Aurora Starchild
Jimmy Carter officially became the world’s oldest living U.S. President in October when he celebrated his 98th birthday. He is currently receiving end-of-life hospice care at his Georgia home, leaving many wondering how much longer he will be with us. But the 39th President has had a remarkable life and will leave behind a legacy that his family can be proud of. Meet Jimmy Carter’s four kids — who altogether have given Jimmy 22 grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
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Jimmy Carter Married Rosalynn Smith in 1946
Jimmy Carter was born on October 1, 1924, in rural Georgia. He received a B.S. from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1946 and worked as a submariner, eventually rising to lieutenant. Carter did graduate studies in nuclear physics and reactor technology. When his father passed away in 1953, he retired from the Navy and returned to be with his family in Georgia.
Carter was elected as Georgia governor 1971 and served as the Democratic National Committee Chairman in 1974. He served as President of the United States from 1977 to 1981. Many of his accomplishments are related to human rights, international peace treaties, and environmental protection legislation.
Jimmy Carter married Rosalynn Smith on July 7, 1946. Smith was from Carter’s hometown of Plains, Georgia. Together, Carter and Smith had four children.
John William “Jack” Carter
Jack Carter was born on July 3, 1947, in Portsmouth, Virginia. Like his father, Jack served in the Navy. However, he was discharged later after he was caught smoking cannabis in 1976. He then received a degree in nuclear physics from Georgia Tech and a law degree from University of Georgia. Jack worked on his father’s presidential campaign and later ran for Senator of Nevada. However, he lost to the Republican nominee.
Jack married Juliette “Judy” Langford in 1971. They had two children, Jason James and Sarah Rosemary. After Jack and Judy divorced, he remarried to Elizabeth Brasfield in 1992. Brasfield had two children from a previous relationship, John Chuldenko and Sarah Reynolds.
James “Earl” Chip Carter III
Chip Carter was born on April 12, 1950, in Honolulu, Hawaii. Chip and his older brother Jack both worked in the family’s peanut warehouse before he became a public service worker. He served on the Plains city council and the DNC. In 1978, Chip allegedly smoked weed on the roof of the White House with Willie Nelson.
Chip Carter married Caron Griffin in 1973 but they separated in 1978 and divorced in 1980. Carter and Griffin had a son, James Earl Carter IV. Chip married again to Ginger Hodges, and they also divorced. They share a daughter named Margaret Alicia Carter. Chip has been married to Becky Payne since 2001.
Donnel Jeffrey “Jeff” Carter
Jeff was born on August 18, 1952, in New London, Connecticut. Jeff studied computer cartography and geography at George Washington University. He graduated with honors and a Bachelor’s degree in 1978 and became a consultant and has worked for the World Bank.
Jeff married his college sweetheart Annette Davis in 1975. Sadly, Annette passed away in 2021. Jeff and Annette had three sons: Joshua Jeffrey, Jeremy Davis, and James Carlton.
Amy Lynn Carter
Amy Carter was born on October 19, 1967, in Plains, Georgia. She is Jimmy Carter’s only daughter her age also made her a staple of his White House years. Amy had a nanny who was an ex-convict named Mary Fitzpatrick. Fitzpatrick had been wrongly convicted of a crime and was later pardoned. She agreed to participate in a rehabilitative program that allowed some inmates to become nannies, instead of live in halfway house.
Amy Carter worked as a Senate page while she was in high school. She briefly attended Brown University and later received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Memphis College of Arts. She graduated from Tulane University in 1996 with a master’s degree in art history.
Despite keeping a relatively low profile over the years, Amy Carter was once heavily invested in activism. She was once arrested for protesting the CIA recruitment at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst although all charges were dropped.
Amy Carter was married twice: to James Gregory Wentzel from 1996 to 2005, and again to John Joseph Kelly in 2007. Carter and Wentzel share a son, Hugo, and she had a second son with Kelly.
Jimmy Carter Knows Family Is Important
In 2016, CNN’s Jake Tapper asked Jimmy Carter what the secret was to a long lasting marriage. At the time, Carter had been with his wife Rosalynn for 69 years.
“First of all, it’s best to choose the right woman, which I did, and secondly we give each other space to do our own things,” said Carter. “We try to be reconciled before we go to sleep at night, and try to find everything we can think of that we like to do together. So, we have a lot of good times.”
Those good times have grown exponentially. The Carter family reunions certainly must require some acreage these days.
“We have a big family now,” Carter continued. “We have 22 grandchildren and great-grandchildren, 38 of us in all. So, we try to hold our family together and just enjoy the family life.”
