Jimmy Carter lies in state at the U.S. Capitol as Americans pay their respects
Former President Jimmy Carter's casket arrived at the U.S. Capitol Tuesday afternoon for a military tribute and to lie in state in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda, with lawmakers and members of public invited to pay their respects.
The streets of Washington, D.C., with the ground covered in snow from a recent storm, were quiet Tuesday as his casket passed. Members of Congress, Vice President Kamala Harris, Cabinet secretaries and Carter's family members then paid their respects in a service in the Capitol Rotunda. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor paid her respects on Wednesday morning, as did representatives from the Navy and representatives from several other groups that worked closely with Carter.
Carter, the 39th president, died on Dec. 29 at the age of 100 — living longer than any president in U.S. history. His beloved wife of 77 years, Rosalynn, died in November 2023.
"Today, we gather to begin a final farewell to Jimmy Carter — Navy veteran, peanut farmer, governor of Georgia, and president of the United States," said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a South Dakota Republican, on Tuesday. "Sunday school teacher, Nobel prize winner, advocate for peace and human rights, and first and foremost, a faithful servant of his creator, and of his fellow man."
House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, said Carter "modeled the virtues of service and citizenship as well as any other American," noting Carter's volunteer work for Habitat for Humanity and efforts to broker peace and equality.
Harris called Carter "a forward-looking president with a vision for the future" who was an "all too rare example of a gifted man who also walks with humility, modesty and grace."
"James Earl Carter Jr. loved our country. He lived his faith, he served the people and he left the world better than he found it," Harris said. "And in the end, Jimmy Carter's work and those works speak for him louder than any tribute we can offer."
The state funeral is set for Thursday. President Biden will be delivering a eulogy at Thursday's service, along with several others. President-elect Donald Trump said he will attend.
Carter lay in repose in Atlanta as part of six days of observances that began Saturday with a service at his boyhood home in Plains, Georgia. The Carter Center said Tuesday morning that more than 23,000 people came to pay their respects to the former president.
"This is somebody from a small town in south Georgia who was a peanut farmer who ultimately became the president of the United States," said Carter's grandson, Jason Carter, at the Plains service on Saturday. "It's a pretty remarkable American story."
On Tuesday, Carter's body was flown Atlanta to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, where his casket was transferred with ceremony to a hearse. From there, a motorcade traveled to the U.S. Navy Memorial, where his casket was transferred from a hearse to a horse-drawn caisson with ceremony.
Carter will lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda until Thursday, and members of the public will be able to pay their respects. His funeral service Thursday will be held at the National Cathedral before his remains are flown back to Georgia.
There will be a final private service in Plains, and Carter will be buried next to Rosalynn Carter at his family's peanut farm.
