People: Mar. 18, 1985

Former First Ladies do not make a habit of returning to the White House, except, of course, in the tasteful form of a commissioned portrait. So it was that a painting of a soft, almost melancholy Rosalynn Carter, 57, quietly made its debut last week in the ground-floor corridor, where pictures of all the 20th century First Ladies are hung. Though the Carters left Washington in 1980, Rosalynn was too busy to pose for Artist George Augusta until September of last year. But the delay has not hurt. "She is still young, and she left before showing the effects of office," observes White House Curator Clement Conger. To make room for the painting on the left side of the door to the Diplomatic Reception Room, the traditional position for the most recent First Ladies, Conger moved the painting of Pat Nixon to the east lobby. He tactfully insists that Mrs. Nixon's new position in the portrait pecking order is only slightly less prominent.