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Jimmy Carter funeral latest: Kamala Harris eulogizes former president as a ‘gifted’ man of grace

Dignitaries, including Supreme Court justices and members of Congress, take part in lying-in-state ceremony at Capitol Rotunda

Gustaf Kilander
in Washington, D.C.
Tuesday 07 January 2025 23:40 GMT
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Jimmy Carter, former US president, dies aged 100

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Vice President Kamala Harris eulogized former President Jimmy Carter on Tuesday at the U.S. Capitol in Washington DC, where Carter lay in state, remembering him as a leader who was "ahead of his time" and deeply empathetic to the needs of the people he represented.

Carter, the 39th President of the United States, died on December 29, at the age of 100.

Harris praised Carter for leaving the world "better than he found it," and praised him for his progressive actions, including appointing more Black Americans to the federal bench than all of his predecessors combined. He also appointed five times as many women, Harris noted.

The vice president also praised Carter's commitment to diplomacy, noting the success of the Camp David Accords in 1978.

She did not just praise his time as president; Harris said Carter "established a new model for what it means to be a former president and leave an extraordinary post-presidential legacy."

Harris praised his Carter Center, his public health workers, and his "tireless advocacy for peace and democracy" around the world.

The vice president called Carter a "rare example" of a "gifted man who also walks with humility, modesty, and grace," and said it was clear that he "loved our country."

"He lived his faith, he served the people, and he left the world a better place than he found it," she said.

Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter left behind enduring nonprofits as part of their legacy of giving back

President Jimmy Carter ‘s legacy of giving back endures in several nonprofits he and his wife, Rosalynn Carter, supported for the almost 50 years after they left the White House.

In Los Angeles on Monday, members of Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles signed wooden two-by-fours that will be used in a new house as a tribute to the former president, who died at age 100 on Dec. 29. In Houston, they are planning to let members of the community sign a door and wall in a new house to remember the thousands of homes the Carters helped build. They will do the same in Tallahassee, Florida, and numerous other communities, in preparation for Carter’s state funeral on Jan. 9.

The tributes to his dedication to providing affordable housing show how the Carters’ work will continue.

READ MORE:

Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter left behind enduring nonprofits as part of their legacy of giving back

President Jimmy Carter’s legacy of giving back endures in several nonprofits through which he and his wife, Rosalynn Carter, worked in the almost 50 years after they left the White House

Graig Graziosi7 January 2025 23:40

Jimmy Carter is back in Washington, where he remained an outsider

Nearly 44 years after Jimmy Carter left the nation’s capital in humbling defeat, the 39th president returned to Washington for three days of state funeral rites starting Tuesday.

Carter’s remains, which had been lying in repose at the Carter Presidential Center since Saturday, left the Atlanta campus Tuesday morning, accompanied by his children and extended family. Special Air Mission 39 departed Dobbins Air Reserve Base north of Atlanta and arrived at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. A motorcade carried the casket into Washington for a final journey to the Capitol, where members of Congress will pay their respects.

In Georgia, eight military pallbearers held Carter’s casket as canons fired on the tarmac nearby. They carried it to a vehicle that lifted it to the passenger compartment of the aircraft, the iconic blue and white Boeing 747 variant that is known as Air Force One when the sitting president is on board. Carter never traveled as president on the jet, which first flew as Air Force One in 1990 with President George H.W. Bush.

READ MORE:

Jimmy Carter is back in Washington, where he remained an outsider

Jimmy Carter's state funeral has moved to Washington after observances in his native Georgia

Graig Graziosi7 January 2025 23:20

America – and Donald Trump – have much to learn from the life and service of Jimmy Carter

As the tributes poured in from the United States and around the world, it was hard not to observe that even in death there can be good and bad timing – and Jimmy Carter’s was perfect.

He had reached the age of 100, to become the longest-lived US president ever. His state funeral will take place, appropriately, under a Democratic administration, and could well mark the last public appearance of Joe Biden as president before the inauguration of his successor.

Most of all, with just three weeks remaining before Donald Trump enters the White House for the second time, the passing of Jimmy Carter has provided the ideal pretext for Trump’s detractors to hurl yet more disapproving stones at the man they love to hate.

Read more:

America – and Trump – have much to learn from the life and service of Jimmy Carter

Editorial: The contrast between the peanut farmer and the mogul could not be more different as the US marks the passing of its most humble president – and braces for the return of its most divisive

Editorial7 January 2025 23:00

Carter will lie in state at the US Capitol until Thursday, Biden to deliver euology

Former President Jimmy Carter, who died on December 29 aged 100, will lie in state at the US Capitol until Thursday.

On Thursday morning, former heads of state and dignitaries will attend a funeral for Carter at the National Cathedral in Washington DC.

President Joe Biden will deliver a euology during that service.

Graig Graziosi7 January 2025 22:54

In pictures: Inside Jimmy Carter’s state funeral

(POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
(AP)
(AP)
(Getty Images)
(POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Mike Bedigan7 January 2025 22:47

Kamala Harris praises Jimmy Carter during DC ceremony, noting his progressive accomplishments and “unshakeable belief in the power of diplomacy"

Kamala Harris praised former President Jimmy Carter during a ceremony in Washington, DC noting his progressive accomplishments and “unshakeable belief in the power of diplomacy.”

She noted that Carter was ahead of the time on climate issues, passing a dozen pieces of major legislation promoting clean energy, and that he had appointed more Black officials to the federal bench than any president before him.

Harris praised his committment to diplomacy, in particular the success of the Camp David Accords in 1978.

Graig Graziosi7 January 2025 22:27

Jimmy Carter: House Speaker Mike Johnson speaks

Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson spoke during a Washington DC service honoring former President Jimmy Carter. Johnson said Carter was a “frugal” man who “hated government waste” and called his contributions to the nation “remarkable.”

He also praised Carter for his work with Habitat for Humanity and his commitment to serve one week every year to help build homes for Americans in need.

Johnson further praised the president for living out the ideals of his faith.

Graig Graziosi7 January 2025 22:19

Jimmy Carter: His father was a white supremacist, but a black farmhand gave him faith and purpose

For decades after he was crushed in the 1980 presidential election, Jimmy Carter was defined as a loser. But, by any standard, he won at life. He was the longest-living American president, the longest married (77 years, and happily), and – especially if you look at his whole career – among the most accomplished and productive figures of our era.

Now it’s time for the public to reassess this inspiring, complex, and confounding man. When I first began researching his epic American life in 2015, I was struck by the ubiquity of the easy shorthand on him – bad president; great former president. Even now, everyone from political scientists to the average person on the street will express this idea as if it’s an established fact. The problem is, the widespread conventional wisdom on Carter is mostly wrong.

Read more:

Jimmy Carter: Born to a white supremacist, but raised by a black farmhand

A complex and confounding man, says his biographer, Jonathan Alter, who looks at the extraordinary life and achievements of this misunderstood American president and the people who shaped him

Jonathan Alter7 January 2025 22:00

PHOTOS: Casket arrives at U.S. Capitol

Members of Congress and other guests attend a ceremony for former U.S. President Jimmy Carter in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol on January 7, 2025 in Washington, DC
Members of Congress and other guests attend a ceremony for former U.S. President Jimmy Carter in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol on January 7, 2025 in Washington, DC (Getty Images)
The flag-draped casket of former President Jimmy Carter is transported on a horse-drawn caisson to the U.S. Capitol on January 7, 2025 in Washington, DC
The flag-draped casket of former President Jimmy Carter is transported on a horse-drawn caisson to the U.S. Capitol on January 7, 2025 in Washington, DC (Getty Images)
U.S. Military Body Bearers escort the casket bearing the remains of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter in a horse-drawn caisson as it arrives at the U.S. Capitol on January 07, 2025 in Washington, DC
U.S. Military Body Bearers escort the casket bearing the remains of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter in a horse-drawn caisson as it arrives at the U.S. Capitol on January 07, 2025 in Washington, DC (Getty Images)
Gustaf Kilander7 January 2025 21:56

Jimmy Carter death: What is a national day of mourning?

The last time a Democratic president died was in 1973 when Lyndon Baines Johnson passed away at the age of 64, just a few years after leaving office.

Following the death of Jimmy Carter at the age of 100, the nation will now see the first funeral for a Democratic president in more than 50 years.

Carter is the longest-living president, who also had the longest post-presidency after leaving office at the age of 56 in 1980.

There are a number of traditions and customs that govern the death of a US president, but the wishes of the family are also heavily considered, meaning the proceedings can be quite different from each other.

Read more:

Jimmy Carter death: What is a national day of mourning?

Following Jimmy Carter’s death at the age of 100, his funeral will be first for a Democratic president in more than half a century

Gustaf Kilander7 January 2025 21:30

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