The state funeral ceremony of former US President Jimmy Carter took place at the National Cathedral in Washington. The funeral ceremony was attended by, among others, the current President of the United States Joe Biden, President-elect Donald Trump, as well as former presidents: Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton. During the speech, Biden said that “Jimmy Carter's lasting feature was his strong character.”
Jimmy Carter, 39th President of the United States, died on December 29 last year. He was a hundred years old. He held office from 1977 to 1981. In 2002, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Carter's funeral service began at the Washington National Cathedral shortly after 1 p.m. 10 local time (4 p.m. in Poland).
The funeral ceremony was attended by, among others, the current President of the United States Joe Biden, President-elect Donald Trump, as well as former presidents: Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton. The politicians were accompanied by their wives.
“He was brilliant and had a great sense of humor.”
The late president's grandson, Joshua Carter, recalled during a speech that his grandfather “spent all his time helping those in need.” – He built houses for people who needed them, fought diseases in forgotten places, fought for peace wherever he was and wherever he saw a chance. He loved people, said Joshua Carter.
Ted Mondale, the son of Vice President Walter Mondale, who died in 2021, read a letter written by his father in 2015 during the memorial service. Walter Mondale recalled that he was surprised by Carter's proposal to invite him to the White House in 1976. “He was brilliant and had a great sense of humor,” read a fragment of the letter.
Donald Trump and his wife Melania attend Carter's funeral ceremony Reuters
Biden: He taught me that strength of character is more than power
– Jimmy Carter's friendship and his entire life taught me that strength of character is more than just a title or the power we have. “It's the power of understanding that everyone should be treated with dignity, respect, that everyone, and I mean everyone, deserves an equal opportunity,” Joe Biden said.
“We have an obligation to ensure that hatred has no safe haven here and to oppose what my father called the greatest sin of all, the abuse of power,” the president added.
President Joe Biden, who will soon leave office, said at the memorial service that Jimmy Carter's lasting quality “was his strong character.”
Biden emphasized that Carter embodied the ideals of America as a man from a town without running water or electricity who rose to the top, but at the same time remained humble and used his power to “realize the words of the Savior and the ideals of this nation.”
The coffin with the body of the 39th US president will be transported to Carter's hometown of Plains, Georgia. There, after a private service, he will be buried in his plot on the shore of the pond, next to his wife of 77 years, Rosalynn.
Main photo source: SUSAN WALSH/EPA/PAP