Earlier this week, former president Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, celebrated their 74th wedding anniversary, officially beating their own record for the longest-married presidential couple by one year.
As PEOPLE reported, July 7 marked 74 years of wedded bliss between the former POTUS and first lady, who broke the previous record set by former president George H. W. Bush and Barbara Bush last October.
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The Carters’ love story began back in the early 1940s when they first met while Jimmy was on a break from the naval academy.
In an interview with the Washington Post , Jimmy revealed he saw his future wife for the very first time at church and he immediately asked her if she would go to the movies with him.
The morning after their first date, he admitted he told his mother that he knew Rosalynn was the woman he wanted to marry.
The couple were wed on July 7, 1946 in their hometown of Plains, Georgia and, together, would welcome four children into their family.
“The best thing I ever did was marrying Rosalynn,” Jimmy once declared, according to CNN , “That’s a pinnacle in my life.”
In December 1974, he announced his candidacy for president of the United States, and was elected into the Oval Office in 1976 with Rosalynn right by his side as the first lady.
The pair has had a remarkable marriage, spanning more than seven decades and including four years in the White House.
In October 2019, that marriage became record-breaking when they were declared the longest-married presidential couple. The previous record, set by former president George H.W. Bush and Barbara Bush, was 73 years and 111 days before the first lady’s death in October 2018.
This week, Jimmy, now 95, and Rosalynn, 92, have beaten their own record by one year. In 2019, Jimmy also became the oldest-living former U.S. president .
But the pair haven’t slowed down at all, and are still actively philanthropic, particularly with the Carter Work Project, in partnership with Habitat for Humanity.
Last October, Jimmy told PEOPLE he attributes his longevity to marrying Rosalynn so many years ago.
“It’s hard to live until you’re 95 years old,” he said. “I think the best explanation for that is to marry the best spouse: someone who will take care of you and engage and do things to challenge you and keep you alive and interested in life.”
h/t: PEOPLE , CNN , Washington Post
