Amy Carter facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Amy Carter
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Carter in 2023
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Amy Lynn Carter
October 19, 1967 Plains, Georgia, U.S.
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| Children | 2 |
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| Relatives | Jack Carter (brother) Jason Carter (nephew) James Earl Carter Sr. (paternal grandfather) Lillian Gordy Carter (paternal grandmother) |
Amy Lynn Carter was born on October 19, 1967. She is the only daughter and youngest child of Jimmy Carter, who was the 39th President of the United States, and his wife Rosalynn Carter. Amy became well-known as a child when she lived in the White House during her father's time as president.
Early Life
Amy Carter was born in Plains, Georgia. Before she was born, her family even voted on whether her parents should try to have a baby girl! Her brother said they picked out her name from a dictionary ahead of time.
She grew up in Plains until her father became the governor of Georgia in 1970. Then, her family moved to the Governor's Mansion in Atlanta. In 1976, when Amy was nine years old, her father was elected President of the United States. This meant her family moved to the White House in Washington, D.C.
While living in the White House, Amy went to public schools in Washington. She attended Stevens Elementary School and then Rose Hardy Middle School. After her father's presidency ended, Amy moved back to Atlanta. She finished high school at Woodward Academy in College Park, Georgia. She also worked as a Senate page during the summer of 1982.
Amy later went to Brown University. She was known there for speaking out against unfair rules in South Africa (called apartheid) and against the CIA. She later earned a degree in fine arts from the Memphis College of Art. She also received a master's degree in art history from Tulane University in New Orleans in 1996.
Life in the White House
In January 1977, when Amy was nine, she moved into the White House. She lived there for four years. Many news reporters paid attention to her during this time. Not many young children had lived in the White House since the early 1960s.
While Amy was in the White House, she had a Siamese cat named Misty Malarky Ying Yang. This cat was the last cat to live in the White House until Socks, who belonged to President Bill Clinton. Amy also received an elephant as a gift from Sri Lanka. The elephant was given to the National Zoo in Washington, D.C.
Amy enjoyed roller-skating through the White House's East Room. She also had a treehouse on the South Lawn. When she invited friends for sleepovers in her treehouse, Secret Service agents watched from the ground to keep everyone safe.
A woman named Mary Prince was Amy's nanny for most of the time from 1971 until her father's presidency ended. Mary Prince had started working for the family through a prison release program in Georgia. She was an African American woman who had been wrongly accused of a crime and later cleared.
President Carter sometimes mentioned his daughter in public. During a debate in 1980, he said he asked Amy what the most important issue in the election was. She told him it was "the control of nuclear arms".
On February 21, 1977, during a special dinner at the White House for Canada's Prime Minister, nine-year-old Amy was seen reading two books. These books were Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator and The Story of the Gettysburg Address. She was reading them while her father and the Prime Minister gave their speeches.
Activism and Advocacy
Amy Carter later became known for her political activism. She took part in protests and sit-ins during the 1980s and early 1990s. These actions aimed to change how the U.S. dealt with South African apartheid (a system of unfair separation) and countries in Central America.
In 1986, while she was a student at Brown University, she was arrested during a protest. This happened at the University of Massachusetts Amherst because she was protesting against the CIA recruiting students there. She was found not guilty of all charges in a well-known trial. Her lawyer argued that preventing the CIA from recruiting on campus was necessary because the CIA was involved in harmful activities.
Amy also illustrated The Little Baby Snoogle-Fleejer, a children's book written by her father, which was published in 1995.
She is a member of the board of counselors for the Carter Center. This organization was started by her father. It works to protect human rights and promote peaceful talks between countries.
Family Life
From 1996 to 2005, Amy Carter was married to James Gregory Wentzel. They have a son named Hugo James Wentzel. In 2023, Hugo was on a TV show called Claim to Fame. Since 2007, Amy has been married to John Joseph "Jay" Kelly. They also have a son together.
See also
