Jimmy Carter talks wife Rosalynn on their 69th anniversary

President Jimmy Carter visited the set of HuffPost Live on July 7, the day of his 69th wedding anniversary, and explained the secret to nearly seven decades of marital bliss.

"The key to it all, I'll tell you, is marry the right woman," he told host Marc Lamont Hill.

Carter also revealed that when he first asked his wife, Rosalynn Carter, to marry him, she turned him down.

"For months, I was a midshipman with the Naval Academy, up there [in Virginia] having lost my loved one, while she was dating all the other boys in Sumpter County [in Georgia]," he said. "I think eventually, my white uniform prevailed."

See photos from Carter's 90th birthday:

The former president said that over the course of the marriage, the couple evolved into a true partnership.Carter made a number of important decisions without consulting his wife, including leaving the Navy and running for the Georgia Senate.

"I learned soon after that that that was the wrong approach," he said. "And since then, she's been a full and precious and vital partner with me in everything i've done."

Watch the full conversation on HuffPost Live.