Consider This from NPR - Rosalynn Carter Practiced What She Preached

Episode Date: November 29, 2023

Former first lady Rosalynn Carter leaves behind a rich and expansive legacy, including fierce and enduring advocacy for better mental health care in the US.But her commitment to the issue extended well beyond her role as First Lady.NPR's Mary Louise Kelly talks to Anne Mahoney Robbins, a friend of the Carters and member of President Jimmy Carter's mental health commission, about how Rosalynn Carter supported her during her own crippling depression.Email us at [e-mail] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Rosalind Carter has been laid to rest under a willow tree in Plains, Georgia, where she and Jimmy Carter lived for decades. The former First Lady's quiet, private burial came after three days of celebrating her legacy across her home state. Imagine all the people living for today. her home state. Many of those close to her have been speaking this week about her legacy. What a remarkable woman she was. Wife, mother, business manager, political strategist, diplomat, advocate, author. Yet what I remember most about her was her tireless dedication to taking care of others. That is Catherine Cade, vice chair of the Carter Center's Board of Trustees. Carter was a global humanitarian. She and her husband, former President Jimmy Carter, set up the Carter Center back in 1982. It focused on a number of issues, like working to eradicate diseases, including guinea worm in parts of Africa and Asia.

Journalist Judy Woodruff covered the Carter White House and got to know Rosalind Carter well. She said she wanted to be valuable in each country to bring back their concerns to her husband. The former first lady advocated for international conflict resolution, for election monitoring, and for equal rights for women. Again, Judy Woodruff. A first lady who cared deeply about the American people, about how government policies and actions affect their daily lives. A first lady who took on tough assignments, who was, in her words, determined to be taken seriously, and who wasn't afraid of controversy. Here is her grandson, Jason Carter, who also spoke during the memorial service on Tuesday. My grandmother doesn't need a eulogy. Her life was a sermon. Jason Carter remembered his grandmom as beloved by her family and also kind of cool.

She did Tai Chi with this sword. And if you want to see a five-year-old boy be excited, they would come back, Dad, you know, Mom Carter has a sword, you know. Grandmother, mother, humanitarian, wife, first lady, and here is one more hat she wore, champion for mental health. She imagined that we would have mental health treatment just the same way that people were going to the doctors for their physical health. That is Rebecca Brindahl, past president of the American Psychiatric Association. Carter was one of the first prominent political figures to call for better mental health care and to reject the stigma of mental illness.

I think what sets her apart is that she recognized the stigma and really more so the discriminatory behaviors that come from that stigma. That is Eve Bird, director of the Carter Center's Mental Health Program. And it was Carter's rejection of the stigma around illness, including depression, that made her friend, Anne Mahoney Robbins, feel comfortable confiding in her. A doctor friend, he would say to me, oh, don't say anything to anybody. You'll get, you know, you'll get a reputation for being someone who they don't want to have anything to do with. Consider this. Rosalyn Carter practiced

what she preached. Not only did she work to change the way that mental health is treated in the U.S., she reached out to those in need. Coming up, we will hear from one woman who suffered from severe depression and who says that Rosalyn and Jimmy Carter saved her. From NPR, I'm Mary Louise Kelly. It's Wednesday, from NPR. People are remembering former First Lady Rosalind Carter as she's laid to rest in Plains, Georgia. And we're going to hear now from someone who remembers her as a friend. Anne Mahoney Robbins worked in the Carter White House while she was wrestling with crippling depression. Robbins recalls meeting the Carters for the first time. It was in Georgia, back when Jimmy Carter was governor there.

Dave really was with me. Your husband, yeah. Yeah, my husband. He said he, meaning Jimmy, looked a lot like John Kennedy, and I was a John Kennedy fan big time. And next thing I know, flowers arrive, and an invitation to go spend the weekend with the Carters. I wanted to talk to you about the time in your life. I know you talked to the Washington Post about this, the time in your life when you were going through a deep depression.

Yes. You've spoken of how you couldn't even get out of bed. It just felt so hard. And you were worried about telling anybody because of the stigma? Yes. And even now there's a stigma, not like it was, but there definitely was a stigma. And people would say to you, like a doctor friend, he would say to me, oh, don't say anything to anybody, you'll get a reputation for being someone who they don't want to have anything to do with.

Let me ask you this. Rosalind Carter used to call you on the bad days. Yes. And encourage you. What did she say? Mainly, I'm very Irish. And she really hit the buzzer. That's the one thing she did. I'm very Irish, and she would use that.

And I would feel like two cents. And she said, well, are you tough? I thought the Irish were supposed to be tough. And I said, well, I am Irish and I am tough. And she said, well, then you have to get out of bed. She said, this is just terrible. She said, I just can't handle people who have a lot of things going for them

and they just don't take advantage of it. Oh, wow. And then would she stay on the line until you actually did get up? Yes. So it was a mix of, it sounds like, encouragement and a little bit of prodding and guilt that worked. Yeah. How much did it matter, that support, those phone calls? Oh my God, I mean, this is the wife of a, now my family has always been in politics, but this is the wife of the governor of Georgia.

I saw that you have credited Rosalind Carter with saving your life. And I wonder how. Would you tell me that story? I just, I think I could have easily, I just feel, and I feel this today, I feel that I could go to really lose it, really not have any life. And I really deeply feel that. That you could have surrendered to your depression. Yes. Well, as you say goodbye to her today, as she's laid to rest there in Georgia,

I wonder is there any last thing you want people to know about her, about your friend of so many years? She made my dream come true. And what was your dream? I always wanted to go to the White House. My mother would always tell people, oh, even when Anne was a little girl of five years old, I was so in love with politics. And by the way, she was very, very, very pretty. Yes, she was. She was very, very pretty. And I never thought she got the credit for being so pretty. Well, Anne Mahoney Robbins, thank you. And thank you for sharing

those stories of your lifelong and very pretty friend, the former First Lady Rosalind Carter. It's been great to talk to you. Thank you. Thank you. And if you or someone you know is struggling with mental health or is in crisis, please call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. Three digits, 988 to reach the suicide and crisis lifeline. Three digits, 988. It's Consider This from NPR. I'm Mary Louise Kelly.