Attractive and poised, Rosalynn Carter was a serious contributor to the political campaigns of her husband, Jimmy Carter (1924-; see entry in volume 5), and an extremely busy and well-respected first lady. Mrs. Carter had no fears about traveling alone as a representative of the Carter administration. She attended Cabinet meetings (meetings of presidential advisors) and kept a full schedule of activities. Through her work as honorary chairman of the President's Commission on Mental Health, she helped raise national consciousness about the treatment and rights of mental health patients. As she had been for most of her adult life, Mrs. Carter was a strong partner for her husband and a significant spokesperson for the causes in which she believed.

Her best friend's older brother

Rosalynn Carter was born in Plains, Georgia, on August 18, 1927, the oldest of four children of Wilburn Edgar and Allethea Murray Smith. Her father...