to becoming First Lady and later returning to Plains. Mrs. Carter writes of her childhood saying, "When Daddy came home from work, he always rushed into the kitchen, picked up my mother, whirled her around the room and gave her a kiss. My friends' parents didn't act this way in front of their children, so I thought my house was very special."
She tells about her first date with Jimmy Carter, the brother of her best friend. "After dreaming of him for so long, I was actually with him and it couldn't have been more wonderful."
There are the highs and lows of life in politics with her husband; her perspective on being in the public eye, and what it was like to return to Plains after leaving the White House. When Jimmy lost the election in 1980, there was no question about where we would go," Mrs. Carter writes. "We would go home to Plains."

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the groundbreaking backstairs look at the White House, The Residence, comes an intimate, news-making look at the true modern power brokers at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue: the First Ladies, from Jackie Kennedy to Michelle Obama. One of the most underestimated—and challenging—positions in the world, the First Lady of the United States must be many things: an inspiring leader with a forward-thinking agenda of her own; a savvy politician, skilled at navigating the treacherous rapids of Washington; a wife and mother operating under constant scrutiny; and an able CEO responsible for the smooth operation of countless services and special events at the White House. Now, as she did in her smash #1 bestseller The Residence, former White House correspondent Kate Andersen Brower draws on a wide array of untapped, candid sources—from residence staff and social secretaries to friends and political advisers—to tell the stories of the ten remarkable women who have defined that role since 1960. Brower offers new insights into this privileged group of remarkable women, including Jacqueline Kennedy, Lady Bird Johnson, Patricia Nixon, Betty Ford, Rosalynn Carter, Nancy Reagan, Barbara Bush, Hillary Clinton, Laura Bush, and Michelle Obama. The stories she shares range from the heartwarming to the shocking and tragic, exploring everything from the first ladies’ political crusades to their rivalries with Washington figures; from their friendships with other first ladies to their public and private relationships with their husbands. She also offers a detailed and insightful new portrait of one of the most-watched first ladies of all time, Hillary Clinton, asking what her tumultuous years in the White House may tell us about her own historic presidential run . . . and what life could be like with the nation’s first First Husband. Candid and illuminating, this first group biography of the modern first ladies provides a revealing look at life upstairs and downstairs at the world’s most powerful address.

This campaign changed American politics forever and this author has shared with us her experiences from the very beginning of the campaign through the inauguration and she has done so in a very fun and enjoyable little book.

Anecdotes and photographs are presented in an account of Rosalynn Carter's ancestry, childhood, and first meeting with Jimmy Carter, their courtship, marriage, and family business, and her political role up to her experiences in the White House.