Nearly two weeks after former President Jimmy Carter passed away at the age of 100, all five living presidents gathered to honor him during his funeral service at the National Cathedral in Washington on Thursday morning. Carter, the 39th president of the United States and the country’s longest-living president, died on Dec. 29, with the Carter Center announcing in a statement that he passed away peacefully at his home Plains, Georgia.
President Joe Biden and Dr. Jill Biden and President-Elect Donald Trump and Melania Trump were present at the services, who were joined by former President Barack Obama (without Michelle Obama); Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, and their wives Hillary Clinton and Laura Bush. It was the first time since 2018 that all five living presidents were together under one roof; the last time being at George H. W. Bush’s funeral in Dec. 2018.
Carter had lied in state at the U.S. Capitol Rotunda while the public paid their respects at the Carter Presidential Center in Atlanta beforehand. Thursday’s funeral service at the National Cathedral in Washington is the last public tribute to Carter; a joint services military honor guard carried Carter’s casket out of the National Cathedral following the state procession. Other attendees at Carter’s service included King Charles III’s brother, Prince Edward, the Duke of Edinburgh, who arrived from overseas to attend the ceremony and was seated by Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Following the state procession, Carter was taken to the Joint Base in Andrews, Maryland. From there, the former President will be flown to Lawson Army Airfield in Fort Moore, Ga., where his body will be returned to his hometown of Plains, Ga. for a private family ceremony at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, and the Carter residence for his interment. The U.S. Navy will conduct a missing man formation flyover in honor of Carter’s Naval service. He will be laid to rest alongside his late wife, former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, who died in Nov. 2023 at the age of 96.
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