What happened
The casket carrying Jimmy Carter arrived in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday and was transported by a horse-drawn caisson to the U.S. Capitol Rotunda, where the 39th president now lies in state on the catafalque first used for Abraham Lincoln. Carter, who died at age 100 on Dec. 29, was eulogized by Vice President Kamala Harris, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), kicking off three days of tributes and ceremonious farewell in the nation’s capital.
Who said what
The “bipartisan praise and ceremonial pomp” for Carter “carried some irony,” given he “often flouted” ceremonial trappings and “rarely enjoyed” such political plaudits or bonhomie as president, The Associated Press said.
Thune and Johnson focused their eulogies on Carter’s stalwart Christian faith, “character, decency and post-presidential humanitarian work,” The New York Times said — Thune lauded his labor with Habitat for Humanity and near-eradication of Guinea worm disease — but Harris “made a point of praising his policies while in office as well.” Between his environmental stewardship, energy policies, promotion of women and minorities and the Camp David Accords, Carter was a “forward-looking president with a vision for the future” that “will echo for generations,” Harris said. “He served the people and he left the world better than he found it,” and in the end, his “work, and those works, speak for him — louder than any tribute we can offer.”
What next?
Carter’s casket will be on public display in the Rotunda until 7 a.m. Thursday, when it will move to Washington National Cathedral; President Joe Biden will deliver the eulogy at his state funeral. Carter will then be flown back to Plains, Georgia, to be buried next to his late wife, Rosalynn.