Marriage, the secret to Jimmy Carter’s longevity

By Betty Abah

As a journalist, the greatest personality I ever interviewed was former US president, Jimmy Carter.

He was brisk and business-like and I clearly remember his song-like southern accent. But what I remember most from the interview at the Carter Centre in Atlanta Georgia in 2006 (I was then with Tell Magazine in Lagos) was that when he left the presidency after losing it to Republican Ronald Reagan in 1981, his doctors gave him 25 more years to live. But Carter, currently 98, has gone on to live 42 more years, becoming the oldest living president as well as having the longest retirement age (42). The 39th US president is also regarded as the ‘most active former US president’ and certainly the most decorated with a Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 amongst several recognitions. He is also famously credited with brokering peace between Israel and Palestine tagged the Camp David Accord, as president in 1978.

Carter said to me at the interview: “I asked myself what am I going to do with the remaining 25 years of my life?” That question compelled him to establish the Carter Centre (1982) which works on global peace building and wars against various diseases especially in the developing world including guinea worms and river blindness.

At 95 in 2015, he told People Magazine that the secret of his longevity is a good marriage. His wife, Rosalynn and mother of his four children, has been a lifelong partner in his activities and commitments globally. He credited his active lifestyle and healthy diet to her. There is hardly a photo of Carter anywhere without Rosalynn by his side as he toured the nooks and crannies of the world in his bid to make the world a better place. In 2021 the couple marked their 75th marriage anniversary together.

Carter who up until recently still wrote books, volunteers for Habitats for Humanity (a nonprofit fighting for adequate housing worldwide), taught Sunday School in his local church amongst others, has been a friend of Nigeria. He has visited the country several times in the past especially to promote credible elections and for other activities of the Carter Centre which has a presence here.

It is noteworthy that Carter’s ideal inspired the idea of the Gowon Centre, established by former Head of State Yakubu Gowon, a longtime friend of his. He is also a known buddy to Former President Obasanjo and obviously an inspiration. In 2006, just before the Carter interview, with the support of the Carter Centre, Nigeria, I had a reporting tour of communities in Plateau and Niger States which had been supported by the centre especially in tackling the guinea worm menace.

James Earl Carter Jr., the famous ‘peanuts farmer from Plains, Georgia’, former Naval Officer,
Former US Senator, Former Georgia Governor, Former US President and global statesman, recently went into hospice care, meaning he is nearing the end of his illustrious life. He and his family have decided to not allow hospital visits or curative medicine anymore but apply palliative care in his home in Plains.

Yet this is not an obituary feature, it is a Motivated-Monday-Morning-Appreciation of a man with compelling living legacies, a man whose legacies are not in huge wealth, rather in global impacts and goodwill.

This is also a gentle admonition to single persons that in all your marital searchings, bond with someone whose visions, temperaments and overall life’s beliefs align at least fairly with yours. If it doesn’t ‘wek’ (in Ghanaian accent), never force it. It’s not all about beauty or wealth or prestige, there’s much more to man-woman relationship and mostly at the meeting of minds.

Dear, life is too simple for all the relationship complications that lead to reduced life goals and even life span. And if violence is involved, don’t even think about it.

Thank you, Mummy Rosalynn (in Nigerian parlance), and I wish you well, dear Daddy Carter.

Abah is a Lagos-based activist-writer