Meet Jimmy Carter and Rosalynn Carter’s Children
Carter is survived by four children, 11 grandchildren, and 14 great-grandchildren.
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Jimmy Carter, the former president, died December 29 at age 100. He is survived by his four children Jack, Chip, Jeff, and Amy; 11 grandchildren, and 14 great-grandchildren. His wife, Rosalynn, died in November 2023, and one of his grandsons, Jeremy, predeceased him in 2015.
Jimmy had large family and spent the final years of his life with them. “We have a big family now. We have 22 grandchildren and great-grandchildren, 38 of us in all,” he told CNN in 2015. “So, we try to hold our family together and just enjoy the family life.”
A few of his family members have followed him into politics, but most have kept a low profile. His son, Chip, said in 2008, “I do have that great love and respect for my father. He is the most caring, agape love of anybody I know. If you don’t have as much as him, he loves you. If he can do anything that will help you, as a group, he’ll do it.”
His grandson Jason told Town & Country earlier this year: “The idea that [Jimmy and Roslaynn] did what they could is a pretty powerful one, and they took advantage of every opportunity that they had to do good for other people. They come from a tiny town, and they have enormous respect for people at the end of the road, that sometimes others look at with pity and think, ‘Oh my God, these poor people.’ And my grandparents always looked at those folks with real respect for the power that people in those communities had.”
Here, meet the Carters’ 4 children and 11 grandchildren:
John William “Jack” Carter
Born: 1947 in Portsmouth, Virginia
Age: 77
Family: Jack Carter married Juliette “Judy” Langford in 1971, and they have two children, Jason Carter (born in 1975) and Sarah Carter (born in 1978). Judy and Jack divorced in 1989. He then married Elizabeth Brasfield in 1992 and became stepfather to her children, John Chuldenko and Sarah Reynolds.
Career: Jack enlisted in the Navy in 1968 and was discharged two years later. He worked for the Chicago Board of Trade and CitiBank before he followed his father into politics, running for U.S. Senate in 2006. He won the Democratic primary but lost in the general election.
He’s pictured here with his sister, Amy, and his daughter, Sarah, at the 1980 Democratic National Convention.
James Earl “Chip” Carter III
Born: 1950 in Honolulu when Jimmy was stationed there in the Navy
Age: 74
Family: Chip married Caron Griffin in June 1973, and they welcomed a son, James Earl Carter IV, in 1977. Caron and Chip split that same year and divorced in 1980. He next married Ginger Hodges in 1987, and they had daughter, Margaret Carter, the same year. Chip and Ginger also divorced. In 2001, he married Becky Payne.
Career: He worked in politics, including serving on the Plains City Council and working at the Democratic National Committee. In 2000, he became president of the Friendship Force.
Pictured here in 1977
Donnel Jeffrey “Jeff” Carter
Born: 1952 in New London, Connecticut
Age: 72
Family: Jeff married Annette Davis in 1975, and they had three children: Joshua, born in 1984; Jeremy, born in 1987; and James, born in 1991. Jeremy died in 2015, and Annette passed away in 2021.
Career: Jeff cofounded Computer Mapping Consultants and was researcher for the Conflict Resolution Program at the Carter Center. He also authored a look at Carter family history: Ancestors of Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter.
Pictured campaigning for his father in 1976.
Amy Lynn Carter
Born: 1967 in Plains, Georga
Age: 56
Family: Amy married James Gregory Wentzel in 1996, and they welcomed a son named Hugo Wentzel in 1999. Amy and James divorced, and in 2007, she married John Joseph “Jay” Kelly. Amy and her second husband have one son, Errol Kelly, who was born in 2010.
Career: After her father left the White House, Amy became known for her political activism, protesting CIA recruitment, and apartheid, among other causes. She’s now a member of the board of the Carter Center.
Pictured with her father in a photoshoot for their children’s book, The Little Baby Snoogle-Fleejer, in August 1995.
Emily Burack (she/her) is the Senior News Editor for Town & Country, where she covers entertainment, celebrities, the royals, and a wide range of other topics. Before joining T&C, she was the deputy managing editor at Hey Alma, a Jewish culture site. Follow her @emburack on Twitter and Instagram.
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