Obama, the nation’s 44th president, praised Carter’s “decency” while leading the country and after he left the White House. Carter was the longest living former commander-in-chief in U.S. history, and his relationships with several of his successors put him in a unique position as a role model for post-presidency life. The condolences came from Donald Trump, the former and future president who is set to be sworn back into the White House next month, as well as Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, who praised Carter for working “tirelessly for a better, fairer world.” Some members of the public could be seen braving the wintry weather in Washington to pay their respects to the president along the route. Members of Congress, the Supreme Court and other dignitaries paid their respects to the late President Jimmy Carter during a ceremony at the U.S. In an earlier statement, Biden said that he will be ordering an official state funeral for the former president, but that details were still being arranged with Carter’s family.
The casket was placed in the middle of the room on the catafalque built in 1865 to hold assassinated President Abraham Lincoln’s casket in the same place. Mayor Karen Bass of Los Angeles mourned Carter’s death, saying she was “fortunate” to sit and speak with the former president years ago. The Carter Center and the Jimmy Carter Library and Museum are unable to do searches for individual requests for photos and video at this time, but high-resolution photos, videos, and b-roll of former U.S. The Joint Task Force-National Capital Region issues media credentials to cover each official ceremony of the funeral, including ceremonies in Plains, Ga., Atlanta, Ga., and Washington, D.C. Request credentials at these official televised events. Carter had refused to endorse Clinton during the 1992 Democratic primaries, saying “people are looking for somebody who is honest and tells the truth.” “I worship Jesus Christ, whom we Christians consider to be the Prince of Peace,” he said.
The military honor guards, a procession down Pennsylvania Avenue and a service in the Capitol Rotunda continued public commemorations for Carter, who died Dec. 29 at age 100. Services will continue through his state funeral Thursday at the National Cathedral, before Carter returns to his hometown of Plains, Georgia, for burial beside his late wife, former first lady Rosalynn Carter, who died in 2023. Clinton’s 1992 White House victory marked the first time a Democrat won a presidential election since Carter in 1976. According to Clinton’s presidential library, Clinton at the time said he and Carter were, “as different as daylight and dark.” “Because Jimmy Carter believed, as deeply as he believed anything, that we are all created in God’s image,” added Obama, who served as president from January of 2009 until January of 2017.
Carter once addressed the nation from the White House residence wearing a cardigan, now on display at his museum and library. His remains now rest in a wooden casket that was carried and guarded by military pallbearers in impeccable dress uniforms, similar to the attire worn by the Naval Academy midshipmen who saluted him on Pennsylvania Avenue. The pomp carried some irony for a politician who went from his family peanut warehouse to the Governor’s Mansion and eventually the White House. Carter won the presidency as the smiling Southerner and technocratic engineer who promised to change the ways of Washington — and eschewed many of its unwritten rules when Jimmy Carter Tribute he got there. The room fell silent as three knocks on the rotunda door marked Carter’s arrival.
“The challenges Jimmy faced as President came at a pivotal time for our country and he did everything in his power to improve the lives of all Americans. “Whenever I had a chance to spend time with President Carter, it was clear that he didn’t just profess these values,” former President Barack Obama said in a statement. And in doing so, he taught all of us what it means to live a life of grace, dignity, justice, and service.
Trump recently criticized Carter’s presidential record during a news conference, arguing that the late former president lost his 1980 reelection bid due to his handling of the Panama Canal. “What are the values that animate our spirit to operate from fear or hope? Ego for generosity? Do we show grace? Do we keep the faith when it’s most tested?” Biden added. “For keeping the faith with the best of humankind and the best of America is a story, in my view, from my perspective, Jimmy Carter’s life.” President Biden — a longtime friend and colleague of the 39th president — delivered a eulogy, a request made by Carter directly in 2021. Biden celebrated Carter’s character and their friendship of nearly 50 years and cast a forward-looking message.
The pinnacle of his presidency came in 1978, when, following 12 days at Camp David, he announced a peace deal between Israel and Egypt, with a treaty signed the following year. His foreign policy successes, though, were overshadowed by the Iranian hostage crisis in November 1979. Stagflation and a recession in early 1980 coincided with the start of his reelection campaign, paving the way for the Ronald Reagan era. Following his tenure, Carter pursued some of the human rights policy focus of his time in the White House, wrote numerous memoirs, founded his eponymous nonprofit and garnered a Nobel Peace Prize.
Former president Bill Clinton paid tribute to his former colleague, saying that the one-term president “worked tirelessly for a better, fairer world.” He recalled first meeting Carter in 1975 and becoming an early supporter of his presidential campaign. Clinton presented the Medal of Freedom to Carter and Rosalynn Carter In 1999. “Guided by his faith, President Carter lived to serve others — until the very end,” Clinton said. “Elected in the shadow of Watergate, Jimmy Carter promised voters that he would always tell the truth. And he did – advocating for the public good, consequences be damned,” Obama, the country’s 45th president, said in a statement. “He believed some things were more important than reelection – things like integrity, respect, and compassion.
Under those words were small hand-drawn peanuts, a nod to his time as a peanut farmer. “What I find extraordinary about Jimmy Carter, though, is that millions of people all around the world, all over the world, feel they lost a friend, as well, even though they never met him,” Biden said. “That’s because Jimmy Carter lived a life measured not by words but by his deeds.” “In the end, Jimmy Carter taught us how to live a life filled with faith and service,” he said.
“He seriously was a public servant. He gave all he had to this country. And that’s why I respect him so much.” The public was also able to pay tribute to the former president at the Capitol. While waiting in line outside, Carter’s supporters praised his long career in public life.
In a second post on Truth Social on Sunday, Trump said he “strongly disagreed” with Carter philosophically and politically, but that he “truly loved and respected our Country, and all it stands for.” Carter later said Trump ascended to the presidency due to Russian interference, and Trump responded by calling Carter a “nice man” but a “terrible president.” Members of the Carter family walked behind the horse-drawn cassion as it proceeded to the U.S. “He also passed over a dozen major pieces of legislation regarding environmental protection and more than doubled the size of America’s national parks, including protecting our beloved Redwoods in my home state of California,” she said. Traditionally, during such ceremonies, the former president lies in state at the Capitol Rotunda, followed by a funeral at Washington National Cathedral.
Mondale, who served as Carter’s vice president, died in the spring of 2021. “Service was more than a career for President Carter, it was a way of life. After leaving the White House, the Carters made it their mission to advance global peace and health through the Carter Center, improving countless lives over four decades of humanitarian efforts. While in office he wanted to keep the Marine Band from playing “Hail to the Chief,” thinking it elevated the president too much, but his advisers persuaded him to accept it as part of the job. It has played multiple times since Carter’s presidential funeral ceremonies began.
President Jimmy Carter’s leadership, intellect, and moral example ennobled our country, during and ever since his presidency. “President Carter’s candor and compassion, moral leadership, and sense of duty set a standard we all should aspire to. His enduring example reminds us that we can still find common ground despite our differences. “Throughout his life, President Carter was strengthened by the love and support of his partner of 77 years, First Lady Rosalynn Carter, whose life President Biden and I had the opportunity to celebrate in Georgia last year. After leaving office, President Carter continued his fight for peace, democracy, and human dignity through the Carter Center. “Jimmy Carter’s life is a testament to the power of service — as a Lieutenant in the United States Navy, the 76th Governor of Georgia, and the 39th President of the United States.
“…We will not learn how to live together in peace by killing each other’s children.” At one point during Obama’s tenure, Carter questioned the U.S. strategy against the Islamic State, specifically the use of aerial drones. “And I think it’s bubbled up to the surface because of the belief among many white people, not just in the south but around the country, that African Americans are not qualified to lead this great country,” Carter said in 2009. “He worked hard to make America a better place, and for that I give him my highest respect,” Trump wrote. “He was a truly good man and, of course, will be greatly missed. He was also very consequential, far more than most Presidents, after he left the Oval Office.”
“He was loyal to his family, his community, and his country,” Bush said in a statement. “President Carter dignified the office. And his efforts to leave behind a better world didn’t end with the presidency. His work with Habitat for Humanity and the Carter Center set an example of service that will inspire Americans for generations. All four living former American presidents paid tribute on Sunday to the life and legacy of Jimmy Carter, who died on Sunday at age 100. “With his compassion and moral clarity, he worked to eradicate disease, forge peace, advance civil rights and human rights, promote free and fair elections, house the homeless, and always advocate for the least among us,” Biden said. “In doing so, he taught all of us what it means to live a life of grace, dignity, justice, and service,” Obama said.