We have some sad news to report to you. Former First Lady Rosalind Carter has passed away at the age of 96. The Carter Center confirming her death just a few moments ago. Here's CNN's Wolf Blitzer with a look back at her life.

A soft spoken small town girl, rosalind Smith Carter became one of America's most charming First Ladies. Born in Plains, Georgia, on August.

She.

Was valedictorian of her high school class and met and married Jimmy Carter when he was in the US. Navy.

My love and respect and cherish and honor my wife, Roslyn.

When Mr. Carter's father died in 1953 they moved back to Plains to manage the family's peanut farm.

I didn't want to go home. I was having a good time. I think I had thought I had. Outgrown plains George. I had gotten a little too big for my bridges. I only pouted for about a year after we got home.

They had four children three boys jack, Chip, and Jeff and later daughter Amy. In 1962, Jimmy Carter entered politics and Roselyn hit the campaign trail.

Campaigning was fun up to a certain point because I got to travel and see the whole country. The most fun are the people you meet.

She supported her husband's successful bids to become Governor of Georgia and later President of the United States, so help me God. Mrs. Carter was actively involved in her husband's presidency attending Camp David meetings and cabinet briefings. She was a strong advocate for equal treatment of the mentally ill.

If they had coverage for their mental illness then the overall health care cost would come down.

When the Carters left the White House in 1981, they spearheaded a new challenge habitat for Humanity building houses for the poor.

The whole community has come together to.

Get rid of poverty.

A year later, they established the Carter Center a foundation devoted to promoting human rights, resolving conflicts, and eradicating diseases. Mrs. Carter continued to focus on reducing the stigma of mental illness.

I'm really, really proud of you and very impressed with what you can do.

Another Focus Caregiving, an issue close to her heart. As she told a congressional committee it's.

Been part of my life since I was twelve years old and my father was diagnosed with leukemia at age 44. We lived in a very small town and all the neighbors rallied around. But I still vividly remember going to my secret hiding place the outdoor privy, if you can believe that, to cry. That's where I could be alone.

In 1999, Rosalind and Jimmy Carter were honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom the nation's highest honor for civilians.

Rosalind I have visited now more than 115 nations in the world.

Mrs. Carter was often irritated that her husband was praised more for his achievements after his presidency than those of his administration. But she accepted that was politics.

Doesn't matter what you do, you're going to be criticized for it and so do what you want to do.

And they were a remarkably close first couple. Jimmy Carter used to say Rosalind was much more than his wife.

It's always Rosalind to whom I turn for the primary advice, and we make the decisions together. She's the matriarch. When our eleven grandchildren or our four children have a problem, they call Roseland first because they know that they'll get a sympathetic ear.

She remained by his side, occasionally joining with other first families and later supporting each other in their twilight. She with dementia and Mr. Carter in hospice. And in the 39th President, Rosalind Carter got more than just a husband.

My life with Jimmy Carter has been more adventurous than I ever dreamed it would be.

Rosalind Carter dead at the age of 96. And joining me now is Jake Tapper, chief Washington correspondent and of course, host of the lead here on CNN. Jake, I'm watching that obit piece. And when you think of Rosalind Carter, you think of her close relationship with her husband, the former President. You also think about all the work she did on behalf of mental health advocacy and really the role that she played as First Lady in really formalizing that role. What are your thoughts as we get this sad news this afternoon?

I think, first of all, as you note, her advocacy for mental health was really decades ahead of its time. She started that work after her husband was elected Governor of Georgia in 1970. That's when she really started doing it. She was appointed to the Governor's Commission to approve services for the mentally and emotionally handicapped. And she did a statewide tour of mental health facilities across the state of Georgia. And she described her efforts as her biggest accomplishment there as First Lady of Georgia. And she kept up that same campaign when she was First Lady of the United States from 77 to 80. And you think about all the efforts that are right now being made for mental health and to bring mental health parity with other forms of health care, and you think about how long it has taken for that to happen and how much of a stigma still exists. And she was doing this campaign back in the 70s. She testified before Congress on this issue in 1980. She was only the second 1st lady in history to testify before Congress. The first one was Eleanor Roosevelt. It's really remarkable how ahead of the curve she was.

And this remains stigmatized in 2023. And she was doing this, and it was kind of risky for her to be doing this. So I think that in terms of her public service, is really something to be lauded. And then, of course, there is the love that she and her husband had for each other, which was a really remarkable love story.

Yeah, there's no doubt about it. And you're right. You're talking about she was a woman, a First Lady, advocating on behalf of this very stigmatized thing, mental health, which still people fight to get to see a doctor that they need in the mental health space. It's still hard to get to. And it is remarkable how ahead of the curve she was in that. And another thing that I always think about when something like this happens is it really is closing a chapter of American history. This was somebody that played a big role both in her personal life, but also to a lot of.

Was. You know, when she and her husband came to Washington, DC. They were kind of shunned for being of the modest means that they were he was a peanut farmer. They were of humble origins. And though there were people of modest means that came to the White House after them, certainly the Clintons and the Obamas were of, at least originally of humble means. The Carters were really rural people and were not of Washington society. And that was something to their detriment in terms of Washington society. But I have to say and when I was in college, I did an internship at the Carter Center, actually on the topic of Middle East studies with Dr. Ken Stein, who had a big falling out with Jimmy Carter, with President Carter over Israel and Palestine many, many years later. But the love and the marriage and the romance between President Jimmy and First Lady Rosalind Carter was something that I think charmed Americans even in his detractors. Their love was so remarkable. And several years ago, in 2015, I got to interview President Carter, and I asked him what their secret was, how they were able to keep their marriage so strong.

And he said a number of things, and one of them was, it's really good to you have to pick your partner carefully. You have to make sure you pick the right woman or the right man. Second, he said, you have to give each other space to do your own things. Three, he said basically, don't go to sleep angry, don't go to bed angry. You have to reconcile before you go to bed at night. And then fourth, he said, try to find everything you can think of that you like to do together. And for them, that was family. So for anybody out mean, I do think that Rosalind Carter, she had a wonderful life. She really did have a wonderful life. I mean, it is a life to be celebrated. It is sad that she has left, but she did have a wonderful life. And I think that's one of the things, the great things about the Carters is that they've always known how blessed they were and they've always celebrated that. And their marriage is something that I think we can all look up to and all take a lesson from. So anyway, for anybody looking at them and wondering how did they make it?

How did their marriage last? So how was it so strong those were the four lessons Jimmy Carter gave me back in 2015. And and I've certainly tried to adhere to them ever since he told me them back in 2015.

They're very good lessons, and ones we should all aspire to and adhere to.