The body of late U.S. President Jimmy Carter was solemnly transferred to the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday in a grand military procession, where it will lie in state until a national funeral later this week.
Carter, who passed away on December 29 at the age of 100, served as the 39th president from 1977 to 1981. He was widely praised for his humanitarian efforts after leaving office, earning the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.
His body arrived at the snow-covered Capitol after a ceremonial journey from his hometown of Plains, Georgia. It will remain there until Thursday. A live feed by PBS captured mourners walking through the Capitol Rotunda, pausing in silence to pay their respects, many with hands clasped in reverence.
“I paid my respects to President Jimmy Carter as he lies in state in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda today,” said U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on X. “On behalf of the entire Department of Defense, we join the Carter family and all Americans in honoring this extraordinary life, legacy, and service to our nation.”
Having been flown to Washington aboard a U.S. Air Force jet, Carter’s flag-draped casket was transported in a funeral procession from the U.S. Navy Memorial—symbolic of his military service on submarines—to Capitol Hill, retracing the route he traveled during his inaugural parade.
Capitol building in Washington, DC, on January 7, 2025. – Carter, the 39th President of the United States, died at the age of 100 on December 29, 2024 at his home in Plains, Georgia. (Photograph: Brendan McDermid / POOL / AFP)
Hundreds of service members marched alongside the procession down Pennsylvania Avenue, which had been cleared of snow following a recent winter storm that led to federal office and school closures. Military pallbearers then carried the casket up to the Capitol Rotunda, where a brief service took place, attended by Carter’s family, members of Congress, and dignitaries, including Chief Justice John Roberts and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Carter is the 13th U.S. president to lie in state in the Capitol, following in the footsteps of figures like Abraham Lincoln, who was the first in 1865.
The ceremony’s timing added symbolic weight, coming a day after the anniversary of the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot, where supporters of then-President Donald Trump stormed the building in a failed attempt to disrupt the certification of Joe Biden’s election victory.
On Monday, Congress certified Biden’s win without incident, in stark contrast to the violence of the previous year, as the Capitol remained under heavy security.
A state funeral for Carter will be held Thursday at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. The Episcopal church has hosted the funerals of former presidents such as Dwight Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford, and George H.W. Bush.
President Joe Biden will deliver the eulogy for his fellow Democrat. All four living former presidents—Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump—are expected to attend.
Biden has declared Thursday a national day of mourning, and federal government offices will be closed. Flags will be flown at half-staff for 30 days, a gesture that will extend into Trump’s January 20 inauguration—a move the Republican has criticized.
Carter, the first president to live to the age of 100, had been in hospice care since February 2023 in Plains, Georgia, where he passed away. He will be buried next to his late wife, Rosalynn Carter, the former First Lady.
AFP
