Former President Jimmy Carter’s state funeral will take place next week in Washington, D.C., less than two weeks before President-elect Donald Trump takes office, with other arrangements set to take place in his home state of Georgia.
Former President Jimmy Carter died Sunday at age 100. (Photo by Paul Hennessy/NurPhoto via Getty ... [+]
Carter, who died at age 100 at his home in Plains, Georgia, on Sunday, will first be brought to Atlanta by motorcade to lie in repose next Saturday and Sunday before lying in state at the Capitol on Monday, Jan. 6, The New York Times reported.
President Joe Biden will reportedly eulogize Carter at his state funeral at Washington National Cathedral on Thursday, Jan. 9, which Biden also declared to be a National Day of Mourning (Biden revealed last year he was asked to give a eulogy at Carter’s funeral).
Jason Carter, the former president’s grandson and chairman of the Carter Center, will also speak, and eulogies written by the late former President Gerald Ford and former Vice President Walter Mondale will be read by their sons, according to the Times.
Carter will be buried in Plains, Georgia, next to his late wife, Rosalynn Carter, who died at age 96 last year.
The Carter Center said services will also take place in Atlanta, where many mourners have paid tribute to the former president, though details are still pending.
State funerals are typically week-long events held to honor current or former presidents who have died, consisting of services held in the president's home state, in Washington, D.C., and in the location they chose to be buried. Deaths of former presidents are announced by the sitting president by proclamation, who then directs the Department of Defense to conduct the state funeral. Ceremonies held as part of the state funeral may include participation from military bands, honor guards and National Guard and U.S. Armed Forces Reserve units.
Biden ordered flags at federal and military buildings to fly at half-staff for the next 30 days—meaning the flags will be half-staff during Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20.
Carter died on Sunday as the oldest former president in history. Carter died two months after his 100th birthday, the first and only former president to become a centenarian. His death sparked an outpouring of tributes, including from Biden, who called him “a man of character, courage, and compassion, whose lifetime of service defined him as one of the most influential statesmen in our history.” Trump, in a statement on Truth Social, said he “strongly disagreed with him philosophically and politically” but acknowledged Carter “truly loved and respected our Country,” offering condolences to his family.
Which former presidents will attend Carter’s state funeral. Trump, who has made multiple posts on Truth Social about Carter after his death, has not said whether or not he will attend. All living former presidents attended the last presidential funeral for former president George H.W. Bush in 2018. Trump and former presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama did not attend Rosalynn Carter’s funeral, but former first ladies Melania Trump, Laura Bush and Michelle Obama attended.
The New York Stock Exchange will close Jan. 9 in observance of the National Day of Mourning. The stock exchange traditionally closes to observe the death of a former president, which it did in 2018 to honor George H.W. Bush.
Former President Jimmy Carter Dies At 100 (Forbes)
Carter Funeral Service to Be Held at Washington National Cathedral on Jan. 9 (New York Times)