Clintons mourn Rosalynn Carter: ‘She spread hope, health and democracy across the globe’

Former President Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton issued a statement marking the death of Rosalynn Carter on Sunday, honoring her work spreading “hope, health and democracy across the globe.”

In their statement, the Clintons thanked Rosalynn Carter for her decades of “extraordinary service to our nation and world, and for more than forty years of friendship.”

“Rosalynn Carter was a compassionate and committed champion of human dignity everywhere,” they wrote in the statement, adding later, “Rosalynn will be forever remembered as the embodiment of a life lived with purpose.”

Rosalynn Carter died Sunday afternoon at 96 years old, just two days after announcing she was entering hospice care. She and former President Carter were married 77 years — the longest of any president and first lady. She is survived by her husband, who is the oldest president who ever lived at 99 years old.

In their statement, the Clintons touted Rosalynn Carter’s work with the Carter Center and destigmatizing mental health.

“Throughout her long, remarkable life, she was an unwavering voice for the overlooked and underrepresented,” the Clintons’ statement read.

“Thanks to her mental health advocacy, more people live with better care and less stigma. Because of her early leadership on childhood immunization, millions of Americans have grown up healthier. And through her decades of work at the Carter Center and with Habitat for Humanity, she spread hope, health, and democracy across the globe,” the statement added.