Rosalynn Carter
Rosalynn Carter was the first to employ a chief of staff with a rank and salary equivalent to other West Wing aides. She formed and managed the formal Office of the First Lady. She handled most of her husband’s political communications while in office.
She became a huge advocate for and backer of his constituents’ ideas. Rosalynn took an interest in politics that none of her predecessors had, to the point where she and her husband booked weekly business lunches to address her work.
She attended cabinet meetings, advised her husband Jimmy, and served as the president’s official ambassador to Latin America in 1977. Rosalynn took his place at the primaries and fundraisers when her husband remained in D.C. to deal with the Iranian hostage situation instead of traveling the campaign route for re-election.
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