Former US President Jimmy Carter, who died on Sunday at the age of 100, will be given a state funeral and buried next to his wife Rosalyn in his hometown of Plains, Georgia.
Proceedings to honor the 29th U.S. president will begin Saturday, when a motorcade with Mr. Carter will travel through the Plains to his boyhood home. The procession pauses in front of his family's farm.
From there, Carter's remains will be taken to Atlanta, where the motorcade will stop at the Georgia State Capitol for a moment of silence led by Georgia political leaders. Mr. Carter's remains will then be transferred to the Carter Presidential Center, where they will rest until the early morning hours of next Tuesday, January 7th.
From there, the late president's remains will be taken to Washington and placed in state at the U.S. Capitol.
Next Thursday, Carter will be honored with a state funeral at the Washington National Cathedral, with many world leaders and other former presidents expected to attend. Joe Biden is expected to pay his respects.
January 9th was also declared a National Day of Mourning in the United States.
After a state funeral, Carter's casket will be returned to Georgia for a funeral service at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, followed by a private interment and incarceration later in the afternoon.
Carter, the longest-living president, died Sunday, two years after entering hospice care. Most of the nation last saw the former president at Rosalynn Carter's funeral last year.
The Carter family announced Monday that Carter had accepted an invitation from Congress to lie in public at the Capitol.
Members of Congress also extended an invitation to the late former president's family “in recognition of his years of outstanding service to our nation,” the Carter Center said in a statement. Posted With X.
The invitation was “respectfully and gratefully accepted,” the statement said.
Flags were flown at half-staff at federal buildings and grounds across the country on Monday in Carter's honor, and will remain at half-staff for the next 30 days.
After the death of an acting president or former president, it is tradition for the U.S. government to order the American flag to be flown at half-mast or half-mast on all federal buildings, grounds, and naval vessels throughout the United States and its territories around the world. .
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The tradition will be in place for 30 days and will mean flags will be lowered to half-mast when Donald Trump is inaugurated in Washington on January 20th.
Joe Biden gave a short speech paying tribute to Carter, in which he offered public praise and personal anecdotes.
“It's a sad day, but it brings back incredibly good memories,” Biden said.
“Today America, and in my view the world, lost an outstanding leader. He was a statesman, a humanitarian, and a Jill. [first lady Jill Biden] And I lost a dear friend. ”
Biden said Carter has said in the past that he was the first person to publicly endorse Carter in the 1976 presidential election. Biden was a Democratic senator from Delaware at the time.
Biden said he “realized” that he and Carter had “been together for 50 years” and recalled how Carter often teased him affectionately.
On January 9, Mr. Biden issued an executive order directing the shutdown of U.S. government agencies and executive departments. U.S. stock exchanges will also be closed.
