PBS NewsHour senior correspondent Judy Woodruff delivered one of the eulogies for former first lady Rosalynn Carter at her memorial service Tuesday, paying tribute to her authenticity and quiet self-assurance, and saying that because of Carter, “millions of lives are better off.”
Carter, partner to former President Jimmy Carter for more than 77 years, died in November at age 96.
Woodruff began by acknowledging the many dignitaries attending the ceremony, including President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff, former President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and former first ladies Laura Bush, Michelle Obama and Melania Trump.
As first lady, Carter sat in on Cabinet meetings and helped influence domestic and foreign politics, as well as advocate for issues she cared deeply about, such as caregiving, Woodruff said. That subject dovetailed closely with Woodruff’s experience, she noted, as the mother to a son with disabilities.
As a political reporter, Woodruff covered the Carters during his years as governor of Georgia, his run for president and in the White House. If Carter had not been elected, Woodruff said, she and husband Al Hunt would likely have never gotten married.
During his first run for president, Woodruff recounted, a reporter asked how Carter could maintain such a strenuous schedule. Carter responded that if her husband lost, at least she would have no regrets.
“That to me explains why she did so much, worked so hard throughout her entire life, at the White House and in the many years before and since, championing the rights of the underserved, coming to the aid of the most vulnerable, doing whatever she could to improve the lives of others: So she wouldn’t have regrets that she hadn’t done everything in her power to do,” Woodruff said.
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