39th U.S. President, Jimmy Carter has 22 grandchildren and four kids, a family he made with his wife Rosalynn. Details inside.
Through his years in the White House, President Jimmy Carter endeared himself to millions of Americans with his decisive nature and quick wit. Even after his years in office, the esteemed politician remained fairly involved with the American political system, became a philanthropist, and even wrote some books.
Outside of the public eye, one of his biggest successes in life has been the massive happy family he has fostered over the years. The Carter family tree today is as sprawling as it could be, but where did it all start?
Here’s a look at the former president’s wife and kids, as well as various other aspects of his life.
Jimmy Carter has been married to his wife, Rosalynn Carter, since 1946.
President Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn Carter have the longest marriage in the history of U.S. presidents.
The couple, who met when Jimmy was 3 years old and Rosalynn was a newborn, celebrated their 76th wedding anniversary on July 7, 2022.
The Carters shared a slew of ups, downs, and adventures together during their marriage — including several Navy deployments, a presidential campaign, and subsequent time in office, co-authoring books, managing his family farm, and building houses around the globe with Habitat for Humanity.
President Carter told his mother he wanted to marry Rosalynn after their first date. The couple remains bonded by their shared passion for service, and they’re as smitten as ever since becoming nonagenarians.
“The best thing I ever did was marrying Rosalynn,” the Nobel Peace Prize winner said in a 2015 interview. “That’s the pinnacle of my life.”
Speaking on The Lead with Jake Tapper in 2015, Jimmy said that the key to his decades-long marriage was simply embracing time with their family.
“We have a big family now. We have 22 grandchildren and great-grandchildren, 38 of us in all,” he said. “So, we try to hold our family together and just enjoy the family life.”
In February 2023, the Carter Center announced in a statement that following “a series of short hospital stays,” Jimmy would be moved to hospice care.
“Former US President Jimmy Carter today decided to spend his remaining time at home with his family and receive hospice care instead of additional medical intervention,” the statement said. “He has the full support of his family and his medical team.”
Just months later, the family announced Rosalynn’s dementia diagnosis.
“She continues to live happily at home with her husband, enjoying spring in Plains and visits with loved ones,” a statement said. “The universality of caregiving is clear in our family, and we are experiencing the joy and the challenges of this journey.”
Jimmy Carter and Rosalynn Carter built a huge family, and they wouldn’t have had it any other way. Let’s meet his children and grandkids.
Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn Carter, have four children together.
Jimmy and Rosalynn are parents to four children; three sons and a daughter. They share a daughter Amy, as well as sons Jack, Donnel, and James. When Jimmy became president in 1977, his three sons were all relatively grown, but Amy actually spent some of her formative years in the White House.
In the past, the former president has been very candid about how important his wife and family are to him. In a 2015 CNN interview, he said, “We have a big family now. We have 22 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren, 38 of us in all. So, we try to hold our family together and just enjoy the family life.”
This is exactly what Jimmy does, as he has mentioned that the entire family has vacationed together on holidays for the last two decades. But, what do his children do now?
John William “Jack” Carter, 75
Born on July 3, 1947, in Portsmouth, Virginia, John William “Jack” Carter is Jimmy and Rosalynn’s eldest child, born in Portsmouth, Virginia while the former president was serving in the Navy.
In 1971, Jack married Juliette “Judy” Langford, with whom he welcomed son Jason James, born Aug. 7, 1975, and daughter Sarah Rosemary, born on Dec. 19, 1978.
He and Langford eventually divorced, and he married his second wife, Elizabeth Brasfield, on May 15, 1992. He is the stepfather to her children, John Chuldenko and Sarah Reynolds. The family moved to Las Vegas in 2003.
In August 2006, Jack won the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in Nevada, NBC News reported, but he later lost the general election to incumbent Republican Sen. John Ensign, who would resign from the role in 2011.
James Earl “Chip” Carter III, 72
Jimmy and Rosalynn’s second son is James Earl “Chip” Carter III. He was born on April 12, 1950, in Honolulu.
In 2000, he became the president of the Friendship Force, an international exchange program that his parents co-founded.
Chip married Caron Griffin on June 23, 1973, after meeting her three years earlier during his father’s campaign for governor in Georgia. They share a son named James Earl Carter IV, born on Feb. 25, 1977. He and Caron finalized their divorce in 1980, per the Post.
He later married Ginger Hodges, with whom he welcomed daughter Margaret Alicia Carter on Sept. 23, 1987. Chip and Hodges also divorced; in 2001, he married his third wife, Becky Payne, with whom he lives in Decatur, Georgia.
Donnel Jeffrey “Jeff” Carter, 70
Jimmy and Rosalynn’s third son is Donnel Jeffrey “Jeff” Carter. He was born on Aug. 18, 1952, in New London, Connecticut.
Jeff met his wife Annette Davis on their first day of college at Georgia Southwestern University; they married four years later on April 6, 1975. In 1978, Jeff graduated with honors from George Washington University, where he studied geography and specialized in computer cartography, per TIME magazine. He and his former professor co-founded their company Computer Mapping Consultants that same year.
Before the Carter presidency ended, Jeff and Annette moved out of the White House to raise their three sons, Joshua Jeffrey (born in 1984), Jeremy Davis (born in 1987), and James Carlton (born in 1991). Annette died on Sept. 19, 2021, at age 68.
Amy Lynn Carter, 55
Jimmy and Rosalynn’s youngest child and only daughter, Amy Lynn Carter, was born on Oct. 19, 1967, in Plains. She spent most of her formative years in the White House during her father’s administration.
Amy garnered worldwide attention at just 9 years old when she read books during a state dinner hosting Canada’s Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau (father of Justin Trudeau), reported the Washington Post.
Amy later went through a divorce and remarried John Joseph “Jay” Kelly in 2007. They have one son together.
As of 2020, she was a member of the Carter Center‘s board of councilors.
Beyond his four children, Jimmy has an expansive list of grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
As he mentioned, the former president has 22 grandchildren and great-grandchildren, which is a pretty impressive amount of offspring. Two grandchildren belong to Jack, three belong to Donnel, two belong to James, and one belongs to Amy.
Jimmy’s grandchildren have since had kids as well.