Washington Following a memorial service that was attended by members of Congress, his family, Vice President Kamala Harris, and other officials, former President Jimmy Carter will lie in state at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday afternoon.
Several members of Carter’s presidential Cabinet are anticipated to attend the eulogy speeches, which will be given by Harris, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.
Republicans and Democrats who were members of Congress during the Carter administration, as well as Carter’s White House personnel, have also been asked to pay their respects by the Carter family. According to a U.S. military news release.
It also reported that Governors, members of President Joe Biden’s Cabinet, Supreme Court justices, and Mayor Muriel Bowser of Washington, D.C., had been asked to attend.
The public will be able to view Carter’s casket from approximately 7 p.m. ET to midnight when it is put in the Rotunda for the service at approximately 4:30 p.m. His remains will remain in state until Thursday morning, when a funeral will be held at the Washington National Cathedral in his honor.
The transportation of Carter’s remains from the Carter Presidential Library in Atlanta to Joint Base Andrews, which is close to Washington, kicks off Tuesday’s ceremonies. A motorcade will next take Carter and his family to the U.S. Navy Memorial on Pennsylvania Avenue, which is situated between the Capitol and the White House.
The former president’s remains will be moved from a hearse to a horse-drawn caisson for the funeral procession to the Capitol at the Navy Memorial, which Carter approved in 1980 after Congress gave its approval. According to the military announcement, the procession is meant to resemble Carter’s inauguration march on January 20, 1977, when he and his family chose to go on foot from the U.S. Capitol to the White House rather than take the presidential limousine.
“This was the first time a president walked the pavement of Pennsylvania Avenue after the inauguration ceremony,” according to the White House Historical Association, highlighting Carter’s intention to make the presidency accessible to all citizens.
Carter’s family said the funeral procession route on Pennsylvania and Constitution Avenues to the Capitol is open to the public to commemorate and celebrate his life.
The deceased president will be carried by ceremonial pall bearers into the Rotunda upon his arrival at the Capitol, where his coffin will rest atop the Lincoln Catafalque.
George H.W. Bush, who passed away in 2018, was the latest president to lie in state in the Capitol.
Carter, the longest-living former president, passed away on December 29 at the age of 100. Since February 2023, he had been receiving hospice care in his Plains, Georgia, home.
Biden has proclaimed Thursday a national day of mourning and is anticipated to deliver a eulogy during the ceremony at Washington National Cathedral on Thursday morning. Following the funeral, Carter will be buried in a private service and his remains flown back to Plains, Georgia, for a function at Maranatha Baptist Church, where he spent decades teaching Sunday school.
Note: Every piece of content is rigorously reviewed by our team of experienced writers and editors to ensure its accuracy. Our writers use credible sources and adhere to strict fact-checking protocols to verify all claims and data before publication. If an error is identified, we promptly correct it and strive for transparency in all updates, feel free to reach out to us via email. We appreciate your trust and support!