Jimmy Carter's national funeral: America honors 39th president
WASHINGTON - The life and legacy of former President Jimmy Carter is being remembered on Thursday with a national funeral service and a National Day of Mourning.
Carter, a Georgia Democrat and the 39th president of the United States, died Dec. 29 at the age of 100. He served as president from 1977-81.
President Joe Biden, a longtime Carter ally, will deliver a eulogy. A eulogy written by former President Gerald Ford, who died in 2006, will be read by his son Steven Ford. Other living former presidents, including President-elect Donald Trump, are expected to attend.
All day long, you can watch LiveNOW from FOX coverage in the player above, and follow along for live updates below.
Funeral ends
12:03 p.m. ET: Carter's funeral service concludes with a prayer and a blessing over his casket.
Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood perform
11:57 a.m. ET: Country legends Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood are closing out the service with a performance of John Lennon's "Imagine."
President Biden speaks
11:33 a.m. ET: President Joe Biden is delivering a eulogy.
"Jimmy Carter's friendship taught me, and through his life taught me, that strength of character is more than title or the power we hold," Biden said. "It's the strength to understand that everyone should be treated with dignity, respect. And that everyone, and I mean everyone, deserves an even shot.
"Many people think he was from a bygone era, but in reality, he saw into the future," Biden continued.
Grandson Jason Carter speaks
11:15 a.m. ET: Carter's grandson Jason is delivering a eulogy.
"They were small-town people who never forgot who they were and where they were from, no matter what happened in their lives," Jason Carter said. "But I recognize that we are not here because he was just a regular guy.
"His presidency, for me, was not just ahead of its time. It was prophetic," Jason Carter continued. "He had the courage and principles, even when they were politically unpopular."
Stu Eizenstat speaks
11:03 a.m. ET: Stu Eizenstat, the former chief White House domestic policy adviser to Carter, is paying tribute to Carter's "unshakeable sense of right and wrong." He noted that Carter was one of the most religious presidents in modern history, and was the only Democrat elected president between 1968 and 1992.
Walter Mondale's son Ted speaks
10:49 a.m. ET: Ted Mondale, the son of former Vice President Walter Mondale, who served with Carter, delivers a tribute written by his father.
"We told the truth. We followed the law. We kept the peace," Mondale’s tribute reads. "That we did, Mr. President. I will always be proud and grateful to have had the chance to work with you towards noble ends. It was then, and will always be, the most rewarding experience of my public life."
Gerald Ford's son Steve delivers eulogy
10:34 a.m. ET: Gerald Ford's son, Steve Ford, is delivering a eulogy for Carter that was written by Gerald Ford before he died in 2006.
"Honesty and truth-telling were synonymous with the name Jimmy Carter," Ford said. "He displayed that honesty throughout his life, as a naval officer, state legislator, governor, president and world leader. Honesty was not the aspirational goal. It was part of his very soul."
Grandson speaks
10:25 a.m. ET: Carter's grandson is delivering a eulogy.
"My grandfather spent the entire time I knew him helping those in need," he said.
Funeral begins
10:22 a.m. ET: Carter's casket is in place and the funeral service is under way.
Casket arrives
10:09 a.m. ET: Carter's casket is positioned to be brought in to the Washington National Cathedral. The procession stopped for two prayers before bringing Carter's casket into the church.
President Biden, first lady arrive
10:03 a.m. ET: President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden have arrived and are seated next to Vice President Kamala Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff.
Former presidents, vice presidents arrive
9:54 a.m. ET: President-elect Donald Trump, former President Barack Obama, former President George W. Bush and former President Bill Clinton have arrived and are seated next to each other. Melania Trump is seated next to Trump. Former first ladies Laura Bush and Hillary Clinton are in the same row as well. Former vice presidents, including Al Gore and Mike Pence, are seated behind the former presidents. It appears to be the first time that Trump and Pence have been in the same room since their relationship turned contentious following the 2020 election.
Vice President Kamala Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff have also arrived and are seated in front of the former presidents.
Carter’s funeral procession arrives at cathedral
9:38 a.m. ET: Carter’s funeral procession passed by the White House, which he once called home during his term as president, and has now arrived at the Washington National Cathedral for the funeral.
Biden’s motorcade arrives
9:25 a.m. ET: President Joe Biden’s motorcade has arrived at the Washington National Cathedral for Carter's funeral, where he will deliver a eulogy.
Members of the British embassy lined Massachusetts Avenue outside the building as Biden’s motorcade passed by.
Jimmy Carter funeral schedule
Carter’s remains will be removed from the U.S. Capitol, where he’s been lying in state, after a ceremony at 9 a.m. Thursday. From there, he will be taken to the Washington National Cathedral, arriving at 9:30 a.m. with another brief ceremony.
The national funeral service is scheduled for 10 a.m. and is expected to last about an hour. After the service, Carter’s family and his remains will travel to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland to board Special Air Mission 39 at 11:45 a.m.
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They will fly back to Georgia and are expected to land at 2 p.m. at Lawson Army Airfield near Columbus. A hearse will carry Carter’s remains back to the Carters' home town of Plains. 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, at 3:45 p.m.
After the private funeral, Carter’s remains will be moved to the Carter residence for an internment ceremony at 5:20 p.m. The U.S. Navy will conduct a flyover to honor his time in the Navy and his time as commander in chief.
National Day of Mourning
A National Day of Mourning will be held Thursday, January 9, to coincide with Carter’s national funeral.
President Biden declared a National Day of Mourning shortly after Carter’s death, which is customary following the passing of an American president. In his proclamation, Biden described Carter as a "man of character, courage, and compassion, whose lifetime of service defined him as one of the most influential statesmen in our history."
American flags at the White House, public buildings, military bases, naval ships and U.S. embassies around the world are ordered to be flown at half-staff to honor Carter for 30 days after his death.
Biden has also ordered the closure of the federal government and asked the American people to gather in their places of worship to remember the former president.
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Closures for Carter’s National Day of Mourning include federal government offices, stock markets, the U.S. Postal Service, courts and archives and Department of Defense schools.
Banks are not required to close, as the National Day of Mourning is not treated as a federal holiday. There’s been no directive to close public schools, so it’s up to local districts to decide whether schools will remain open.
Where is Jimmy Carter being buried?
Carter will be buried next to his wife, former first lady Rosalynn Carter, 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.
Jimmy Carter’s life
James Earl Carter was born in Plains, Georgia, on October 1, 1924, into a family of peanut farmers.
In his early years, Carter attended Georgia Southwestern College, Georgia Tech and the U.S. Naval Academy before serving overseas. He married Rosalynn Smith in 1946. The couple had three sons and a daughter and were married for 77 years, the longest married presidential couple in history.
After his father died in 1953, Carter returned to Plains to take over the family farming supply business. That’s where he got his start in politics, serving on the county school board, the hospital board and Georgia Planning Association.
He was elected to the Georgia Senate in 1962 and unsuccessfully ran for governor of Georgia in 1966. He ran again in 1971, becoming Georgia’s 76th governor.
Carter ran for president in 1976, defeating Gerald Ford 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.
Humbled and back home in Georgia, Carter said his faith demanded he keep doing whatever he could, for as long as he could, to try to make a difference. He and Rosalynn co-founded The Carter Center in 1982 and spent the next 40 years traveling the world as peacemakers, human rights advocates and champions of democracy and public health.
Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002, Carter helped ease nuclear tensions in North and South Korea, avert a U.S. invasion of Haiti and negotiate cease-fires in Bosnia and Sudan. By 2022, the center had monitored at least 113 elections around the world. Carter was determined to eradicate guinea worm infections as one of many health initiatives.
The Carters also built homes with Habitat for Humanity, swinging hammers into their 90s.
Jimmy Carter’s cause of death
Carter was diagnosed with cancer in 2015 and had surgery in August of that year to remove a small mass on his liver. The surgery revealed he had stage 4 melanoma that had spread to parts of his brain. He was treated with immunotherapy, according to the American Cancer Society, then transitioned to hospice care in February 2023.
Carter spent nearly two years in hospice care before he passed away on Dec. 29.
The Source: This report includes information from the Associated Press, FOX 5 Atlanta and previous LiveNOW from FOX reporting.