WASHINGTON – Thursday marks a somber day in the United States as the country mourns the loss of former President Jimmy Carter. In honor of his passing, the government has shut down as top officials gather at the majestic Washington National Cathedral for a state funeral for the nation’s 39th president.
Carter, who peacefully passed away at the age of 100 last week, was known for his humble beginnings as a peanut farmer and his dedication to serving the American people. Despite his disdain for the formalities of Washington governance, all five living presidential successors including Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and current President Joe Biden, attended the funeral to pay their respects. In a moving eulogy, Biden described Carter as a devout Christian, “a good and faithful servant of God and the American people,” and praised his “good life of purpose and meaning, of character.”
“To make every minute of our life count, that is the definition of a good life,” Biden added, highlighting the impact that Carter had on the lives of those he encountered.
The public has also had the chance to pay their final respects as Carter, draped in an American flag, has lain in state at the U.S. Capitol since Tuesday. This is an honor that has only been given to about 50 Americans since 1852. Following the funeral, Carter’s body will be flown back to his home state of Georgia, where he will be laid to rest in a family plot next to his beloved wife of 77 years, Rosalynn Carter, who passed away in late 2023.
The tributes to Carter have been ongoing for a week, with many recognizing his rise to power from modest beginnings and his accomplishments during his tenure as president from 1977 to 1981. He led the country during a tumultuous time, as America was recovering from the Watergate political scandal and its defeat in the Vietnam War.
Carter, a Democrat, is most famously remembered for negotiating the Camp David Accords, a peace treaty between Egypt and Israel. Although he lost his 1980 reelection bid to Republican Ronald Reagan in a landslide defeat, he later emerged as a celebrated humanitarian in his post-presidential life. In 2002, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his ongoing efforts to negotiate peaceful settlements to world conflicts.
In a statement declaring the national day of mourning, President Biden described Carter as “a man of character, courage, and compassion.” In addition to Biden’s eulogy, Carter’s grandson, Jason Carter, and longtime friend and White House domestic advisor, Stuart Eizenstat, delivered heartfelt speeches honoring the former president. Messages from Carter’s former colleagues, President Ford and his vice president, Walter Mondale, were also read by their sons, Steven Ford and Ted Mondale, who had written them before their own passing.
President Ford, who passed away in 2006, reflected on his deep and enduring friendship with Carter, proving that there is indeed life after the White House. Civil rights leader and Carter’s ambassador to the United Nations, Andrew Young, also delivered a tribute, while popular artists Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood sang John Lennon’s “Imagine.”
Public mourners also paid tribute to Carter as they viewed his casket at the Capitol this week. David Smith, a professor at the Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution at George Mason University, shared with VOA how the former president had a significant impact on his career. “He had such an impact on so many people,” he said, “his work on advancing minorities, appointments of women to the judiciary, protecting our environment, advocating for human rights- all those things are very important to me.”
In the Capitol rotunda, Senate Majority Leader John Thune paid his respects in a service held late Tuesday, describing Carter as “Navy veteran, peanut farmer, governor of Georgia, and president of the United States.” He also highlighted Carter’s role as a Sunday school teacher, a Nobel Prize winner, and a fierce advocate for peace and human rights. Vice President Kamala Harris, who had just certified Trump’s victory in the November election on Monday, praised Carter for his progressive policies.
“He was the first president of the United States to have a comprehensive energy policy, including providing some of the first federal support for clean energy,” she said on Tuesday. “He also passed over a dozen major pieces of legislation regarding environmental protection and more than doubled the size of
