Amy Carter

For the Georgia State Representative, see Amy Carter (Georgia politician).
Amy Carter

Amy Carter as a child with her cat, Misty Malarky Ying Yang.
Born Amy Lynn Carter
(1967-10-19) October 19, 1967
Plains, Georgia, U.S.
Education B.F.A., M.A. in Art History
Alma mater Memphis College of Art
Tulane University
Occupation Activist
Political party Democratic
Spouse(s) James Gregory Wentzel (m. 1996)
Children Hugo James Wentzel (born 1999)
Parent(s) James Earl Carter, Jr.
Eleanor Rosalynn Smith
Relatives

Amy Lynn Carter (born October 19, 1967) is an American activist. She is the only daughter and youngest child of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn Carter. Carter entered the limelight as a child when she lived in the White House during the Carter presidency.

Biography

Early life

Amy Carter was born on October 19, 1967 in Plains, Georgia. In 1970 her father was elected Governor of Georgia, and then in 1976, President of the United States. Amy was raised in Plains until her father was elected president, whereupon she moved with her family into the White House. Mary Prince was her nanny from 1971 until Jimmy Carter's presidency ended. After her father's presidency, Amy moved to Atlanta and attended her senior year of high school at Woodward Academy.[1]

Life in the White House

Carter lived in the White House for four years from the age of nine. She was the subject of much media attention during this period, as young children had not lived in the White House since the early 1960s presidency of John F. Kennedy (and would not again do so after the Carter presidency until the inauguration of Bill Clinton).

While in the White House, Carter had a Siamese cat named "Misty Malarky Ying Yang", who would be the last cat to occupy the White House until Socks, owned by Bill Clinton. Carter was also given an elephant from Sri Lanka from an immigrant; the animal was given to the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. Carter attended Washington, D.C., public schools,[2] including Stevens Elementary School and Hardy Middle School. Later, she attended Tri-County High School in Buena Vista, Georgia.[3][4][5]

Carter roller skated through the White House's East Room and had a treehouse on the South Lawn.[2] When she invited friends over for slumber parties in her treehouse, Secret Service agents monitored the event from the ground.[6]

Carter did not receive the "hands off" treatment that most of the media later afforded to Chelsea Clinton.[6] President Carter mentioned his daughter during a 1980 debate with Ronald Reagan, when he said he had asked her what the most important issue in that election was and she said, "the control of nuclear arms". Once, when asked whether she had any message for the children of America, Amy replied with a simple "no".[7] Controversy resulted when Carter was seen reading a book during a state dinner at the White House, which was seen as being offensive to foreign guests.[6]

Activism

Carter later became known for her political activism, participating in a number of sit-ins and protests during the 1980s and early 1990s, aimed at changing U.S. foreign policy towards South African apartheid and Central America.[6] Along with activist Abbie Hoffman and 13 others, she was arrested during a 1986 demonstration at the University of Massachusetts Amherst for protesting CIA recruitment there. She was acquitted of all charges in a well-publicized trial in Northampton, Massachusetts. Attorney Leonard Weinglass, who defended Abbie Hoffman in the Chicago Seven trial in the 1960s, utilized the necessity defense, successfully arguing that because the CIA was involved in criminal activity in Central America and other hotspots, preventing it from recruiting on campus was equivalent to trespassing in a burning building.[8] This occurred during Carter's sophomore year at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. She was eventually dismissed from Brown for academic reasons.[9]

Personal life

Amy Carter attended a Washington, D.C. public school for less than a year before transferring to an elite private school. She eventually graduated from high school at Woodward Academy in Atlanta.[1] She earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree (BFA) from the Memphis College of Art and a master's degree in art history from Tulane University in New Orleans. Carter illustrated her father's children's book The Little Baby Snoogle-Fleejer (1996).[6]

In September 1996, Carter married computer consultant James Gregory Wentzel, whom she had met while attending Tulane. Carter chose not to be given away, stating that she "belonged to no one". Carter kept her own family name and the couple moved to the Atlanta area, where they continue to live and focus on raising their son, Hugo James Wentzel (born July 29, 1999). In Atlanta, Hugo attended Paideia,[1] Since the late 1990s, Carter has maintained a low profile, neither participating in public protests nor granting interviews. She is a member of the board of counselors of the Carter Center that advocates human rights and diplomacy as established by her father.[6]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Amy Carter.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Amy Carter is 17". The New York Times. October 18, 1984. Retrieved September 2, 2011.
  2. 1 2 St. Clair, Stacy (2008-11-07). "American Girls: For Obama's daughters, White House life isn't going to be normal". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2008-11-11.
  3. ↑ "Explore DC: Hardy Middle School". Archived from the original on 2007-03-11. Retrieved 2013-03-08.
  4. ↑ First choice: why Chelsea Clinton should attend a public school - President-elect Bill Clinton's daughter
  5. ↑ Graff, Amy (2008-11-08). "Where will the Obama girls go to school?". The Mommy Files (San Francisco Chronicle). Retrieved 2008-11-11.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Steindorf, Sarah (2000-02-17). "'Whatever happened to...?' Amy Carter". Christian Science Monitor. Archived from the original on 2008-04-10. Retrieved 2010-11-16.
  7. ↑ Miller, Danny (January 25, 2006). "I Heart Amy Carter". The Huffington Post
  8. ↑ Kraft, Stephanie (April 20, 1987). "The Triumph of Necessity". Valley Advocate. Archived from the original on January 22, 2004. Retrieved January 4, 2014.
  9. ↑ "Amy Carter ouster by Brown U. told", Chicago Sun-Times, July 19, 1987
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