CARTERS ←→ CARTERS The Cash family (June Carter Cash, son John, and Johnny Cash) visited the White House after Johnny Cash performed at the Capitol on June 14, 1977. (Bettmann/Getty Images)
Jonathan Alter has interviewed nine of the last 10 American presidents, penning Jimmy Carter’s definitive 2020 biography, His Very Best: Jimmy Carter, a Life, because “I was intrigued by his journey from the Jim Crow south to global icon. I thought he was a complex man from an eccentric family and arguably the most misunderstood president in American history.”
Alter says that only 1000 couples in the U.S. have been married for more than 75 years. And up until November, when former First Lady Rosalynn Carter died at 96, our 39th American president and his lifelong sweetheart were one of them. Besides their love for each other, they also shared another: music. As a result, Carter, the peanut farmer from Plains, Georgia and now, in hospice at 99, forged unusual allies on his road to the White House in 1976: not just the expected Hollywood stars, but, in a detour from convention, musicians.
“There were some people who didn’t like my being deeply involved with Willie Nelson,Bob Dylan, disreputable rock-n-rollers,” Carter said in a 2020 documentary, Jimmy Carter: Rock & Roll President. “But I didn’t care about that because I was doing what I really believed and the response I think from the followers of those musicians was much more influential than a few people who thought being associated with…radical people was inappropriate.”
Waylon Jennings (dubbed the “Outlaw”)was a supporter, as was bad boy Gregg Allman, a top fundraiser with whom both Carters enjoyed a natural kinship. Bonus? The attention that also came from Allman’s then-wife, Cher.
It seems near impossible in today’s polarized climate for a political candidate to share support from the constituencies of country music, R&B, folk music and famous Hollywood liberals such as Warren Beatty, Michael Douglas and Robert Redford. But Carter did (his mother Lillian was even a regular on Johnny Carson).
“Unlike a lot of other presidents, Carter really knew what he was talking about when it came to music and movies,” says Alter. “He screened Apocalypse Now at the White House, which was definitely a moment.”
The Carters left the White House one-term residents, battered reputations re-burnished through the years through work with Habitat for Humanity to the creation of The Carter Center, which advocates for basic human rights, to ultimately the former president’s award of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for, among other things, “his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts.” They were ahead of their time on issues including climate change (then called “carbon pollution”), an Israel-Palestine two-state solution and mental health (Rosalynn’s cause), to name a few. When 40th president Ronald Regan took over residence in the White House, he removed the solar panels the Carters had constructed.
On Carter’s failed attempt at a second term, “He wanted to complete the unfinished business of the Camp David Accords, which brought peace between Israel and Egypt,” says Alter. “I had assumed that he would be very proud of what he accomplished. But actually, he said, ‘What I really wanted to do was complete the peace process and have a two-state solution that brought a regional peace.’”
STATE VISIT The All The President’s Men actor spent a night in Plains, Georgia with then-Democratic presidential hopeful Carter and his family in 1976. (Bettmann/Getty Images)
Yoko Ono, John Lennon, Muhammed Ali, 1977
COME TOGETHER The night before the Carter inauguration, luminaries and activists hit the town in Washington D.C. (Wally McNamee/Corbis/Getty Images)
“I was surprised that John Lennon went to Washington to pay tribute to Jimmy Carter. I think everybody was relieved that Nixon was gone. And I think people were happy that we were turning over a new leaf, and that included the entertainers.” -Alter
SMOKE SIGNALS The famed couple named ‘the outlaws of country’ visited the First Lady just before performing for a fundraiser for the Carter-Mondale second-term campaign on April 23, 1980. (PhotoQuest/Getty Images)
SWEET MELODIES One of the most successful solo female acts of the era, Ronstadt rehearsed for the Carter inauguration at the Kennedy Center in in January 1977. (Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection/Getty Images)
Rosalynn Carter, Zelma Redding, Phil Walden, c. 1975
SOUL OF GEORGIA Then First Lady of Georgia, Carter, Otis Redding’s widow, Zelma, and record executive Walden visited the late Redding’s tombstone. The Sittin’ on the Dock of The Bay singer had died in a plane crash. (Herb Kossover/Michael Ochs Archive/Getty Images)
“She (Rosalynn Carter) was very popular even though her husband was not. There was some criticism of her of sitting in on cabinet meetings. That was controversial. It was a sign of how important a relationship she had with President Carter. And if you're interested in her importance, I believe she belongs in the first rank of American First Ladies.” -Alter
Cher and Greg Allman, 1977
BEST MAN Married music royalty, Allman and Cher attended Carter’s inaugural ball. The former president has said, ‘The Allman Brothers helped put me in the White House by raising money when I didn't have any.’ (Tom Wargacki/WireImage/Getty Images)
Rosalynn Carter, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Jimmy Carter, 1979
EN POINTE The First Lady was a champion of the performing arts. The couple welcomed the Russian ballet star for a performance and reception on Feb. 26, 1979. (WWD/Penske Media/Getty Images)
Jimmy Carter and Warren Beatty, 1976
HOLLYWOOD NIGHTS The actor/director/writer hosted a party for then-presidential nominee Carter in Beverly Hills. (Bettmann/Getty Images)
“I brought Warren Beatty and Annette Bening one year as my guest to the White House Correspondents dinner. Politicians have always been interested in show business and in part in order to raise money. And people in show business have always been interested in politicians, because it makes them feel that they're doing something more serious about their country than just being actors or entertainers.” -Alter
Aretha Franklin, 1977
R-E-S-P-E-C-T Franklin performed at Carter’s inauguration on Jan. 20, 1977. The famed singer was on the top of the new president’s list for performers as he believed that music broke all barriers. (Ron Galella/Ron Gallela Collection/Getty Images)
Ted Turner, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, 1983
GEORGIA STATE OF MIND Then-Atlanta Braves owner Turner cheered on his team with the former first couple in 1983. Carter threw out the first pitch and the Braves triumphed 4-2. (Bettmann/Getty Images)
BUSY WITH DIZZY Carter hosted jazz nights at the White House and sang ‘Salty Peanuts’ at the behest of Gillespie, who jokingly asked the president to tour with his band. (Chuck Fishman/Getty Images)
“They did more entertaining in the White House than most presidents. They had really high class entertainment. Some people in a condescending way looked down on them because they were from rural Georgia and they spoke with Southern accents, but both of them were highly cultured people.” -Alter
Michael and Diandra Douglas, 1977
SPARKS IN DC The actor and his new wife, Diandra, a cousin of the King of Spain, met at Carter’s inauguration, and married six weeks later. The newlyweds hit the Oscars two months later. (Bettmann/Getty Images)
HIGH SPIRITS The Carters joined musician Nelson on stage in Atlanta after defeat for a second term. Nelson and the Carters remained friends for decades. (Rick Diamond/Getty Images)
“That was the seventies when there was a beautiful period of peace in the culture wars, when politicians, rednecks and hippies were sharing a dance floor and maybe even an occasional joint, all in the name of love.” -Willie Nelson
Mary Tyler Moore, 1980
VERY MARY The Emmy-winning actress attended the Democratic National Convention afterparty for Carter and running mate Walter Mondale in August in New York City. (Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection/Getty Images)
Woody Allen and Lauren Bacall, 1976
PIN PALS The Manhattan writer/director pinned a “Leaders for a change: Carter-Mondale” button on Bacall at a rally for Carter in New York City in 1976. (Bettmann/Getty Images)
LIBERAL TARGET The editor of Ms. magazine and activist “didn’t think President Carter was liberal enough” says Alter. However, she expressed at The National Press Club in Washington D.C. that there was hope for improvement due to his stated commitment to women's rights. (Bettmann/Getty Images)
SEEING RED The Sanford and Son actor and his wife attended rehearsal for Carter’s inaugural gala in Washington D.C. (Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection/Getty Images)
“Rosalynn was too modest to have that kind of Jackie-style glamour. But if you look at her on the podium when he's inaugurated as governor of Georgia in 1971, and it's Carter, Rosalynn and Amy, who was like Caroline's age, and you think you're looking at JFK, Jackie and Caroline, and actually even Rose Kennedy thought that Jimmy Carter looked like her son.” -Alter
Rosalynn Carter and Calvin Klein, 1979
DRESSED TO A TEA The First Lady hosted a fashion show and tea in Washington D.C. where she met the popular designer. (Fairchild Archive/Penske Media via Getty Images)
DEM PALS President Carter joined U.S. Sen. Biden, then 38, at a fundraiser in Wilmington for Biden, running for a second term. “Joe Biden was the first senator to endorse Jimmy Carter in 1976. And they had a good relationship that had some bumps in the road, but was generally very good,” says Alter. (Bettmann/Getty Images)
