Rosalynn Carter Tribute: Judy Woodruff Recalls Last Interview, Says Former First Lady Expressed “Relief” Joe Biden Was In Office
28.11.2023 - 22:51
/ deadline.com
Rosalynn Carter was a first lady “who saw her role as going well beyond the essential, warm and welcoming host to being a close and trusted, yes, adviser” to her husband Jimmy Carter, PBS NewsHour senior correspondent Judy Woodruff recalled on Tuesday.
Woodruff was among the speakers at a tribute service for Carter, who died on Nov. 19 at age 96.
Carter’s husband, former President Jimmy Carter, 99, attended the service, as his daughter Amy held his hand for much of the service. Carter himself entered hospice care earlier this year, in part to be near his wife, with whom he was married for 77 years.
Also attending the service was President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, former President Bill Clinton, and all of the living former first ladies, including Hillary Clinton, Laura Bush, Michelle Obama and Melania Trump.
Woodruff recalled first meeting Rosalynn Carter in 1970, when she was campaigning for her husband’s gubernatorial bid in Georgia. Woodruff said that she sensed a “weariness” on Carter’s part, “I was only a cub reporter for an Atlanta TV station, so that was understandable.”
“I’m happy to say the weariness melted away,” Woodruff said. “It may have taken about 40 years for that to happen, but it had by the time she invited me to attend a luncheon in Washington where she was receiving an award for her work on caregiving. She knew that we had a son with disabilities and that caregiving is essential in our lives.”
Woodruff credited the Carters for being ultimately responsible for she and husband Al Hunt’s first meeting, at a Plains, GA field during the 1976 election in which the candidate organized campaign vs. news media softball games.
“There