She followed in Eleanor Roosevelt’s tradition. She was the first First Lady to establish an office in the East Wing of the White House and worked on serious policy matters. First, dividing her office into four major departments — projects and community liaison, press and research, schedule and advance, and social and personal, she led diplomatic trips, including a seven-country one in Latin America. Her signature issues included mental health, world peace, and human rights issues.
In political campaigns, she was called a “steel magnolia” because she also managed to use a soft-spoken Southern demeanor, which she used to hide her ambition, determination, and commitment to the policies she and (first Governor, then) President Jimmy Carter fought for.
MY RURAL AMERICA applauds her work and her leadership. It was a long and amazing path that she and her husband followed … from peanut farmers to Mr. Carter being elected Governor and Rosalynn serving as Georgia’s First Lady to the presidency, and Rosalynn serving in unprecedented leadership roles that only Eleanor Roosevelt had held or begun.
Peter Baker, The New York Times: Rosalyn Carter Helped Shape the Role of the Modern First Lady
Keith Allen and Kate Andersen Brower, CNN: Rosalynn Carter, mental health activist, humanitarian and former first lady, dies at 96
Joe Holley and Kevin Sullivan, The Washington Post: Rosalynn Carter, first lady who championed mental health, dies at 96