Jimmy Carter brought a brief moment of national unity to a divided America on Thursday as five American presidents gathered for the solemn state funeral of the 39th commander in chief at Washington National Cathedral.
In historic scenes, just 11 days before Donald Trump is inaugurated for what promises to be a turbulent second term, the incoming president and outgoing President Joe Biden put aside their bitter rivalry to mourn Carter together.
Former presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton also sat with them at the somber ceremony honoring Carter, who died Dec. 29 at the age of 100 in his home state of Georgia.
Democrat Carter was widely perceived as naïve and weak during his single term from 1977 to 1981, but as the years passed a more nuanced view emerged, focusing on his decency and foreign policy achievements.
Carter’s flag-draped casket was carried from the U.S. Capitol, where it had lain in state, and carried to the immense cathedral by an honor guard of service members in ceremonial uniforms. His grandson Joshua Carter delivered the first homily to the last president of the “Greatest Generation.”
‘Decent man’
President Joe Biden will deliver the eulogy for his Democratic colleague at the neo-Gothic cathedral, a traditional site for farewells to American presidents, from Dwight Eisenhower and Ronald Reagan to George HW Bush.
Biden, who will leave the White House on Jan. 20 after his only term, has said Carter asked him to do so when the pair, longtime friends, last met four years ago.
“Carter was a decent man. “I think Carter looked at the world not from here but from here, where everyone else lives,” Biden said as he pointed from above his head toward his heart.
The funeral comes just days before another moment of profound change for the United States, with Trump’s return to the Oval Office. Obama shook hands and chatted with the Republican billionaire.
There was also a brief moment of reconciliation for Trump and his former Vice President Mike Pence, when they met and shook hands in what is believed to be the first time since the 2021 US Capitol riots, when Pence refused to endorse Trump’s false claims of having won. the 2020 elections.
The five presidents joined about 3,000 mourners at the service, and Thursday was designated a day of national mourning, with federal offices closed.
Carter, who served only one term before a crushing election loss to Reagan in 1980, suffered in the world of Washington politics and a hostage crisis involving Americans held in Tehran after Iran’s Islamic revolution finally sealed his destination.
But history has led to a reassessment, focusing on his brokering a peace deal between Israel and Egypt. He also received high praise for his post-presidential humanitarian efforts and a Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.
‘Thirst for justice’
The first president to reach triple digits, he had been in hospice care since February 2023 in his hometown of Plains, Georgia, where he died and will be buried next to his late wife, former first lady Rosalynn Carter.
Mourners began paying their respects Saturday, as the carefully choreographed six-day farewell began with American flags flying at half-staff across the country.
A black hearse carrying Carter’s remains stopped at his childhood family’s peanut farm in Plains, where a bell rang 39 times and the staff stood silently in tribute. Crowds gathered along the road to say goodbye, take photos or wave as the caravan slowly passed by.
Carter’s casket arrived at the snow-covered U.S. Capitol in Washington on Tuesday atop a gun carriage.
He was accompanied by hundreds of service members, and military bearers carried Carter to the Rotunda to lie in state before Thursday’s ceremony, the first presidential funeral since Bush Sr.’s death in 2018.
Chuck Schumer, leader of the Senate Democrats, described Carter as “one of the most decent and humble public servants we have ever seen.”
“President Carter was a living embodiment of leadership through service, compassion and a thirst for justice for all,” he said.
