First Lady from Plains Author:Rosalynn Carter From the dust jacket: — "Not since Eleanor Roosevelt has there been a First Lady who stood so close to the center of power in American government and who understood so well the hopes and dreams of the American people. This is the story of a small-town girl from Georgia who inspired the nation with her independence and commanded the world'... more »;s attention when she traveled the globe as a special presidential envoy. And it is the story of a love affair that carried two childhood sweethearts through years of hard work, family campaigning, and ambitious preparation, into the White House.
Rosalynn Carter's memoir is a quintessential American story of a determined woman whose childhood dreams were fulfilled in ways she could never have imagined. In this delightfully candid account, she tells of her youth spent in the rural South; the courageous strength that her father demanded of her; the handsome man, Jimmy Carter, whose picture she fell in love with months before they actually met; the challenges of being a Navy wife and young mother to three small boys; and her position as a partner in the family peanut business. She comments on the political and social turbulence in the South during the earliest years of her political efforts, the exhausting congressional and gubernatorial campaigns that she helped run, and her personal trials as a shy housewife thrust into the spotlight as a public figure in the Georgia governor's mansion. Throughout, Rosalynn Carter reveals the spirit and commitment that later marked her achievements as First Lady of the United States.
From the triummphant march in the biting cold of Inauguration Day 1977, when the Carter family stepped from the motorcade to walk with the people, to the final hours in the White House, when the imminent release of the hostages in Iran was kept secret from the American public, Rosalynn Carter offers insights into such critical events as the Camp David summit meetings between Sadat and Begin and the hostage crisis in Iran, which made international headlines. She also takes us behind the scenes at the White House, from the festivities of State Dinners to a very personal tour of the mansion and its many treasures.
In her own words, Mrs. Carter speaks out about the loving partnership with her husband that expanded her independence and nurtured her political acumen, the grass roots ideology that signaled the return of faith in the presidency, and the central role that her religious beliefs and family have played in her life. When confronted with the awesome position of power in the White House, Mrs. Carter noted, "although we face extraordinary responsibilities and will live a life we never dreamed of, we are first and foremost always Rosalynn and Jimmy Carter from Plains, Georgia." With that same fresh and energetic vision, Rosalynn Carter creates a very real, compelling self-portrait of a truly remarkable "woman of our time." "« less