Former President Jimmy Carter’s funeral will be held on January 9 at the National Cathedral in Washington, as part of a national day of mourning for the longest-serving US president.
Walter Mondale, who served as Carter’s vice president, had planned to pay tribute to his former boss, but he died in 2021. According to the New York Times, Mondale’s son plans to deliver the eulogy at the funeral.
Other details are emerging about how the country will pay tribute to the world-renowned philanthropist, who died on Sunday at the age of 100 at his home in the Georgia Plains.
According to the Carter Center, there will also be public ceremonies in Atlanta, Georgia before Carter is buried on the Plains.
President Joe Biden has ordered the American flag to be flown at half-mast for 30 days on federal property, following the American custom to mark the death of important figures and leaders. This period will also include the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump.
Carter’s family said he had “respectfully and gratefully” accepted an invitation from the US Congress to lie in state in the rotunda of the US Capitol building. By tradition, this is a public scene where people will file to pay their respects, including lawmakers and dignitaries as well as everyday Americans.
Carter will then be buried on his family’s estate next to his wife Rosalyn, who died in November 2023 aged 96.
Biden has called for January 9 to be used to pay tribute to James Earl Carter Jr., the 39th president of the United States.
“He embodied the best of America: a humble servant of God and people,” he said in a statement.
Trump wrote on Truth Social that while he and Carter disagreed philosophically, Carter was “a really good guy” and had “the utmost respect.”
Other US leaders have also issued statements praising Carter’s life and work, including former presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.
Former President Barack Obama said Carter “taught us all what it means to live a life of grace, dignity, justice and service”.
Carter, a former Georgia peanut farmer-turned-Navy officer-turned-US president, served from 1977-1981.
During his time in the White House, he worked for world peace, the environment and human rights, and later received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.
One of his most notable achievements in office was the mediation of a Middle East peace agreement between Egypt and Israel.
However, Carter’s achievements as president were eclipsed by the collapse of the US economy and what he called a “crisis of confidence”.
He served only one term in the White House and was defeated by Ronald Reagan in 1980.
Much of Carter’s legacy was built on life after the presidency.
He continued to work for world peace and met international leaders. He founded the Carter Center, a non-profit organization launched to help end the disease. And, in her 90s, she helped build and repair homes with Habitat for Humanity.
“We are deeply saddened by the passing of President Carter, and our prayers go out to the Carter family,” said Jonathan Rickford, CEO of Habitat for Humanity International.