Here is the schedule for the final day of funeral rites for President Jimmy Carter
WASHINGTON (AP) — Here is Thursday’s schedule for the final day of rites honoring Jimmy Carter, the 39th president, who died Dec. 29. All times are Eastern:
9 a.m. — Carter’s casket departs the U.S. Capitol. The funeral motorcade travels to Washington National Cathedral.
9:30 a.m. — Carter’s motorcade arrives at Washington National Cathedral.
10 a.m. — The Washington funeral begins. Expected speakers include Steve Ford, reading remarks written by his father, former President Gerald Ford, before his death; Ted Mondale, reading remarks from his father, former Vice President Walter Mondale, before his death; former Carter adviser Stu Eizenstat; Jason Carter, one of Jimmy Carter’s sons; and President Joe Biden.
11:15 a.m. — Carter’s remains and his family depart the cathedral for Joint Base Andrews.
11:45 a.m. — They board Special Air Mission 39, the plane that serves as Air Force One when the sitting president is on board.
2 p.m. — Special Air Mission 39 arrives at Lawson Army Airfield at Fort Moore, Georgia. Carter’s remains will be transferred with ceremony to the hearse. Carter and his family then travel to Plains by motorcade.
3:30 p.m. — Motorcade arrives at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains.
3:45 p.m. — An invitation-only funeral at the church begins.
4:45 p.m. — A motorcade takes participants from the church to the Carter residence.
5:20 p.m. — A U.S. Navy missing man formation conducts a flyover in honor of Carter’s naval service and time as commander in chief, followed by a private graveside ceremony and interment.
Watch Live: Jimmy Carter's funeral service begins
Jimmy Carter's state funeral will be held at the National Cathedral on Thursday, which President Biden has declared a national day of mourning for the 39th president.
Mr. Biden is expected to give a eulogy at the service. President-elect Donald Trump, who stopped by the U.S. Capitol Rotunda on Wednesday to pay his respect to Carter, and all the former living presidents — Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and George W. Bush— are also expected to attend the funeral.
Thursday's service will cap off six days of remembrance for Carter, who died on Dec. 29 at the age of 100. After the funeral, Carter will return to Georgia to be buried in his hometown of Plains, next to his beloved wife of 77 years, Rosalynn Carter.
President Jimmy Carter funeral: Live Updates as 39th president memorialized in D.C.
President Jimmy Carter will be eulogized by President Joe Biden in Washington D.C. on Thursday, in a service that is expected to see all five living presidents attend, including President-elect Trump, and former presidents Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, and George W. Bush.
The state funeral service will be a rare joint appearance of the former commander-in-chiefs, just days before Trump will be inaugurated for a second term in Washington.
More:Celebrate Jimmy Carter's remarkable life and contributions with our new book
Follow along with the USA TODAY team for live coverage and updates.
President Carter died at 100, having outlived his successors, former Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush; former speaker of the House, Tip O’Neill; and his own vice president, Walter Mondale.
But there are still some around in Washington today who were there for Carter’s one-term leadership.
Sen. Chuck Grassley is the only current member of Congress who was serving in the legislature while Carter was in the White House. On Wednesday, the Iowa Republican visited Carter’s casket in the Capitol Rotunda to pay his respects.
“I will remember him fondly Jimmy Carter is now in his heavenly home,” Grassley wrote on X.
Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, Washington’s nonvoting representative, called Carter a “model” for presidents upon leaving office, in a statement offering her condolences to his family. Carter nominated Norton in 1977 to be chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the first woman to serve in the role.
President Joe Biden was in his first term as senator for Delaware in 1977 at the time Carter was in office. Biden will be at Carter’s funeral Thursday morning to give a eulogy to the late 39th president.
– Savannah Kuchar
President-elect Donald Trump and his wife, Melania Trump, arrived at the Capitol Rotunda on Wednesday evening to pay their respects to Carter. They stood somberly in front of Carter’s flag-draped casket, which a military honor guard surrounded. Donald Trump later told reporters he met with the Carter family.
"Went over to Blair House. I went over with the First Lady. Met the Carter family. They were lovely. They were very sad. But also they were celebrating. Because he was a very fine man. I knew him a little bit. But I knew him only as a fine man,” he said. He is expected to attend Carter’s funeral at the Washington National Cathedral on Thursday.
-- Sudiksha Kochi
President Joe Biden and First lady Jill Biden will join Vice President Kamala Harris and Second gentleman Doug Emhoff as they depart the White House to attend former President Jimmy Carter's funeral at the Washington National Cathedral, according to the White House. They will depart at 9:05 a.m.
Biden told USA TODAY in an interview on Sunday he promised Carter he'd deliver his eulogy in 2021.
"I bent down − he was in tough shape − to kiss him goodbye, and he asked me to do his eulogy," he said of the final conversation the two had and which marked Biden’s 100th day in office.
—Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy
Members of the public paid their respects to Carter this week, as the late president was lying in state from Tuesday evening through Thursday morning. From framing how they see the role of the president to leaving a legacy of kindness and decency, the 39th president left a lasting impression on Americans across the country.
Who was Jimmy Carter?The 39th US president and noted humanitarian, has died
Phyllis Sylvester, 71, drove about 30 miles south from Brookeville, Md., to join her daughter, Lauren Sylvester, in the capital city. She said it was important to her to take the time to honor a man like Carter.
“I think people were just so impressed with his humanity, his love of the country. He cared about the people... Just a wonderful human being,” said Phyllis Sylvester, who voted for Carter in her twenties.
Aggie Heller, 68, was in Washington for Carter's 1977 Inaugural Parade. She returned almost 50 years later on Tuesday to watch his casket be brought to the Capitol and pay her respects in person.
“I am here because he was such a good man,” she said. “Nobody can beat his loyalty to his country.”
Former President Jimmy Carterwill lie in repose in Georgia: Updates
-- Savannah Kuchar and Christopher Cann
Funeral services for former President Jimmy Carter began Saturday as the U.S. pays respect to the 39th president who passed away last Sunday at 100 years old. The nation will honor Carter over six days of funeral events.
A funeral motorcade started in the morning near Carter's farming hometown of Plains. The solemn sound of a bell ringing out 39 times broke the quiet of a chilly January morning at Carter’s boyhood home. (That same bell would ring an hour before daylight during Carter's boyhood, which was the name of his memoir about his early years.)
Then, his remains were taken to the state capital in Atlanta, where he was honored in a moment of silence at the Capitol before a service at the Carter Center.
'An unbelievable American story':Mourners line streets from Plains to honor Jimmy Carter
The son of a farmer and nurse, Carter was born Oct. 1, 1924, in Plains, according to his official biography. He grew up in nearby Archery. He attended public schools, went to the U.S. Naval Academy and became a nuclear engineer, serving on the second nuclear submarine. He married Rosalynn Smith in 1946.
When his father died, Carter returned home to his family farm and also operated a seed and farm supply company in Plains. He served in the Georgia Senate before becoming governor in 1971.
In 1976, he ran for president as a Democrat and won, beginning his term at 52 years old. Carter served a single term in the White House.
As president, Carter expanded diplomatic relations abroad, invested in the energy sector and increased national park space for Americans. However, he also oversaw inflation and an American hostage crisis that likely cost his re-election, losing to Ronald Reagan.
Carter had a lengthy post-presidency with humanitarian work across the globe, including with preventable diseases. In 2002, he won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work to "find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development."
On Nov. 19, 2023, Rosalynn Carter died at their home in Plains. She was 96.
Contributing: Ryne Dennis, Evan Lasseter, Sarah Clifton and Eduardo Cuevas
How to watch Jimmy Carter's national funeral service
Former President Jimmy Carter, who died on Dec. 29 at the age of 100, will be honored Jan. 9 with a national funeral service.
The services for the longest-lived president officially began on Jan. 4 and have been held in Atlanta and Washington, D.C. During the five-day tribute to his life, a motorcade transported Carter from Phoebe Sumter Medical Center and traveled through Plains, Georgia, the hometown of the former president and his wife, Rosalynn Carter, who died in 2023. Then his remains were taken to his boyhood home, located next to his family’s farm.
Before his public funeral, a memorial service was held on Jan. 7 for the 39th President of the United States, who was transferred to the U.S. Capitol. His family and other politicians, such as Vice President Kamala Harris, attended the service and read eulogies celebrating Carter’s legacy and presidency.
Following the national funeral, there will be a final private service for the late president held at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, where he taught Sunday school.
Read on to learn about the tributes leading up to the service on Jan. 9, and find out more about the late president’s funeral procession.
Carter’s national funeral service will begin at the Washington National Cathedral on Thursday, Jan. 9 at 10 a.m. ET. The service will be preceded by a brief ceremony where his remains and his family will arrive at the cathedral after departing from the U.S. Capitol.
The funeral will conclude around 11 a.m. ET. His family will then depart for the Joint Base Andrews in Maryland and board the Special Air Mission 39 to fly to Georgia for the private ceremony in Plains.
Viewers can watch the entire series of public events and services on Jan. 9 at NBCNews.com. The national funeral service will also be shown on NBC News Now and TODAY All Day.
NBC News Priya Sridhar reported on TODAY that President Joe Biden — who previously declared Jan. 9 a national day of mourning when he addressed Carter’s death in a statement — will be in attendance and is expected to deliver a eulogy.
President-elect Donald Trump is expected to go to the funeral, as well, Sridhar reported.
The Guardian reports that former presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama will also attend.
On Jan. 4, after his remains were taken to his childhood home, the late president’s journey to Atlanta began. His motorcade traveled to Georgia’s State Capitol for a moment of silence and then made it to the Carter Presidential Center. There, Carter was lying in repose as mourners paid their respects.
Vice President Kamala Harris, members of Congress and more officials joined Carter’s family for a service honoring him on Jan. 7 after he was taken to the U.S. Capitol rotunda to lie in state.
NBC News reported Harris, who was in middle school when Carter was elected, said during her eulogy, “Jimmy Carter was that all too rare example of a gifted man who also walks with humility, modesty and grace.”
She added, “He lived his faith, he served the people and he left the world better than he found it.”
Following the private service, Carter will be buried next to his wife, Rosalynn Carter, at their family home in Plains, NBC’s Ryan Nobles reported on TODAY.
President-elect Donald Trump joins visitors to Jimmy Carter’s casket in Capitol Rotunda
WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump, who has alternated among praising, criticizing and mocking Jimmy Carter, came Wednesday to the Capitol Rotunda to pay his respects to Carter as the 39th president lies in state ahead of his funeral Thursday in the nation’s capital.
Carter was often the target of Trump’s derision during his 2024 campaign, and the president-elect has renewed his critique of the Georgia Democrat this week for ceding control of the Panama Canal to its home country when he was president more than four decades ago.
Trump, who plans to attend Carter’s funeral Thursday at Washington National Cathedral, played it straight on Capitol Hill, walking somberly into the rotunda with his wife, Melania, and pausing in front of Carter’s flag-draped casket, which is resting atop the Lincoln catafalque and stands surrounded by a military honor guard.
Throughout his successful 2024 campaign, Trump lampooned President Joe Biden and Carter together and played up Republican caricatures of Carter.
“Jimmy Carter is happy because he had a brilliant presidency compared to Biden,” Trump would say, even using some version of the attack when former first lady Rosalynn Carter was on her deathbed in 2023 and on Carter’s 100th birthday on Oct. 1, 2024. On Tuesday, the day Carter’s remains arrived in Washington, Trump added of Carter, “I liked him as a man. I disagreed with his policies. He thought giving away the Panama Canal was a good thing.”
Members of Congress, Capitol Hill staffers and former Speaker Kevin McCarthy also joined the long line of mourners. Lynda Robb and Luci Baines Johnson, the daughters of President Lyndon Johnson, paid their respects as well. Luci Baines Johnson blew a kiss toward the casket as she walked away.
Carter, the longest-lived U.S. president, died Dec. 29 at the age of 100.
A U.S. Naval Academy graduate, submarine officer and peanut farmer before entering politics, Carter won the White House in 1976 as an outsider in the wake of the Vietnam War and Watergate. He endured a rocky four years of economic unrest and international crises that ended with his defeat to Republican Ronald Reagan. But he also lived long enough to see historians reassess his presidency more charitably than voters did in 1980, and the national rites of a state funeral afford him a notable counter to the often testy relationship he had with Washington during his four years in the Oval Office.
“President Carter was the governor of the great state of Georgia when I was born,” said Lyn Leverett, among the people who waited in below-freezing weather Wednesday. “So he’s been around my, you know, my whole entire being. And I just want to pay my respects to a decent person.”
Some visitors fondly recalled personal connections to Carter’s 1976 campaign, when his family, close friends and other supporters from Georgia formed the “Peanut Brigade” to fan out across Iowa, New Hampshire and other key primary states and help Carter surprise the Washington establishment by winning the Democratic nomination.
“I’m originally from Nashua, New Hampshire, and when I was a child, Jimmy Carter slept at my house,” said Susan Prolman. “He had just won the Iowa caucuses and he was in New Hampshire campaigning for the first-in-the-nation New Hampshire presidential primary. And I created this little poster for him, and he very kindly signed it.”
Margaret Fitzpatrick, of Kensington, Maryland, recalled a family friend who had attended the Naval Academy with Carter in the 1940s and later hosted him as a presidential candidate. But she and others said what most drew them to the Capitol was what they remember of Carter once he left office — and the distinctions they see between Carter and Trump.
“The contrast is amazing,” Fitzpatrick said, as she noted the juxtaposition of Carter’s funeral with the obvious preparations around Washington for Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration. “I’m here to respect somebody who has built a reputation on honesty, character and integrity. President Carter was a decent, kind, genuine and gentle person.”
Kim James, also a Maryland resident, said she had yet to start grade school when Carter was elected and thinks of him more as the white-haired former president who fought disease and advocated for democracy in the developing world and built homes for Habitat for Humanity in the U.S. and abroad.
“He cared about other people,” she said, adding that political leaders today should work harder to replicate that example. “That selflessness — it always stood out.”
Official ceremonies this week also have remembered Carter’s religious convictions, long public service and decades of humanitarian work beyond what he accomplished in politics. Vice President Kamala Harris, House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune eulogized Carter a day earlier at the Capitol, when his remains first arrived in the rotunda.
Carter will remain at the Capitol until Thursday morning, when he is transported to Washington National Cathedral for a state funeral that begins at 10 a.m. Eastern. Biden, a longtime Carter ally, will deliver a eulogy. Other living former presidents, including Trump, are expected to attend.
After the funeral, the Boeing 747 that is Air Force One when a sitting president is aboard will carry Carter and his family back to Georgia. An invitation-only funeral will be held at Maranatha Baptist Church in tiny Plains, Georgia, where Carter taught Sunday School for decades after leaving office.
Carter will be buried next to his wife in a plot near the home they built before his first state Senate campaign in 1962 and where they lived out their lives with the exception of four years in the Georgia Governor’s Mansion and four years in the White House.
___ Associated Press journalist Jack Auresto contributed.
Photos show President Jimmy Carter funeral procession, lying in state in the Capitol Rotunda
Former President Jimmy Carter has been lying in state in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda — the 35th person in American history to receive such an honor — ahead of his state funeral scheduled for Thursday.
Carter's casket arrived in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, with the motorcade stopping at the Navy Memorial before traveling to the U.S. Capitol. Members of his family traveled along with the casket for the trip.
Members of the public, lawmakers and other dignataries have been paying their respects to Carter. Vice President Kamala Harris, second gentleman Doug Emhoff and Senate Majority Leader John Thune all spoke on Tuesday after his casket arrived at the Rotunda.
Carter, the 39th president, died on Dec. 29 at the age of 100, and he will be buried in Plains, Georgia, next to his beloved wife of 77 years, Rosalynn, who died in November 2023.
Here are some photos from Carter's final journey to Washington, D.C.:
President Jimmy Carter honored with a state funeral at a Washington cathedral
President Jimmy Carter will be honored in a state funeral Thursday, culminating days of marking the contributions of a man who after leaving office remained an influential leader on the world stage.
Carter, who died late last month at 100 years old, has laid in state in the Capitol rotunda this week. Along with his family, his casket will be moved from the Capitol to the Washington National Cathedral for the funeral proceedings.
There, President Joe Biden will deliver a eulogy. Tributes from former President Gerald Ford and former Vice President Walter Mondale will also be delivered by their sons.
Follow along for live coverage
Also in attendance will be Vice President Kamala Harris, members of Congress, former presidents, Supreme Court justices and members of Carter's administration.
President-Elect Donald Trump and his wife, Melania, paid their respects at the Capitol on Wednesday evening.
After the funeral, the proceedings will continue to Georgia, where there will be a private family funeral and then Carter will be buried on the grounds of his home in Plains, Georgia.
Carter was a little-known figure outside his native Georgia before running for and winning the presidency in 1976.
He served only one term, rejected by voters upset about a global oil crisis and the kidnapping of American diplomats by Islamist revolutionaries in Iran.
For decades, the Democrat’s legacy was overshadowed by his successor, Republican Ronald Reagan, who tore up much of Carter’s agenda, including the experimental solar panels Carter had installed on the White House roof to promote alternative energy.
But Carter’s legacy was upgraded over the years in the eyes of historians and the general public, both for his charitable post-presidency, when he devoted himself to causes like Habitat for Humanity, and for the accomplishments of his presidency that are now seen as ahead of their time on issues like civil rights, women’s rights and environmentalism.
Harris gave remarks on Tuesday at the Capitol ceremony.
“Jimmy Carter was that all too rare example of a gifted man who also walks with humility, modesty and grace,” she said. “He lived his faith, he served the people, and he left the world better than he found it."
Senate Majority Leader John Thune delivered remarks about Carter’s spirit of volunteerism and how he worked to build homes on behalf of the nonprofit group Habitat for Humanity, including a 1994 project in Thune’s home state, South Dakota.
“He was here to get down in the weeds and the dirt, and he did that, literally, on numerous Habitat builds,” Thune said.
Jimmy Carter funeral live updates: Former presidents to attend service, Biden to deliver eulogy
The state funeral of former President Jimmy Carter is being held Thursday at Washington National Cathedral, where dignitaries including President Biden, former Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, and President-elect Donald Trump will gather to pay their respects to the 39th president, who died on Dec. 29 at age 100.
Biden will deliver a eulogy at the funeral, and eulogies written by former President Gerald Ford, who died in 2006, and Walter Mondale, Carter’s vice president who died in 2021, will be read.
The funeral is being held on what Biden declared a national day of mourning for Carter. All federal offices and buildings, the U.S. Supreme Court and the New York Stock Exchange will be closed, and the U.S. Postal Service will suspend delivery and close post offices in observance.
Follow the blog below for the latest updates.
