America Bids Farewell to a True Patriot: Jimmy Carter

United States: The A funerary box of the ex-U.S President Jimmy Carter arrives in Washington on Tuesday, lying in state Wednesday at the Capitol and funeral Thursday at the National Cathedral.

Security Tight Amid Presidential Transition

Former President Jimmy Carter is scheduled to lie in repose at the Carter Presidential Center in Atlanta until 6 a.m. Tuesday, with the public able to pay respects around the clock. https://t.co/xDL5c0NovH

— PBS News (@NewsHour) January 6, 2025

The state funeral for the 39th U.S. president comes at a time of change as Republican President-elect Donald Trump prepares to succeed Democratic President Joe Biden. Security in Washington is tight by any standard with the Capitol, where Carter will rest in a state surrounded by miles of barriers, which is expected amid Trump’s Inauguration on January 20th, as reported by Reuters.

A Legacy of Service

Carter, a Democrat, had been President of America for one term between 1977 – 1981. He passed on at the age of a one hundred years on 29th December. He suffered from a bad economy and the Iran hostage crisis during his presidency and was easily bested in the presidential elections by Ronald Reagan of the Republican party. In the years that followed, he proved himself a hardened humanitarian and the public considers him to be a better ex-president than he was a president. He was given the Nobel Peace Prize when he was in 2002.

Video: Jimmy Carter funeral LIVE: Departure ceremony at The Carter Center in Georgia https://t.co/9HKBXzbFQi #LiveTube

— LiveTube Alerts (@livetubealerts) January 7, 2025

Carter outlived every other U.S. president and had been in hospice since the working part of two years before March. His final appearance was at his wife Rosalynn’s funeral in November of 2023, where he had to be in a wheelchair and seemed quite weak. In August, his grandchild Jason Carter added Carter was anticipating waiting to vote on the Democratic party’s presidential contender, Kamala Harris, who was defeated by Trump.

Tributes and Remembrance

Biden has also directed that flags at half-staff be flown across the US in remembrance of the dead for 30 days. That has angered Trump who has declared that they should not be cut during his inauguration on the 20th of January.

Jimmy Carter to lie in state at the U.S. Capitol https://t.co/n3KqXhryKX

— Quad Cities CW (@QuadCitiesCW) January 7, 2025

Carter is expected to fly in from Atlanta in the afternoon. The former Navy submarine officer and his family will be transported by motorcade to the USNMCWS on Pennsylvania Avenue, where his casket will then be placed onto bucking horses, which will pull his casket in a funeral caisson to the Capitol.

Public Farewell and Funeral Service

The remains of President Jimmy Carter will arrive in Washington, D.C., today, where plans call for members of Congress to pay their respects at a service in the Capitol Rotunda before Carter will lie in state tonight and Wednesday.https://t.co/t9fd3eK2U4

— Gene Bryant (@GeneBryant2) January 7, 2025

Members of Congress will stand guard inside the Rotunda starting with primordial funeral rites at 3 p.m. (2000 GMT), and the doors to the Rotunda will be opened later for masses to pay their last respects but till midnight only.

Final Resting Place in Georgia

Wednesday will be the first day the public can pay their last respects; Carter will then be transferred to the Rotunda for 24 hours under honor guard, then the body will be taken by motorcade to the National Cathedral, as reported by Reuters.

#LIVEDESK: Saying Goodbye to Former President Jimmy Carter. In just a few hours, his casket will be carried out of the Carter Center and his motorcade will depart for the nation's capitol. @ABCNews4 pic.twitter.com/5qOx45REZa

— Conley Grayson (@CGonTV) January 7, 2025

Biden and Trump are likely to be present for Carter’s funeral service that will happen on Thursday.

Biden is anticipated to give the eulogy at the funeral scheduled for 10 a.m. (1500 GMT). Subsequently, Carter’s body will be repatriated to his home state of Georgia. His remains will be buried later that day in his hometown of Plains.