President Biden hailed President Jimmy Carter for his remarkable rise from a modest childhood to a “life of purpose,” during a state funeral Thursday attended by all living former presidents, including President-elect Donald Trump.
Mr. Biden said Mr. Carter, who died Dec. 29 at age 100, “showed us what it meant to be a practitioner of good works and a good and faithful servant of God and of the people.”
“Today, many think he was from a bygone era. But in reality, he saw well into the future,” Mr. Biden said in a eulogy from the National Cathedral in northwest Washington. “A white Southern Baptist who led on civil rights, a decorated Navy veteran who brokered peace, a brilliant nuclear engineer who led on nuclear nonproliferation, a hard-working farmer who championed conservation and clean energy and a president who redefined the relationship with the vice president.”
Mr. Biden recounted a cherished visit to Mr. Carter’s ranch home in Plains, Georgia, in April 2021, during which they recounted a friendship that stretched back to the 1970s.
“I was the first senator outside of Georgia, maybe the first senator, to endorse his candidacy for president,” Mr. Biden said.
Mr. Carter was president from 1977 to 1981. His wife, Rosalynn, died in 2023.
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The Carter family asked Mr. Biden to deliver the eulogy at the state funeral, one of several events honoring the late president this week. Federal departments and agencies were closed Thursday, and the U.S. Postal Service suspended regular operations.
Mr. Carter’s casket departed the U.S. Capitol, where it had been lying in state, early Thursday and crossed town for the ceremony at the cathedral.
Mr. Trump, who will return to the White House on Jan. 20, sat in a pew and could be seen in lively conversation with former President Barack Obama. Their chat appeared amicable.
Before the funeral, Mr. Trump shook hands with Mike Pence, his vice president-turned-nemesis.
Former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush also sat in a forward row, offering a single-frame tableau of the past 30 years in U.S. politics.
Vice President Kamala Harris, who lost to Mr. Trump in November, sat with her husband, second gentleman Doug Emhoff, next to Mr. Biden and first lady Jill Biden in front of the former presidents.
Mr. Carter’s presidency lasted one term. He faced low marks because of the energy crisis, an economy ravaged by high inflation and unemployment, and the Iran hostage crisis.
“The hostage crisis was a major factor in denying him a second term,” Stuart Eizenstat, who served as domestic affairs adviser in the Carter administration, said at the service. “Because he placed the safe return of the hostages above his own political fortunes, he took full responsibility for the failure of the bold hostage rescue mission and worked tirelessly, even after his bitter reelection defeat to Ronald Reagan, securing their release on the last day of his presidency.”
On the domestic front, Mr. Carter established two Cabinet-level departments — energy and education — and signed legislation that deregulated the airline industry in 1978.
Mr. Carter did mark a significant triumph in foreign policy when he secured the Camp David Accords, a peace treaty between Egypt and Israel that has held up ever since.
Mr. Carter’s longevity and personality made him a popular figure for his post-presidency humanitarian work through the Carter Center, which he established in 1992. He was also a peace envoy sent to hot spots such as North Korea on president-assigned missions, an advocate for democratic elections worldwide, and a carpenter with Habitat for Humanity.
Even in his 90s, he taught Sunday school twice monthly in his hometown of Plains.
“It was central to his life. Every time I went to church with him, it was packed,” grandson Josh Carter told funeral-goers.
He said the former president told his class the growing chasm between the rich and poor was the biggest problem on Earth.
The audience also heard from Steven Ford, the son of former President Gerald Ford — a Republican defeated by Mr. Carter in 1976.
“Jimmy and I forged a friendship that transcends politics,” Mr. Ford said.
Jason Carter, a former Georgia state senator, said his grandfather once called him by mistake while he was trying to take a picture with his cellphone.
Others praised Mr. Carter as accessible to the public and adept at passing major bipartisan legislation.
Politicians from both sides of the aisle praised the former president from afar.
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, a Republican who served in the first Trump administration, declared Thursday to be “President Jimmy Carter Day in Arkansas,” citing his work to “solve international conflicts abroad and alleviate economic distress at home” as president before building an impressive post-presidency resume.
“After leaving office, President Carter helped define the modern American post-presidency by putting his faith front and center and helping people around the world through his volunteer work alongside his wife,” her resolution said.
• James Varney, special to The Washington Times, contributed to this report.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.