Ruth Carter was born August 7, 1929, in Plains, Georgia, the third of the four children in the family of James Earl Carter, Sr. and Lillian Gordy Carter.Besides the former president, Stapleton had an older sister, Gloria (1926-1990) and a younger brother, Billy, (1937-1988). All three of them died of pancreatic cancer, along with their parents.

Stapleton earned her Bachelor's degree in English from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Stapleton later earned her theological degree.

Stapleton married Robert Thome Stapleton, a successful veterinarian, in 1948 and had four children: Gloria Lynn (born 1950), Sydney Scott (born 1951), Patricia (born 1954) and Robert Michael (born 1958). Stapleton suffered from chronic depression and a car wreck which nearly cost her her life during the time immediately following the birth of her children. Stapleton also complained of being "worthless", which motivated her to continue her education and pursue a career outside the home.

In 1977, she became friends with pornographer Larry Flynt and managed to briefly convert him to Christianity. She was portrayed during this portion of Flynt's life by Donna Hanover in the film The People vs. Larry Flynt. In the film Times of Harvey Milk, it is mentioned that Stapleton offered to try to convert Harvey Milk, the first openly-gay elected public official, to heterosexuality if he accepted Jesus as his savior (Milk was Jewish).

Stapleton was also known for her involvement in the healing ministry, especially in healing of memories. Her books, The Gift of Inner Healing, The Experience of Inner Healing and In His Footsteps: The Healing Ministry of Jesus, Then and Now, illustrate her beliefs on inner healing, which involved healing of memories, in which a person would go over their memories and bring Jesus into the memory to help them forgive, or be comforted as required by Jesus. Not all people were in favour of her ministry, regarding it as akin to witchcraft. For many years though, she spoke at many churches over her experiences and led inner healing workshops.

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