Former first lady Rosalynn Carter has dementia, her family announced Tuesday.
Carter, now 95, remains at home with former President Jimmy Carter, 98, who has been at home receiving hospice care since early this year.
“She continues to live happily at home with her husband, enjoying spring in Plains and visits with loved ones,” the family said via The Carter Center, the global humanitarian organization the couple founded in 1982, less than two years after Jimmy Carter's landslide defeat.
The family noted in its statement that Rosalynn Carter has spent her long public life advocating for individuals and families affected by mental illness and for those in caregiving relationships with loved ones.
“Mrs. Carter often noted that there are only four kinds of people in this world: those who have been caregivers; those who are currently caregivers, those who will be caregivers, and those who will need caregivers,” the family statement reads. “We are experiencing the joy and the challenges of this journey."
The Carters have been visiting only with family and close friends since the former president’s announcement in February that he would forgo further medical intervention after a series of short hospital stays.
The family has not disclosed any specific diagnosis for either the former president or the former first lady. The statement Tuesday said the Carter family would have no further comment.
The Carters often described themselves as “full partners” throughout his political career and their long public life that followed. Rosalynn Carter campaigned vigorously for her husband in his bids for Georgia governor and the presidency. She used her platform to prioritize mental health awareness, working to address the stigma attached to the condition.
After their White House years, Rosalynn Carter continued her mental health advocacy at The Carter Center, and she traveled extensively with her husband as part of their work promoting democracy globally and fighting disease in the developing world.
One in 10 older Americans have dementia, the family's statement said. “We recognize, as she did more than half a century ago, that stigma is often a barrier that keeps individuals and their families from seeking and getting much-needed support. We hope sharing our family’s news will increase important conversations at kitchen tables and in doctor’s offices around the country.”
Eleanor Rosalynn Smith was born in Plains on Aug. 18, 1927. Jimmy Carter’s mother, a nurse, delivered her in the Smith family home. Lillian Carter brought her young son back a few days later to visit, allowing the future president and first lady to meet as preschooler and newborn.
They were married July 7, 1946.
Jimmy Carter enjoyed telling everyone that his wife was “more political” than he was, a point she did not protest.
“I would be out there campaigning right now if Jimmy would run again,” she wrote just a few years after his defeat. “I miss the world of politics.”
Inflation in the U.S. is only getting hotter. The 12-month inflation rate for December 2021 was the highest in nearly 40 years - continuing the trend seen at the close of 2021.
The Consumer Price Index increased 7% in the 12-month period ending in December, marking the fastest increase since 1982. Scott Wren, Senior Global Market Strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute, joined Cheddar's Movers for more.
If President Biden runs for re-election in 2024, he may not have anyone to debate. The Republican National Committee sent a letter to the commission on presidential debates, saying the RNC will require candidates to pledge not to participate in those general election debates. Paris Dennard, RNC national spokesperson, joins Cheddar News to discuss.
Student loan collection company Navient agreed to cancel $1.7 billion in debt and paid more than $140 million in other penalties to settle a lawsuit over abusive lending practices. Josh Shapiro, the attorney general of Pennsylvania who led negotiations in the settlement, joined Cheddar to go over the details of the company's predatory lending. "What Navient would do is charge [borrowers] these exorbitantly high rates, even though they knew people couldn't pay them or they would likely default on them," he explained.
The January 6 committee has subpoenaed four tech giants for more information on what they did and didn't do leading up to last year's deadly Capitol insurrection. Google, Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit were asked to assist the investigation in August, but the committee says their responses have been 'inadequate.' Craig Timberg, a national technology reporter at the Washington Post, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell for more details about the subpoenas, why this is happening now, and how it might impact social media companies moving forward.
With the Australian Open set to begin on Monday, Novak Djokovic is once again being threatened with deportation from Australia after his visa was briefly reinstated and revoked again over alleged discrepancies. Djokovic’s team will sit for an Immigration hearing on Saturday.
Makena Kelly, politics reporter at The Verge, joins Cheddar News to discuss what's next for net neutrality as Biden's other nominee for the FCC, Gigi Sohn, awaits votes from the committee and Senate.
Jewell Jackson McCabe, chair of the Keep Love Alive Campaign and founder of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women, and Marvin Owens, chief engagement officer of Impact Shares and former senior director of Economic Development at the NAACP, join Cheddar News to reflect on racial issues still prevalent in America.
Hagar Chemali, Host of 'Oh My World' on Youtube and Former Spokesperson for the U.S. mission to the UN, joined Wake Up With Cheddar to share her expert insight into what the future of diplomacy could look like as the Russia-Ukraine crisis deepens.
Markets opened higher on the first trading day of the new year as investors continue to watch inflation and the rapid spread of the omicron variant in the U.S. Frances Newton Stacy, Optimal Capital Dir. of Strategy/Market Analyst joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
