The nation will mourn the death of former President Jimmy Carter at a full state funeral in Washington, DC on Jan. 9 — a national day of mourning — before he’s laid to rest in his tiny hometown in Georgia beside his late wife Rosalynn.
President Biden ordered all US flags to fly at half-staff for 30 days beginning Sunday, when Carter died at the age of 100 after nearly two years in hospice care.
On Monday, the Carter family said it had “respectfully and gratefully” accepted an invitation from Congress to have his casket lie in state in the Rotunda of the US Capitol.
Full details of the funeral, which is organized by the Joint Task Force National Capital Region, have not been released, but presidential state funerals are typically planned by the presidents themselves and usually last seven to 10 days.
Jimmy Carter, the 39th US President, died on Sunday. POOL/AFP via Getty ImagesBiden said Sunday his team is working with Carter’s family “to see to it that he is remembered appropriately, here in the United States and around the world.”
He added that organizing “that will take a little time” is underway but expects a “major service in Washington, D.C.” for the 39th president.
Most presidents lie in state in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda for more than a day where the public can pay its last respects followed by a final send-off at a funeral service at Washington’s National Cathedral.
President Biden accidentally let slip last year that Carter had asked him to give a eulogy.
Most state funerals happen in three stages, beginning in the late president’s home state, according to the JTF-NCR, an office with the Department of Defense.
Carter’s casket will first travel from his hometown in Plains, Georgia to Atlanta where he will first lie in repose in the Carter Center — his post-presidency charity foundation — for 36 hours, according to NBC News.
The hearse carrying the flag-draped casket of former President George H.W. Bush passes by the White House from the Capitol in 2018. AP
The flag-draped casket of former President George H.W. Bush is carried by a military honor guard past former President George W. Bush, President Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump, former President Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, former President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former President Jimmy Carter, and Rosalynn Carter at the end of a State Funeral at the National Cathedral, Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018, in Washington. APHis body will then be taken to the Capitol for public ceremonies in Washington DC.
“The ceremonies occurring in the national capital region may involve Armed Forces honor guards, elite military bands, and other service academies, National Guard and U.S. Armed Forces Reserve units,” according to JTF-NCR.
Afterward, his body will travel back to Plains where he will be buried beside his late wife of 77 years, Rosalynn Carter, following a private family service.
The couple’s simple gravestones will be by a willow tree at the edge of the pond that Carter had dug on their humble property — which the Carters have donated to the National Parks Service to turn into a museum after their deaths, the Washington Post reported.
In the meantime, The Carter Center said the public can pay tribute to the late president on its website, where people can sign an official condolence book.
In lieu of flowers, Carter’s family has asked donations to be made to The Carter Center.
With Post Wires
