Live Updates: Jimmy Carter’s state funeral in Washington – PBS NewsHour

Associated Press

Associated Press

Leave your feedbackAs the U.S. says goodbye to former President Jimmy Carter, you can watch a continuous stream of the many public memorial events dedicated to the 39th president. You can also learn more about his life (including a timeline), his legacy as a humanitarian and statesman, as well as how he contributed to public health, plus how funerals of former presidents are planned. WASHINGTON (AP) — Jimmy Carter, the 39th president, will be honored Thursday with the pageantry of a state funeral in the nation’s capital, followed by a second service and burial in his tiny Georgia hometown that launched a Depression-era farm boy to the world stage.WATCH LIVE: Jimmy Carter funeral events – 39th president’s state funeral in WashingtonWhat to know:Here’s the latest:The crowd lining the highway by Main Street in Plains was mostly quiet as they waited for the motorcade.When the hearse carrying Carter’s casket and the rest of the motorcade passed by, some people shouted “Thank you!” Others waved American flags.President Carter’s body has arrived for a second, more intimate service at Maranatha Baptist Church, the small congregation on the outskirts of Plains, Georgia, where he long taught Sunday school.Unlike Thursday morning’s service packed with presidents and other dignitaries at Washington National Cathedral, this simpler service will mostly be highlighted by remarks from Tony Lowden, Carter’s personal pastor. Other guests besides the Carter family have been waiting at the church, even as Carter’s procession runs more than an hour behind schedule.When Carter is interred at his longtime home after the Maranatha service, that may mean he will be buried in darkness after the sun sets on a short January day in southwest Georgia.People are waiting for the motorcade carrying Carter’s casket to arrive in his hometown so they can pay their respects.Louise Hurless, 65, said Plains felt “eerily quiet” and “peaceful” as she waited. While people lined Main Street exchanging memories about Carter, she sensed a shift from the usual bustle of the town during other celebrations and festivals.Now a resident of Columbus, Hurless met Carter countless times when she lived in Plains and worked for Habitat for Humanity. When Carter built homes, Hurless said he set aside time to talk to people then kept quietly to himself so he could build.Hurless fondly remembers trying to sing Christmas carols to people at a nursing home with a small group from Maranatha Baptist Church, including Carter.“We laughed and laughed, we couldn’t even sing,” she said. “We spent Christmas with the Carters.”Simone Bradley signed her 16-year-old son out of school to celebrate Carter’s life in Plains, wanting him to “witness history.”Carter “could have gone anywhere” after his presidency, said Bradley. She appreciates that the humble peanut farmer decided to come back to Plains and give back and called him “an advocate for people of all backgrounds.”The Carter family and former President Jimmy Carter’s casket are on the road home to Plains after touching down at Lawson Army Airfield in Georgia. Another military guard, band and 21-gun salute greeted the plane on a cold, sunny afternoon at the Fort Moore infantry base near Columbus, southwest of Atlanta.The Carter family stood on the tarmac as the casket was loaded into a presidential hearse. Former members of Carter’s Secret Service detail and their families also watched.The motorcade is crossing the peanut fields and pecan groves of a state Senate district Carter represented when he first was elected to office in 1962 during the 60-mile (95-kilometer) trip to Maranatha Baptist Church. There, a second, private funeral will precede Carter’s burial.Carter’s casket is headed back to Georgia. The former president’s remains were loaded onto a plane that usually serves as Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland after a brief ceremony that included an artillery salute and the U.S. Air Force Band playing the hymn “O Master, Let Me Walk with Thee.”A knot of 11 military officers gave a crisp final salute as the plane taxied away. The aircraft, carrying the casket, the Carter family and their guests, lifted off for Fort Moore in Georgia, where another motorcade will return Carter’s body to Plains for a second funeral service and burial Thursday evening.As people filtered out of the Cathedral several notables to the Carter era and Georgia could be seen waiting to board buses for invitees including Martin Luther King III, whose father was slain civil rights leader and fellow Nobel Peace Prize winner Martin Luther King Jr.Carter’s casket has been placed in the hearse and is departing the cathedral.The casket, along with Carter’s family and guests, are traveling to Joint Base Andrews and will head next to Georgia.The flag-draped casket of former President Jimmy Carter is seen in the hearse at Washington National Cathedral following the state funeral. Photo by Susan Walsh/ Pool via ReutersThere were a few more handshakes after the service. Dignitaries have filed out of Washington National Cathedral, with a few more interactions.Biden walked over and shook the hands of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Prince Edward, who had been seated together.Harris, who entered the cathedral swiftly ahead of the service, stopped to speak to Obama. As he left, Bush leaned over and briefly interacted with Trump, shaking hands.Ahead of the service, many of the former presidents and other officials greeted Biden privately as they all arrived at the cathedral.Chief Justice John Roberts also spoke to a number of senators as he walked out, including Sen Raphael WarnockCarter’s service has concluded.Following prayers and benediction from the assembled clergy, Carter’s services at Washington National Cathedral have come to a close. Once the procession reaches the cathedral’s outside steps, “Hail to the Chief” sounds again, following “Faith of our Fathers” from the U.S. Coast Guard Band.Carter’s casket is then placed in the hearse, and it, along with Carter’s relatives and guests head in a motorcade to Joint Base Andrews.At that point, Carter’s final journey home to Georgia begins. At the air base, there will be more music and another 21-gun salute before the casket is loaded onto the plane, and Carter’s family boards.Once it lands in Georgia, there is another ceremony, then the journey to Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Georgia, for a private funeral service.President Joe Biden, former Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, President-elect Donald Trump, and Vice President Kamala Harris react as the casket of former President Jimmy Carter is carried away, on the day of his State Funeral, at the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, on Jan. 9, 2025. Photo by Elizabeth Frantz/ ReutersThe Rev. Tony Lowden, Carter’s longtime personal pastor, spoke briefly and asked God to grant the former president “eternal rest.”WATCH: Rev. Andrew Young remembers Jimmy Carter’s legacy pursuing equalityLowden is among many Black pastors Carter has been close to in his life, including Young, whom he met in politics. Carter once wrote of how much he was impacted by sometimes attending services as a child at the Black Methodist Episcopal church attended by the sharecropping families who worked for his father.In recent years, the homebound Carter also liked to watch Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock’s Sunday services at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta.As Brooks and Yearwood perform, Biden was among those in the audience observed to quietly sing along to “Imagine.”Country music stars Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood are singing their arrangement of John Lennon’s “Imagine,” which they also sang at Rosalynn Carter’s Atlanta funeral in 2023. The lyrics are remarkable for a former first couple of the United States, the world’s preeminent military and economic superpower.“Imagine there’s no countriesIt isn’t hard to doNothing to kill or die forAnd no religion, tooImagine all the peopleLivin’ life in peace.”Speaking without a prepared speech in front of him, Young said he knew Carter “for more than half of my life,” yet “never ceased to be surprised” or “inspired” by the former president’s actions.“Jimmy Carter was a blessing that helped to create a great United States of America. And for all of us, and many who are not able to be here, I want to say, ‘Thank you. You have been a blessing from God, and your spirit will remain with us,’” Young said.Seated at a microphone, Young drew laughs from the crowd when he said, “It’s still hard for me to understand how you could get to be president from Plains, Georgia.”Young, who is Black and was a pastor nearby, said he was “nervous” sometimes driving through the small town.Carter’s longtime friend and fellow Georgian, former Amb. Andrew Young, is recalling the unlikely intersection between him, a Black man, and Carter, a white man, who both grew up amid Jim Crow segregation.He recalls Carter telling him upon their meeting that the future president was friends with Sumter County’s racist sheriff.”But time and again I saw in him the ability to achieve diversity by the personality and upbringing,” Young said. “He went out of his way to embrace those of us who grew up in all kinds of conflict.”Young, an ordained minister and onetime aide to Martin Luther King Jr., said Carter “grew up in the tremendous diversity of the South, and he embraced both sides.“Now 92, Young became a Georgia congressman, Atlanta mayor and Carter’s U.N. ambassador.Biden ended his remarks saying “God bless you, Jimmy Carter.” He grazed his left hand along Carter’s flag-draped casket as he passed by it in a return to his seat in the front row.President Joe Biden touches the casket after delivering remarks at former President Jimmy Carter’s funeral at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 9, 2025. Photo by Haiyun Jiang/Pool via ReutersBiden is using his remarks to intertwine what he sees as the importance of Carter’s own faith in God, and an enduring faith in America itself.“The very journey of our nation is a walk of sheer faith, to do the work, to be the country we say we are, to be the country we say we want to be,” Biden said. “Today many think he was from a bygone era, but in reality he saw well into the future.”Biden also recalled Carter as a “Southern Baptist who led on civil rights,” “brokered peace” and, along with Mondale, formed a “model partnership” of what it means to serve in the White House.“I miss him but I take solace in knowing that he and his beloved Rosalynn are reunited again,” Biden said.Biden began his remarks by recalling how his relationship with Carter began, by endorsing the Georgian ahead of the 1976 presidential campaign.Repeating “character” several times as Carter’s chief attribute, Biden said the former president taught him the imperative that “everyone should be treated with dignity and respect.”“We have an obligation to give hate no safe harbor,” Biden said, also noting the importance of standing up to “abuse in power.”Biden is taking the lectern to deliver his remarks in remembrance of Carter.With decades of experience in a variety of political positions, Biden has often been called on to delivery eulogies for a number of allies – including Democratic Sens. Fitz Hollings and Ted Kennedy – and even foes.In 2003, Biden spoke at the funeral of Sen. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, a Democrat-turned-Republican who once ran for president as a Dixiecrat opposed to civil rights for African-Americans, Biden praised the senator as someone who stood by him during the confirmation battle of doomed Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork.Carter describing his grandparents and their house: “Walls papered with pictures of children and great-grandchildren.”“They had a little rack next to the sink where they’d hang Ziploc bags to dry.“Carter, he said, “Eventually did get a cell phone.”WATCH: Jason Carter honors his grandfather Jimmy Carter’s life, legacy in eulogy“They were small-town people who never forgot who they were and where they were from no matter what happened in their lives. … But I realize we are not here because he was just a regular guy.”“As governor of Georgia a half-century ago, he preached an end to racial discrimination and mass incarceration,” he said.Jason Carter, grandson of late former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, speaks during a service, on the day of the State Funeral for his grandfather at the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, U.S., January 9, 2025. REUTERS/Elizabeth FrantzStu Eizenstat, who served Carter as a domestic policy aide and has written a book on his administration, says he thought his boss’s longshot presidential bid could, at best, end with a vice presidential nomination “for regional balance.”He said Carter told him flatly that he would win the Democratic nomination. Carter did, and Eizenstat noted that Carter was the only Democrat elected president between 1968 and 1992.Eizenstat also said Carter brought “integrity” back to the office following Watergate and his help in establishing the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, which Eizenstat chairs.Eizenstat also said Carter “laid the building blocks for a better world” in terms of the U.S.’ relationships abroad, saying he operationalized the “soft power” of human rights with the “hard power” of military strength.While so many Carter tributes focused on his humanitarian work, public service and personal decency, Eizenstat made a head-on effort to frame the Carter presidency as more successful than voters appreciated at the time.Eizenstat ticked through legislative achievements — and their bipartisan support, noting that Carter deregulated U.S. transportation industries, streamlined energy research, created FEMA, and notched the Camp David Accords between Egypt and Israel. He emphasized that Carter’s administration secured the release of the American hostages in Iran, though it did not happen until after his 1980 defeat.“He may not be a candidate for Mount Rushmore, but he belongs in the foothills,” Eizenstat said.While so many Carter tributes focused on his humanitarian work, public service and personal decency, former White House aide Stu Eizenstat made a head-on effort to frame the Carter presidency as more successful than voters appreciated at the time. Eizenstat ticked through legislative achievements— and their bipartisan support.He noted Carter deregulated U.S. transportation industries, streamlined energy research, created FEMA, and notched the Camp David Accords between Egypt and Israel. He emphasized that Carter’s administration secured the release of the American hostages in Iran, though it did not happen until after his 1980 defeat.“He may not be a candidate for Mount Rushmore, but he belongs in the foothills,” Eizenstat said.Presidential funerals are often filled with military presence given to the president’s stature as commander-in-chief. Carter’s had an added poignancy because he was the last of the Greatest Generation to have sat in the Oval Office and his death leaves only George W. Bush as a president who has worn a military uniform. It is a change from an era when veteran status was as ubiquitous as the Presidential Seal.In his remarks, Mondale spoke at length about Carter’s efforts toward equality for women, noting that Carter had appointed “five times as many women to the federal bench” as any of those who preceded him as president, combined.WATCH: ‘Far-sighted’ Carter put his presidency on the line to protect the future, Mondale wrote in eulogyIn addition to U.S. political leaders, there are also a number of foreign dignitaries in attendance, including Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau – who recently announced his resignation – Prince Edward, the Duke of Edinburgh, and United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres.Seated together, Prince Edward and Trudeau were seen speaking at length as they awaited the start of the service.United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres greets Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the state funeral for former President Jimmy Carter at the Washington National Cathedral. Photo by Brendan McDermid/ ReutersTed Mondale, son of the late Vice President Walter Mondale, rose to read a letter from his father in honor of his former running mate.Walter Mondale wrote that he was “surprised” that Carter asked him to be his running mate for the 1976 campaign, saying that his only requests were that he make a real contribution to the team, and not be “embarrassed, as many of my predecessors had.”Mondale wrote that Carter “protected” him from “humiliation” faced by other vice presidents.Among Biden White House officials attending Carter’s funeral are chief of staff Jeff Zients, climate adviser John Podesta and Tom Perez, director of the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs.Steven Ford, son of Gerald Ford, noted Carter and his 1976 rival aligned in pushing the U.S. foreign policy establishment to take action on Israel and Palestine—a reference to the longtime U.S. policy advocating a “two-state solution” in the region.WATCH: Gerald Ford’s son reads former president’s eulogy to Jimmy CarterCarter sometimes rankled his successors and the U.S. foreign policy establishment with his emphasis on the rights of Palestinians.Nearly a half-century later, Israel remains at war with Hamas in Gaza.Those close to Carter have said that the president, in his final months, was often agitated and bothered watching news coverage of the conflict in the region where he had brokered the Camp David Accords between Egypt and Israel.Ford’s letter also mentioned Rosalynn, whom he referenced as a “true citizen of the world” who was a friend to his wife, Betty, and entire family.Steven Ford speaks during a service, on the day of the State Funeral for former U.S. President Jimmy Carter at the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, U.S., January 9, 2025. REUTERS/Elizabeth FrantzIt’s often referenced as an exclusive organization wherein only the members understand the stakes, but the club of former presidents is evident in some of the reactions coming from the front few rows at Carter’s funeral.As Ford’s son read his father’s remarks about how he and Carter had joked about the expense of presidential libraries, Clinton and Bush were among those laughing, since – as former presidents – it’s a cost and process they both well know.In the remarks read by his son, Gerald Ford wrote that the 1976 election brought about “one of my deepest and most enduring friendships,” in his bond with Carter.Steven Ford also joked that his father and Carter had bemused themselves about which of them would die first, in agreeing to eulogize each other.Steven Ford noted that Carter “supported my mom and gave her hope that week” when Ford died.The Carter children are seated in order of age on the front left pew, starting from the aisle: Jack, Chip (James Earl III), Jeff and Amy.They are across the aisle from the other presidents and first ladies.The brothers were young adults who worked as key campaign aides and volunteers in 1976. Amy Carter was in elementary school. Photographers captured her when she was with her parents on the trail. But she spent most of the campaign in Plains, being cared for by her grandmothers.Joshua Carter talked about the legendary Sunday school class his grandfather led for decades at Maranatha Baptist Church, also noting that Jimmy Carter spent his “entire life helping those in need.”He said his grandfather “eliminated diseases in forgotten places” and “waged peace” around the world.During Sunday School lessons, Carter said he did it because “he worshipped the Prince of Peace, and He commanded it.”He noted Carter’s Sunday School students were the first to learn he’d won the Nobel Peace Prize.Carter outlived many of his Cabinet members, campaign advisers and inner circle. Not all that remain were included in the limited tickets for his state funeral at National Cathedral.But many of those are gathering in Washington for a reception and reunion to watch the funeral. Several Carter administration figures who are inside the cathedral will join their former colleagues after the service as Carter and his family return to Georgia for his hometown funeral and burial.The Very Reverend Randloph Marshall Hollerith, dean of the cathedral, opens by recognizing Carter as “your servant James.”Carter rarely used his given name. He took the oath of office as “Jimmy Carter,” and he signed official documents that way.Carter’s casket has taken its place at the front of Washington National Cathedral. As it passed, a number of dignitaries on the front row, including Biden and Clinton, placed their hands over their hearts. Rather than music for a processional, Carter’s casket is being carried up the center aisle in silence, broken only by a reading that includes passages from the New Testament gospel of John and book of Romans.The footsteps from the military pallbearers can be heard as they pivot to place Carter’s casket for the service.The funeral procession of Carter has begun, with a crucifer, torch bearers – typical of an Episcopal church procession – as well as representatives of all branches of the U.S. military.A joint services body bearer team carries the flag-draped casket of former President Jimmy Carter at Washington National Cathedral in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025, for a state funeral. Susan Walsh/Pool via REUTERSOne of the dignitaries missing from the former president lineup is Michelle Obama.Ahead of the funeral, CNN reported that the former first lady had a scheduling conflict and remained in Hawaii, where she had been on an “extended vacation.” Asked why she was absent from Carter’s funeral, Michelle Obama’s office issued a statement saying that her thoughts and prayers are with the late former president’s family but otherwise did not say where she was or explain her absence.This is the order of ceremony for Carter’s service, according to the White House.Joshua Carter reads the First Lesson (Romans 8:1-18, 38-39)Steven Ford delivers remarksTed Mondale delivers remarksThe Armed Forces Chorus, the U.S. Marine Chamber Orchestra, and the Cathedral Choir perform “Eternal Father, Strong to Save.”Stuart Eizenstat delivers remarksJason Carter delivers remarksPhyllis Adams and Leila Bolden perform “Song Rise to Thee.”The U.S. Marine Orchestra performs “Amazing The President”James Carter delivers the Gospel reading (Matthew 5:1-16)Reverend Andrew Young delivers the homilyGarth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood perform “Imagine.”The Lord’s PrayerThe Right Reverend Mariann Edgar Budde and Reverend Anthony Lowden deliver The PrayersThe Most Reverend Sean Rowe, The Right Reverend Mariann Edgar Budde, and The Very Reverend Randolph Marshall Hollerith deliver the CommendationThe Most Reverend Sean Rowe delivers the BlessingThe Very Reverend Randolph Marshall Hollerith delivers the DismissalDismissal song “All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name.”Carter’s casket is being removed from the hearse and being positioned for delivery into Washington National Cathedral.Members of honour guard carry the casket of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter on the day of the State Funeral at the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, U.S., January 9, 2025. REUTERS/Nathan HowardBiden and his wife Jill are taking their seats next to Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff. There were no visible greetings, but the former presidents were all just together in a private room ahead of their entrances into Washington National Cathedral.The Armed Forces Chorus is singing the hymn, “Be Still My Soul,” ahead of Carter’s casket entering the Cathedral. Carter, as most presidents do, planned many details of his state funeral years ahead of his death, including most musical selections.Other former presidents and their wives are being seated just down the row from Trump, including George W. Bush and his wife, former first lady Laura Bush.As she and her husband entered, former first lady Hillary Clinton walked around the end of the row on which Trump was sitting, going first to greet Bush and others.Former U.S. President Barack Obama, former U.S. President George W. Bush and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump react on the day of the State Funeral for former U.S. President Jimmy Carter at the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, U.S., January 9, 2025. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid TPX IMAGES OF THE DAYObama has taken his seat next to Trump, chatting with his successor in office, who did not stand to greet him but shook hands. They were engaged in conversation as Harris entered the cathedral.Trump and Pence have shaken hands as the former president takes his seat, just in front of his former vice president.Former Vice President Mike Pence shakes hands with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on the day of the State Funeral for former U.S. President Jimmy Carter at the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, U.S., January 9, 2025. REUTERS/Brendan McDermidTrump and his wife, Melania, are entering Washington National Cathedral and being ushered to their seats.Congressional leaders are also in attendance as they await the start of Carter’s funeral.Senate Majority Leader John Thune is seated next to House Speaker Mike Johnson, both Republicans. Democratic leaders are also in Washington National Cathedral, including House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer.U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson looks on, on the day of the State Funeral for former U.S. President Jimmy Carter at the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, U.S., January 9, 2025. REUTERS/Brendan McDermidAndrew Young, the 92-year-old former U.N. Ambassador for Jimmy Carter, will speak about his longtime friend Thursday.But Young was skeptical of Jimmy Carter in 1970. The former aide to Martin Luther King Jr. knew that the young state senator had never met King and was a calculated moderate during the Civil Rights Movement. Then Young watched Carter run for Georgia governor a second time and campaign at an Atlanta restaurant famous in the Civil Rights Movement. Carter, Young said, insisted on shaking every hand — including in the kitchen, where Young said no politicians — Black or white — typically went.Speaking to The Associated Press, Young noted how Carter, as governor and president, elevated more Black appointees, including judges, than his predecessors had combined. And he said Carter was the first U.S. president to pay attention to Africa.“We still haven’t caught up with him,” Young said. “He was ahead of his time.”Carter’s casket has arrived at the Washington National Cathedral, met by an honor guard hoisting flags rippling in the cold wind. Snow from a recent winter storm that gripped the nation’s capital is still visible on rooftops and grounds, sparkling in the sunlight.People stand near the casket of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter on the day of the State Funeral at the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, U.S., January 9, 2025. REUTERS/Nathan HowardExpected at Carter’s funeral are the five living men who have also served as president: Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton.There are also incoming, current and former vice presidents, including JD Vance, Kamala Harris, Al Gore, Mike Pence —and of course Biden, who served alongside Obama.Bipartisanship is on display in the Washington National Cathedral, with former Vice President Al Gore, a Democrat, seated next to former Vice President Mike Pence, a Republican.As often is the case with the funerals of former politicians, the reverence and respect on display thus far among attendees at Carter’s upcoming funeral supersedes their partisan differences.Another point of note is that Carter’s funeral appears to be the first time that Pence and his former running mate, Trump, will be in the same space as Pence since their term together and fractured relationship following the Jan. 6 violence at the U.S. Capitol.The two spoke at a 2023 Lincoln Day Dinner in Iowa during the 2024 GOP presidential primary but were on stage at different times.Carter’s funeral procession has just passed by the White House, which he once called home during his term as president.A funeral procession carrying the body of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter moves on its way from the U.S. Capitol to Washington National Cathedral in Washington, U.S., January 9, 2025. REUTERS/Fabrizio BenschJustice Brett Kavanaugh shook hands with Vice President-elect JD Vance and hugged his wife, Usha Vance, who sat in the third row.Four children, a few dozen children and great-grandchildren, and many in-laws are accompanying Carter on his state funeral journey. But there’s a notable absence: former first lady Rosalynn Carter.The Carters had the longest presidential marriage — 77 years — when she died in 2023 at the age of 96. Carter’s mother, “Miss Lillian,” was a nurse who delivered Rosalynn in Plains. She brought her young son Jimmy to meet the baby days later.She became one of the most active first ladies in U.S. history, campaigning for Carter on his way up the political ladder and sitting in on Cabinet meetings in Washington. Carter admitted he did not treat Rosalynn as his equal early in their marriage. But it grew into a “full partnership.” She essentially ran the peanut warehouse. She campaigned for him solo. She sat in on Cabinet meetings.Years after his 1980 defeat, Rosalynn Carter said she missed Washington — far more than Jimmy did.Supreme Court Justices Elena Kagan and Amy Coney Barrett stood talking, along with Sonia Sotomayor and Samuel Alito inside the Washington National Cathedral.Ford-Carter friendship will be on display at Washington National Cathedral
Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford were rivals in the 1976 presidential election. And then they were friends.The two men agreed long ago that whichever of them outlived the other would speak at the first funeral. Carter eulogized Ford after he died in 2006. Ford still found a way to keep his end of the bargain. His grandson, Ted Ford, will read a tribute Thursday to Carter that the 35th president wrote ahead of his own death.Ford and Carter became presidential friends quickly.Ford was instrumental in helping Carter secure enough Republican senators to adopt the Panama Canal treaty that handed control of the waterway to its home country—a move that President-elect Donald Trump is questioning ahead of his Jan. 20 return to office.President Biden’s motorcade has arrived to the Washington National Cathedral. Members of the British embassy lined Massachusetts Avenue outside the building as Biden’s motorcade passed by.It was the “Grits and Fritz” ticket for Democrats in 1976. Carter, the Southern governor, tapped Minnesota Sen. Walter “Fritz” Mondale for his running mate.Mondale, who lost to Ronald Reagan in 1984 four years after the Republican defeated Carter, died in 2021. But he wrote a tribute to Carter before his death that Ted Mondale will read Thursday.Carter elevated the vice presidency, giving Mondale a more prominent role than the No. 2 spot typically had. That set an example followed by Al Gore under Bill Clinton, Dick Cheney under George W. Bush, and Joe Biden under Barack Obama.After Reagan’s 1980 landslide, Mondale defended the Carter administration: “We told the truth, we obeyed the law and we kept the peace — and that’s not bad.”Carter’s casket has been placed into a hearse, which will take his body to Washington National Cathedral.On a frosty morning in the nation’s capital, relatives and Special Honor Guard members have donned gloves and ear muffs, as a stiff wind whips flags that accompany the former president’s body.The flag-draped casket of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter is carried by a joint services military honor guard down the steps of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., January 9, 2025. REUTERS/Jeenah Moon/PoolMusic — sacred, patriotic and popular — will feature prominently throughout Thursday for the evangelical president who campaigned with the Allman Brothers Band, befriended Willie Nelson and quoted Bob Dylan in his 1977 inaugural address.In Washington, the U.S. Marine Orchestra and Armed Forces Chorus will sing “Eternal Father, Strong to Save,” the Navy hymn, for the only U.S. Naval Academy graduate to become commander in chief. Country music stars Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood, who succeeded Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter as ambassadors for Habitat for Humanity, will perform John Lennon’s “Imagine,” reprising their role at the former first lady’s funeral in 2023.Hymns include “All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name” and, in Plains, “Let there be Peace on Earth.”Jimmy Carter did not meet Martin Luther King Jr. before his assassination. But he became close to King’s widow, Coretta Scott King, and King’s parents — a key enduring friendship.Martin Luther King Sr. was a key advocate for Carter in his 1976 campaign and delivered the benediction at the his nominating convention that year and four years later. Carter awarded a posthumous Presidential Medal of Freedom to the younger King, presenting the medal to his widow.And Carter pushed for a national holiday to commemorate King.King’s daughter, Bernice King, will be at Carter’s national funeral. She told AP that Carter was a “true pro-life president” because of his emphasis on human rights.Carter’s casket is departing the U.S. Capitol as part of a procession to the Washington National Cathedral for his funeral. Accompanied by a 21-gun salute, the procession has paused during a performance of “Hail to the Chief.”The U.S. Navy band has continued to play as the body bearer team descends the steps, which are flanked with uniformed Special Honor Guard members.President Joe Biden is the highest-ranking eulogist for Carter’s national funeral. But there are several other speakers from different stages of the late president’s 100 years. They include Jason Carter, the former president’s eldest grandchild who now chairs The Carter Center board; Stu Eizenstat, who shaped Carter’s domestic policy as a top White House aide; and Andrew Young, Carter’s fellow Georgian who served as his U.N. ambassador.Steve Ford, the grandson of President Gerald Ford, will read a tribute from his grandfather, whom Carter defeated in 1976. The 35th president died in 2006. Ted Mondale, son of Carter’s vice president, Walter Mondale, will read a eulogy his father wrote for Carter before his own death in 2021.Jimmy Carter, the peanut farmer who won the presidency in the wake of the Watergate scandal and Vietnam War, endured humbling defeat after one tumultuous term and then redefined life after the White House as a global humanitarian, died on Dec. 29, 2024, at 100 years old.Businessman, Navy officer, evangelist, politician, negotiator, author, woodworker, citizen of the world — Carter forged a path that still challenges political assumptions and stands out among the 45 men who reached the nation’s highest office. The 39th president leveraged his ambition with a keen intellect, deep religious faith and prodigious work ethic, conducting diplomatic missions into his 80s and building houses for the poor well into his 90s.“My faith demands — this is not optional — my faith demands that I do whatever I can, wherever I am, whenever I can, for as long as I can, with whatever I have to try to make a difference,” Carter once said.Carter will be buried next to his wife, Rosalynn Carter, in a plot near the home they built before his first state Senate campaign in 1962 and where they lived out their lives with the exception of four years in the Georgia Governor’s Mansion and four years in the White House.A long line of mourners gathered to pay their respects at the U.S. Capitol Wednesday night.“President Carter was the governor of the great state of Georgia when I was born,” said Lyn Leverett, among the people who waited in below-freezing weather Wednesday. “So he’s been around my, you know, my whole entire being. And I just want to pay my respects to a decent person.”“I’m originally from Nashua, New Hampshire, and when I was a child, Jimmy Carter slept at my house,” said Susan Prolman. “He had just won the Iowa caucuses and he was in New Hampshire campaigning for the first-in-the-nation New Hampshire presidential primary. And I created this little poster for him, and he very kindly signed it.”Kim James, also a Maryland resident, said she had yet to start grade school when Carter was elected and thinks of him more as the white-haired former president who fought disease and advocated for democracy in the developing world and built homes for Habitat for Humanity in the U.S. and abroad.“He cared about other people,” James said, adding that political leaders today should work harder to replicate that example. “That selflessness — it always stood out.”“He set a very high bar for presidents, how you can use voice and leadership for causes,” said Bill Gates, the Microsoft co-founder whose foundation funded Carter’s work to eliminate treatable diseases like the Guinea worm. Gates spoke to The Associated Press on Wednesday.“Whatever prestige and resources you are lucky enough to have, ideally you can take those and take a even broader societal view in your post private sector career,” Gates said.Bernice King, daughter of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., compared the two Georgians and Nobel Peace Prize winners.“Both President Jimmy Carter and my father showed us what is possible when your faith compels you to live and lead from a love-centered place,” said King, who is also planning to attend the Washington service.No matter how many times one crammed into the modest sanctuary at Maranatha Baptist Church, there was always some wisdom to be gleaned from Carter’s measured, Bible-inspired words.Carter taught his Sunday school class roughly twice a month to accommodate crowds that sometimes swelled to more than 500. (On the other Sundays, no more than a couple dozen regulars and a handful of visitors usually attended services).Here, the former commander-in-chief and the onetime first lady, his wife of more than seven decades, were simply Mr. Jimmy and Ms. Rosalynn. And when it came to worshipping with them, all were welcome.As Carter’s remains left Georgia Tuesday, President-elect Donald Trump criticized the late former president during a news conference in Florida for ceding control of the Panama Canal to its home country.Pressed on if criticism of Carter was appropriate during the solemn funeral rites, Trump responded, “I liked him as a man. I disagreed with his policies. He thought giving away the Panama Canal was a good thing.”“I didn’t want to bring up the Panama Canal because of Jimmy Carter’s death,” he added, even though he had first mentioned it unprompted.“To all of the young people in this nation and for anyone in search of what it means to live a life of purpose and meaning – the good life – study Jimmy Carter, a man of principle, faith, and humility,” President Joe Biden said in a statement issued the day Carter died.Biden spoke later that evening about Carter, calling it a “sad day” but one that “brings back an incredible amount of good memories.”“I’ve been hanging out with Jimmy Carter for over 50 years,” Biden said in his remarks.He recalled the former president being a comfort to him and his wife Jill when their son Beau died in 2015 of cancer. The president remarked how cancer was a common bond between their families, with Carter himself having cancer later in his life.“Jimmy knew the ravages of the disease too well,” said Biden, who scheduled a state funeral in Washington, D.C., for Carter on Jan. 9.9 a.m. ET: Carter’s body leaves the Capitol where it currently lies in state
9:30 a.m.: His body arrives at the Washington National Cathedral
10 a.m.: The state funeral begins
11:15 a.m.: Carter’s body departs for Joint Base Andrews in Maryland
11:45 a.m.: Cater’s body flies back to Fort Moore, Georgia
2 p.m.: Upon arrival, a motorcade takes Carter’s body to Plains, Georgia
3:30 p.m.: Motorcade arrives at Maranatha Baptist Church for a private service
4:45 p.m.: Motorcade from the church to the Carter residence
5:20 p.m.: The Carter family hosts a final and private interment at the Carter residenceAll of the pomp will carry some irony for the Democrat who went from his family peanut warehouse to the Governor’s Mansion and eventually the White House. Carter won the presidency as the smiling Southerner and technocratic engineer who promised to change the ways of Washington — and eschewed many of those unwritten rules when he got there.“Jimmy Carter was always an outsider,” said biographer Jonathan Alter, explaining how Carter capitalized on the fallout of the Vietnam War and Watergate scandal that toppled Richard Nixon. “The country was thirsting for moral renewal and for Carter, as this genuinely religious figure, to come in and clean things up.”
Left:
The casket bearing the remains of former President Jimmy Carter arrives inside Washington National Cathedral for his state funeral on Jan. 9, 2025 in Washington. Following the state funeral, Carter’s remains will be returned to Plains, Georgia where he will be interred after a private family service. Photo by Haiyun Jiang-Pool/ Getty Images
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