WASHINGTON – Lawmakers, military officials and other dignitaries celebrated the life and achievements of the slow President Jimmy Carter before, during and after his White House term Tuesday at a service in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol, where he will lie in state until Thursday .
James Earl Carter Jr., who was the country’s 39th president from 1977 to 1981, died at age 100 on December 29 at his home in Plains, Georgia.
The cavernous rotunda filled with dozens of Carter’s relatives and former members of his Cabinet, sitting not too far from current U.S. Supreme Court justices, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Biden administration officials and congressional leaders.
The voices of the U.S. Naval Academy Glee Club filled the dome with the Navy anthem and “My Country ‘Tis of Thee.” In a tribute to Carter’s love for his home state, the U.S. Army Band Brass Quintet performed a rendition of “Georgia On My Mind” as senators, including that state’s Democratic senators Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, walked past the slow president’s casket.
The coffin, decorated with a flag, lay on the same pine tree catafalque which supported the casket of President Abraham Lincoln in 1865.
Camp David and Habitat for Humanity
Vice President Kamala Harris delivered a eulogy in which she reflected on Carter’s career in office and his humanitarian work in the decades that followed.
“Jimmy Carter created a new model for what it means to be a former president,” Harris said, highlighting his work with Habitat for Humanity and his leadership in eradicating Guinea worm disease.
Harris, a California Democrat, praised, among other things, the former president’s environmental work during his time in the White House signing a 1978 bill that significantly expanded protections for sequoias.
She also highlighted Carter as a “forward-thinking president with a vision for the future” for the creation of the Department of Energy, the Department of Education and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, as well as his legacy appoint a record number of female and black judges on the federal bench.
Harris said Carter deserves to be remembered on the international stage for his role in leading the Camp David Accords, a peace treaty signed in September 1978 by Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat.
“Jimmy Carter was an all-too-rare example of a gifted man who simultaneously walked with humility, modesty and grace,” she said.
Harris continued: “Throughout his life and career, Jimmy Carter maintained a fundamental decency and humility. James Earl Carter Jr. loved our country. He lived his faith, he served people and he left the world better than he found it.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune and House Speaker Mike Johnson also delivered eulogies.
Johnson recalled that he was just four years ancient when Carter was inaugurated.
“He’s the first president I remember. Looking back, as an adult, I now realize why he caught everyone’s attention,” the Louisiana Republican said. “Jimmy Carter was a member of the greatest generation.”
Johnson recounted Carter’s upbringing in rural Georgia during the Great Depression and his decision to enter the Naval Academy during World War II. Shortly after the war, Carter served on one of the first nuclear submarines.
“It is significant that today the USS Jimmy Carter, a top-secret attack submarine, roams the oceans and bears the name of the only president to serve in such close quarters,” Johnson said.
Carter will be honored at a memorial service at the Washington National Cathedral on Thursday. President Joe Biden has declared Thursday a national day of mourning and closed all federal offices in the nation’s capital.
Ceremonial arrival
U.S. soldiers carried Carter’s flag-draped coffin Tuesday morning from the Carter Presidential Center in Atlanta, where the slow 39th president had been lie in peace. The 282nd Army Band from Fort Jackson, South Carolina, performed “Amazing Grace” while Carter’s four surviving children and their families followed the procession.
Carter’s remains traveled from Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Marietta, Georgia, and arrived at Joint Base Andrews in Prince George’s County, Maryland, shortly after 2 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday.
The funeral procession stopped for a brief ceremony at the U.S. Navy Memorial, where midshipmen stood in formation and the U.S. Navy Band performed “Four Ruffles and Flourishes” and “Hail to the Chief.” Carter, a Navy veteranattended the US Naval Academy from 1943 to 1946.
Carter’s casket was placed on a horse-drawn caisson or carriage, and a military procession mirroring Carter’s inaugural parade in 1977 led the slow president’s remains to the east side of the Capitol.
Honorary pallbearers included Carter’s 11 surviving grandchildren.
Carter’s slow wife, Rosalynn died in November 2023.
Carter will lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda until Thursday morning. The public may pay their respects on January 7 from 8:30 p.m. to midnight Eastern Time and on January 8 from 7:00 a.m. to January 9 from 7:00 a.m.
Last updated on January 7, 2025 at 8:31 p.m
