Former President James Carter will be laid to rest after a funeral at Washington National Cathedral before a second service and burial back in his hometown of Plains, Georgia.
Upon conclusion of the national funeral service, President Carter and his family will travel by motorcade to Joint Base Andrews before Carter and his family board Special Air Mission 39.
According to the Carter Center, a private ceremony will be held at Maranatha Baptist Church, followed by a private interment at Carter’s residence, concluding the days-long services honoring the 39th president.
Political leaders, family, and admirers gathered to celebrate his life and legacy along side Carter’s wife of 77 years, Rosalynn, and his children were among the mourners at the service.
Also in attendance was President Biden and sitting first lady, Jill Biden.
Former presidents Bill Clinton, George Bush, Barrack Obama, and President-elect Donald Trump, and Trump’s former vice president Mike Pence, alongside their respective wives, gathered to remember Carter.
Former first lady Michelle Obama did not join her husband at the ceremony.
Several foreign dignitaries, including newly resigned Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, were in attendance for the former president.
Seated near Trudeau is Prince William. Prince Edward, the Duke of Edinburgh, and United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also attended.
Carter’s grandson Joshua delivered a reading at the memorial, touching on the humanitarian and family-centered man Carter was. He described how his life was spent “helping those in need,” how Carter “eliminated diseases in forgotten places,” and how Carter “waged peace” worldwide.
Steve Ford, son of former president Gerald Ford, gave a eulogy, “God did a good thing when he made your dad,” said Ford, “one of my deepest and most enduring friendships.”
Ford reminisced about the friendship between Carter and his father, noting that Gerald Ford wrote that the 1976 election brought about “one of my deepest and most enduring friendships.”
Ted Mondale, son of Carter’s late vice president, read a letter from his father in honor of his former running mate.
Walter Mondale had written that he was surprised that Carter chose him as his running mate for the 1976 campaign, noting that the only requests presented by Cater were that he contribute to the team and not be “embarrassed, as many of my predecessors had.”
The former running mate noted how Carter “Protected him from humiliation” faced by other vice presidents. He remarked on the friendship and welcoming nature of the former president and former first lady, detailing the continuous friendship between the two.
Mondale spoke in length about Carter’s time in and out of office, focusing on the efforts Carter made to address climate change for future generations and noting how the former president was “far-sighted.”
In his remarks, Mondale touched on the equality for women that the former president pushed for, appointing “five times as many women to the federal bench as all of the previous presidents.”
