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.”
Carlo and Baker cover the heartening news on the Covid front ahead of the holiday, plus President Biden punting student loan repayments again, a new space telescope and Love, Hate, Ate: Christmas Eve Eve Edition!
This year's worldwide semiconductor shortage limited the supply of everything from new cars to smartphones; and now, many in the chip industry expect the shortage to continue deep into 2022, and maybe even 2023. Semiconductor senior research analyst for Robert W. Baird & Co., Tristan Gerra, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
The airline industry says it is contending with staff shortages that threaten to hamper operations amid the COVID resurgence, andDelta Airlines CEO Ed Bastian called on the CDC to revise its guidance for vaccinated workers who test positive from a 10-day quarantine to just five. Chuck Liberman, chief investment officer and managing partner at Advisors Capital Management LLC, joined Cheddar to talk about the current guidance on isolation and why he believes the omicron variant calls for more relaxed guidance given its reportedly mild symptoms.
Schools are shutting down in droves as the highly contagious omicron variant surges across the country. Denisha Merriweather, director of public relations and content marketing at the American Federation for Children, an advocacy organization for vouchers and tax credits for school choice, joined Cheddar's "Opening Bell" to discuss the impact of remote learning on children. She argued that school districts have to be more proactive about the steps they are taking to engage students, and if they are unable to form better teaching methods, parents should be able to find alternative schools.
The boys discuss President Biden's plans to send out free rapid tests as the testing supply chain starts to buckle ahead of the holidays. Also, why aren't Americans having more babies, and The Matrix returns.
With the Build Back Better plan essentially out of the picture, economists are highlighting what the country might lose without the provisions designed to strengthen it. Among other things, this includes no more monthly payments for tens of millions of families, no universal Pre-K for 6 million children a year, and no billions of dollars in tax incentives for climate initiatives. Grace Segers, staff writer for The New Republic, joined Cheddar to discuss the various impacts on the economy without President Biden's spending bill.
Electric vehicle companies took a tumble Monday after Senator Joe Manchin killed Biden's 'Build Back Better' plan. Shares of Tesla, Lucid, and Rivian all fell rapidly as the plan had included significant incentives for the growing EV sector. Rich Steinberg, former executive at Nissan, BMW and Electrify America joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
Michael Robinson, Chief Technology Strategist at Money Map Press, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he explains why small and mid-cap stocks heating up during Tuesday's session is a very good sign for a stock market that ended the day's session sharply higher.
