When Jimmy Carter stepped onto the national stage, he brought along those closest to him, introducing Americans to a colorful Georgia family that helped shape the 39th president’s public life and now, generations later, is rallying around him for the private final chapter of his 98 years.
“Family has always been important to Uncle Jimmy,” said Kim Fuller, whose father, Billy Carter, was the former president’s youngest brother and a favorite subject of national political reporters drawn to this family of Washington outsiders.
Carter has long outlived his nuclear family, including his mother, Lillian, and Billy, both of whom featured prominently in his political life — bringing charm, occasional scandal and even a forgotten brand of cheap brew: “Billy Beer.” The former president’s most constant political partner, wife Rosalynn, remains by his side as he receives end-of-life care at their home in Plains, Georgia, the tiny town where both were born.
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