Live Updates: Jimmy Carter Is Remembered for His Integrity and Humanitarian Work
"All five of the country’s living presidents are attending the State Funeral for the nation’s 39th president, and President Biden will give the eulogy. The sons of Gerald Ford and Walter Mondale delivered eulogies written by their fathers before they died.
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Former President Jimmy Carter is being honored in Washington National Cathedral, where the country’s five living presidents have gathered to bid farewell to one of their own, joining current and former members of Congress, senior government officials and foreign dignitaries to pay their respects to the nation’s 39th president.
The tributes have included eulogies written by former President Gerald R. Ford and former Vice President Walter F. Mondale before their deaths, read by theirs sons, Steven Ford and Ted Mondale. Mr. Ford’s eulogy addressed the former president directly: “As for myself, Jimmy, I’m looking forward to our reunion. We have much to catch up on.”
Up now is Jason Carter, the former president’s grandson and chairman of the Carter Center. Jason is the family member most associated with politics. He served in the Georgia state senate and lost a race for governor in 2014.
Jason Carter is humanizing his grandfather as “a regular guy,” describing their simple house and telling a story of his fumbling early use of a cellphone. “Nuclear engineer!” Jason Carter marveled with loving sarcasm.
Speaking now is Stuart Eizenstat, who was Carter’s domestic policy adviser in the White House, a longtime confidant and biographer.
While many of Carter’s admirers focus on his personal character and integrity as well as his good works after leaving office, Eizenstat is making the case that he was not a failed president, reviewing a raft of policy successes on the environment, civil rights, international relations and other issues.
The Armed Forces Chorus, the U.S. Marine Chamber Orchestra, and the Cathedral Choir are performing “Eternal Father, Strong to Save.”
The hymn is known to members of the United States Navy as the “Navy Hymn” and for more than a century has been sung at the conclusion of Sunday services held at the Naval Academy. It has been performed at the funeral services of nearly all presidents who served in the branch, including John F. Kennedy, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush. It was also played at the funeral service of Franklin D. Roosevelt, former secretary of the Navy. Richard Nixon was the only president who served in the branch that did not have the hymn played during his memorial services.
In reading his father’s eulogy, Ted Mondale left out a line that was in the written text provided to The New York Times ahead of time. After talking about Carter’s generous approach to taking in Vietnamese refugees, the former vice president said in the text: “Compare this to how we are tragically dealing with the crisis of immigrants today.”
Carter made Mondale the first vice president of the modern era, a real partner who participated in deliberations in a way that most of his predecessors had not. Mondale was the first vice president given an office in the West Wing just down the hall from the Oval Office.
Ted Mondale, son of the late Walter Mondale, who served as Jimmy Carter’s vice president, is delivering the eulogy that his father had planned to give. You can read it here.
Walter Mondale, who died in 2021, was in many ways an odd choice as Mr. Carter’s running mate. He was a northern liberal close to the labor unions and part of the Democratic establishment in the nation’s capital who teamed up with a Southern moderate running as an outsider taking on Washington and the party elite. But they helped bring their party together in 1976 and forged a surprisingly close partnership.
Ted Mondale, the oldest son of Vice President Walter Mondale, is now reading a eulogy from his father, who was Carter’s partner for four years and died in 2021.
Ford finished this very personal tribute on a very personal note: “As for myself, Jimmy, I’m looking forward to our reunion. We have much to catch up on. Thank you, Mr. President. Welcome home, old friend.”
For those who remember Jerry Ford, the down-to-earth, old-fashioned, pipe-smoking pol, it is striking to hear these last words he left behind 18 years after his death.
Steven Ford told me on Wednesday that he did not know his father had assigned him to read his eulogy for Carter until after his father died.
Steven Ford, the third son of former President Gerald Ford, is now reading a tribute written by his father before his own death in 2006. While Carter and Ford were bitter rivals in the 1976 campaign, they became friends later in life and made a pact to speak at each other’s funerals.
Jimmy Carter was the first American president to describe himself as “born again,” now a somewhat quaint term for experiencing a rebirth through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
It was a process rather than a singular experience, according to the former president, who spoke frequently and fluently about his Christian faith throughout his life and was honored in a state funeral on Thursday.
Joshua Carter, a grandson of President Carter, is now speaking. He was listed as giving a reading but he is offering a personal tribute.
Now he has begun the reading, Romans 8:1-18, 38-39.
A spokewoman for Michelle Obama confirmed in a statement that she “is not in attendance at President Carter’s National Funeral Service. Mrs. Obama sends her thoughts and prayers to the Carter family, and everyone who loved and learned from the remarkable former president.” A person familiar with the situation said the former first lady is in Hawaii and had a scheduling conflict.
The flag-draped casket is being brought into the cathedral, which is silent except for the tolling of the bells and the sound of howling wind outside the building.
“Yet shall I see God, whom I shall see for myself.” “Ready, step. Ready, step. Halt, center face.” “For if we live, we live unto the Lord. And we die unto the Lord.”
Everyone is studying the interactions between the presidents but it's also striking that sitting just 30 feet or so away from Trump are the leaders of two countries, Canada and Panama, whose sovereignty he has been threatening in recent days.
While the cathedral is largely full, the congressional section has a lot of empty seats.
Joe and Jill Biden have arrived and taken their seats in the front row next to the vice president and Doug Emhoff.
President-elect Trump has been talking almost nonstop to former President Barack Obama since the two sat down next to each other a few minutes ago. The conversation seems to be mostly one sided, with Obama listening and responding with shorter answers.
The five living presidents are making a rare simultaneous appearance on Thursday at former President Jimmy Carter’s funeral.
It is unusual for five living presidents to be together in one place. Before 1991, there was only one other period in United States history, around 1861, when more than five presidents were even alive at the same time.
Outside the cathedral, the military guard standing alongside the hearse carrying President Carter have been struggling to stand at attention in the strong, cold winds blowing through Washington. At one point, the guards holding the American flag and the flag of the presidency were almost blown over.
Kamala Harris and Doug Emhoff just sat down in the front row not far from Trump. They did not shake hands.
The Bushes and Clintons have arrived.
Trump was spotted shaking Pence’s hand, their first encounter in person in four years.
Barack Obama just came in without Michelle. He sat next to Trump and the two exchanged words.
First in Atlanta, then in Washington, Americans came to honor former President Jimmy Carter. They rose early, traveled far, and waited in the cold to pass by the coffin of the 39th president.
Cornelius Ani, a civil engineer living in the Atlanta suburbs, pulled himself out of bed before daylight on Tuesday, bundled up and drove in 30 miles to the Carter Presidential Library in Atlanta, which kept its doors open round-the-clock to welcome the public. He was in awe of Mr. Carter’s accomplishments — president, Nobel Peace Prize laureate — and his humility. “That combination can only come from somebody who is chosen,” Mr. Ani said.
When Jimmy Carter died on Dec. 29, President Biden declared that this Thursday would be observed as a national day of mourning. He called on Americans to “assemble on that day in their respective places of worship, there to pay homage to the memory” of Mr. Carter.
Mr. Biden also order that executive departments and agencies be closed for the day, with some exceptions, including for national security. The Postal Service has suspended mail delivery and closed post offices, and the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq will also be closed on Thursday."
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