Admirers of Jimmy Carter travel to view his casket lying in state at Capitol
Army veteran Donald Woody, left, and Marine veteran Warren Stade, in eagle feather bonnet, pay their respects as former President Jimmy Carter lies in state at the U.S. Capitol, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025, in Washington. Carter died Dec. 29 at the age of 100. The two are from the Skakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community in Prior Lake, Minn. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)
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WASHINGTON (AP) — Admirers of President Jimmy Carter from around the country visited Washington on Wednesday to view his casket as he lies in state as part of state funeral rites.
The Georgia Democrat and 39th president died Dec. 29 at the age of 100.
Carter served as president from 1977-81, winning office as an outsider in the wake of the Vietnam War and Watergate. He endured a rocky four years of economic unrest and international crises that ended with his defeat to Republican Ronald Reagan. But he also lived long enough to see historians reassess his presidency more charitably than voters did in 1980.
“President Carter was the governor of the great state of Georgia when I was born,” said Lyn Leverett, among the people who waited in below-freezing weather Wednesday. “So he’s been around my, you know, my whole entire being. And I just want to pay my respects to a decent person.”
He was remembered a day earlier at the Capitol for his deep religious faith, long public service and decades of humanitarian work beyond what he accomplished in politics.
Vice President Kamala Harris and Speaker Mike Johnson were among those who offered bipartisan tributes to Carter in the Capitol Rotunda, where his flag-draped casket remains atop the Lincoln catafalque for members of the public to pay their respects.
Carter will remain at the Capitol until Thursday morning, when he is transported to Washington National Cathedral for a state funeral. President Joe Biden, a longtime Carter ally, will deliver a eulogy. Other living former presidents, including President-elect Donald Trump, are expected to attend.
After the funeral, the Boeing 747 that is Air Force One when a sitting president is aboard will carry Carter and his family back to Georgia. An invitation-only funeral will be held at Maranatha Baptist Church in tiny Plains, Georgia, where Carter taught Sunday School for decades after leaving office.
Carter will be buried next to his wife, former first lady Rosalynn Carter, in a plot near the home they built before his first state Senate campaign in 1962 and where they lived out their lives with the exception of four years in the Georgia Governor’s Mansion and four years in the White House.