President Joe Biden declared a national day of mourning on Sunday, while the actual state funeral for former President Jimmy Carter is scheduled for January 9.
In addition to ordering federal agencies to close on January 9 “as a mark of respect” for Carter, Biden is scheduled to give a eulogy for the former president on Monday. In the afternoon, the Supreme Court said that it will similarly observe the day of sorrow by closing on that day.
Carter passed away on Sunday. He was the 39th president of the United States and the first to turn 100. Since February 2023, he and his wife of 77 years, Rosalynn Carter, had been in hospice care at their Plains, Georgia, home. At age 96, the former first lady passed away on November 19, 2023.
On Monday night, there will be a prayer vigil at Maranatha Baptist Church, where the former president was a member and taught Sunday school for many years.
In statements from the previous year, Biden said that Carter had asked him to give the eulogy at his death. However, he quickly corrected himself, saying, “Excuse me, I shouldn’t say that.”
Over the course of several decades, Carter and Biden developed a close relationship; Carter, a former Georgia governor, described how Biden helped him throughout his presidential campaign. Carter declared his support for then-candidate Joe Biden in taped remarks at the 2020 Democratic National Convention. He stated, “Joe Biden was my first and most effective supporter in the Senate when I ran for president in 1976.” “He has been my faithful and committed friend for decades,” he continued.
In an October direct-to-camera birthday statement shared with CBS News, Biden honored Carter’s 100th birthday by stating: Mr. President, you have always been a moral force for our country and the world. As a young senator, I understood that. That’s why I gave you my early support. In addition to being a cherished friend of Jill, myself, and our family, you are a voice of bravery, conviction, and compassion.
Shortly after Biden took office, in April 2021, the president and first lady Jill Biden paid Carter a visit, spending over an hour with the 39th president and his spouse.
The last time the two presidents saw one another was at Rosalynn Carter’s funeral in November 2023, where Biden claimed to have had a chance to speak with Carter briefly and express his affection for him.
President-elect Donald Trump also honored Carter in a statement posted on Truth Social on Sunday, stating that Jimmy Carter did all in his ability to better the lives of all Americans and that the difficulties he encountered as president came at a critical juncture for our nation.
We all owe him a debt of appreciation for that, Trump continued.
In 2002, Carter received the Nobel Peace Prize for his work on human rights around the world, which included decades of tireless efforts to resolve international disputes peacefully. Carter spent decades working in underdeveloped countries on initiatives to restore human rights and construct democratic institutions through the Carter Center, which he and his wife founded in 1982.
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