NY Times: “Jimmy Carter, a midshipman in the U.S. Naval Academy, wanted to marry Rosalynn Smith, a girl he met on the day she was born and knew mostly as his sister Ruth’s best friend until they went on a double date, riding to the movies together squeezed in the rumble seat of an old Ford.
He asked.
She said no.
Of course, he persisted. And on a recent morning, the pair of them — the former president and first lady, now known as Mrs. Carter — were still side by side, his hand resting on top of hers, explaining that the rejection had merely been a hiccup before a marriage that is about to reach its 75th anniversary.
“After a while, I changed my mind,” said Mrs. Carter, 93, noting that she hesitated because of a request by her father on his death bed that she finish college.”