By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
WASHINGTON (Worthy News) – Preparations were underway Monday for an upcoming state funeral in Washington for Jimmy Carter, the Democratic president who died Sunday at 100, leaving behind a legacy of Christian-faith-inspired works and efforts to reach peace in the Middle East and other areas.
U.S. President Joe Biden said he ordered the state funeral in the nation’s capital to remember “an extraordinary leader, statesman and humanitarian.”
Biden separately designated January 9 as “a national day of mourning.”
While the White House didn’t immediately announce specific plans, experts said state funerals for presidents usually include lying in state at the U.S. Capitol and a memorial service at the Washington National Cathedral.
The U.S. stock market has traditionally closed on the day of presidential funerals, although exchange overseers made no immediate announcement.
Biden, President-elect Donald J. Trump, and former President Barack Obama paid tribute to his Middle East peace efforts and a long post-presidential run of humanitarian work by Carter, who won a Nobel Peace Prize.
He passed away peacefully at his home in Plains, Georgia, the same age where he was born more than a century earlier as James Earl Carter Jr. on October 1, 1924.
WISE SANITARIUM
Carter came to the world at the Wise Sanitarium, where his mother worked as a registered nurse, making him the first American president to be born in a hospital.
Obama praised Carter for inspiring generations while teaching Sunday school at the Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains “for most of his adult life.”
He also recalled how Carter, as president, oversaw the historic Camp David Accords signed by Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin on September 17, 1978. The Accords, which included a peace treaty between the two neighbors, followed twelve days of secret negotiations at Camp David, the famed retreat for U.S. presidents.
“He believed some things were more important than reelection – things like integrity, respect, and compassion,” Obama said in a statement.
Biden’s statement, issued during his year-end vacation in the U.S. Virgin Islands, included a tribute to Carter’s efforts to “eradicate disease, forge peace, advance civil rights and human rights, promote free and fair elections, house the homeless, and always advocate for the least among us.”
Carter won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for his post-presidential work, which the prize committee described as “decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.”
On Sunday evening, Biden commended Carter for his courage and humility in remarks at the Company House Hotel in St. Croix.
BYGONE ERA?
President Biden called Carter a “remarkable leader”. He added:
“Some look at Jimmy Carter and see a man of a bygone era. [But] I see a man, not only of our time but for all times.”
Biden said he spoke with several of Carter’s friends and family members who were planning services.
When asked if Trump could learn anything from Carter, Biden responded: “decency,” adding that “everybody deserves a shot.”
The Trump transition team didn’t immediately respond with a comment.
Trump said Carter was a “truly good man” who “worked hard to make America a better place, and for that I give him my highest respect.”
“While I strongly disagreed with him philosophically and politically, I also realized that he truly loved and respected our Country and all it stands for,” Trump added on his Truth Social media platform.
TRUMP CONTROVERSY
Trump frequently brought up Carter during the 2024 election campaign, seeking to use him as a reference point for Biden’s presidency.
“Biden is the worst president in the history of our country, worse than Jimmy Carter by a long shot,” Trump said at a campaign stop in Manhattan in April.
“Jimmy Carter is happy because he has had a brilliant presidency compared to Biden.”
During Trump’s first term in office, Carter criticized Trump, at one point accusing him in an interview of being “careless with the truth.”
Yet Carter and his wife attended Trump’s inauguration in 2017.
Both are survived by their four children, Jack, James, Donnel, and Amy, as well as several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Copyright 1999-2025 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
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