WASHINGTON — Lawmakers, military officials and other dignitaries celebrated the late President Jimmy Carter’s life and achievements before, during and after his White House term at a service in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda Tuesday where he will lie in state until Thursday.
James Earl Carter Jr., who served as the nation’s 39th president from 1977 to 1981, died at the age of 100 on Dec. 29 at his home in Plains, Georgia.
The cavernous rotunda filled with dozens of Carter’s relatives and former members of his Cabinet who sat not too far from the current U.S. Supreme Court justices, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Biden administration officials and congressional leaders.
The voices of the U.S. Naval Academy Glee Club filled the dome with the Navy hymn and “My Country ‘Tis of Thee.” In a nod to Carter’s love for his home state, the U.S. Army Band Brass Quintet performed a rendition of “Georgia On My Mind” as senators, including that state’s Democratic Sens. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, filed past the late president’s casket.
The flag-draped casket laid on the same pine catafalque that supported President Abraham Lincoln’s casket in 1865.
Camp David and Habitat for Humanity
Vice President Kamala Harris delivered a eulogy remarking on Carter’s career in office and humanitarian work in the decades that followed.
“Jimmy Carter established a new model for what it means to be a former president,” Harris said, highlighting his work with Habitat for Humanity and leadership in eradicating Guinea worm disease.
Harris, a California Democrat, praised the former president’s environmental work during his time in the White House, including signing a 1978 bill that significantly expanded the protection of redwood trees.
She also highlighted Carter as a “forward-looking president with a vision for the future” for his establishment of the Department of Energy, Department of Education and Federal Emergency Management Agency, as well as his legacy of appointing a record number of women and Black judges to the federal bench.
Harris said Carter deserves to be remembered on the international stage for his role in leading the Camp David Accords, a peace treaty signed in September 1978 by Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat.
“Jimmy Carter was that all-too-rare example of a gifted man who also walks with humility, modesty and grace,” she said.
Harris continued, “Throughout his life and career, Jimmy Carter retained a fundamental decency and humility. 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.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune and House Speaker Mike Johnson also delivered eulogies.
Johnson recalled that he was just 4 years old when Carter was inaugurated.
