Rosalynn Carter, who has died aged 96, arrived in the White House in January 1977 determined to recast the role of US first lady. From the foundation of the US, each president’s spouse has had to work out how to be at the centre of national attention while avoiding actions or comments affecting the president’s political interests. Many, like Pat Nixon, simply retreated into the background; Eleanor Roosevelt spent 12 years robustly carving out a totally separate career; Edith Wilson, sticking to her domestic role during Woodrow Wilson’s first term, then went into history as the “secret president” by continuing to run the administration after the president’s disabling stroke in 1919.
Rosalynn Carter, having played a significant part in her husband Jimmy’s political career, from his election to the Georgia senate in 1962 to his presidential victory in 1976, arrived in Washington with the comment that “it would be a shame not to take advantage of that power”. Her first move was to organise an Office of the First Lady in the east wing of the White House, with a chief of staff whose rank and salary parallelled that of other White House functionaries. The new department built up a staff of 18 and spent the next four years coping with the avalanche of social and political invitations that Mrs Carter attracted.
