By Andy Sullivan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter’s body arrives in Washington on Tuesday for three days of mourning beginning with him lying in state at the U.S. Capitol before a funeral service at the Washington National Cathedral on Thursday.
The state funeral for the 39th U.S. president comes at a time of transition as Republican President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take power from Democratic President Joe Biden. Security in Washington is higher than usual with the Capitol where Carter will lie in state surrounded by miles of fencing ahead of Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration.
Carter, a Democrat who served one White House term from 1977 to 1981, died Dec. 29 at the age of 100. The former Georgia peanut farmer struggled with a bad economy and the Iran hostage crisis while in office and was handily defeated for re-election by Republican Ronald Reagan. In the decades since, he earned a reputation as a committed humanitarian and is widely seen as a better former president than he was a president. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.
Carter lived longer than any other U.S. president and had been in hospice care for nearly two years before his death. His last public appearance was at his wife Rosalynn’s funeral in November 2023, where he used a wheelchair and appeared frail. In August, his grandson Jason Carter said Carter was looking forward to casting a ballot for Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, who lost to Trump.
Biden has ordered flags at government buildings to be flown at half-staff as a sign of mourning for 30 days. That has irked Trump, who has said they should not be lowered during his Jan. 20 inauguration.
Carter is due to arrive from Atlanta around midday. The former Navy submarine officer and his family will travel by motorcade to the U.S. Navy memorial on Pennsylvania Avenue, where his remains will be transferred to a horse-drawn caisson for a funeral procession to the Capitol.
Members of Congress will pay their respects at a 3 p.m. (2000 GMT) service in the Rotunda, and members of the public will be able to pay their respects afterward until midnight.
On Wednesday, public viewing hours will resume at 7 a.m. ET (noon GMT) and Carter will lie in state in the Rotunda with a military guard of honor for 24 hours, when his body will be carried by motorcade to the National Cathedral.
Both Biden and Trump are expected to attend Carter’s funeral service on Thursday.
Biden is expected to deliver the eulogy at the 10 a.m. (1500 GMT) funeral service. After that, Carter’s remains will be flown back home to Georgia. His body will be interred later that day in his hometown of Plains.
(Reporting by Andy Sullivan; Editing by Scott Malone and Alistair Bell)
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