Jimmy Carter’s casket departs Capitol for memorial service
The hearse carrying Jimmy Carter’s casket is rolling out of the US Capitol to the National Cathedral, where a memorial service that will bring together all living US presidents will take place.
The cathedral is about five miles away from the Capitol. Cameras inside the building have captured dignitaries gathering for the service, including former secretary of state John Kerry.
Key events
Jimmy Carter’s hearse just drove down Pennsylvania Avenue and past the White House, where law enforcement officers lined up to salute as he passed.
It was difficult to see the building where Carter lived for four years. A large bandstand had been erected in front of it, in advance of Donald Trump’s inauguration on 20 January.
Cameras in the National Cathedral have meanwhile spotted former vice-president Mike Pence and supreme court justice Brett Kavanaugh.
Jimmy Carter’s casket departs Capitol for memorial service
The hearse carrying Jimmy Carter’s casket is rolling out of the US Capitol to the National Cathedral, where a memorial service that will bring together all living US presidents will take place.
The cathedral is about five miles away from the Capitol. Cameras inside the building have captured dignitaries gathering for the service, including former secretary of state John Kerry.
Members of the military have carried Jimmy Carter’s casket down the steps of the Capitol.
They walked down the steps on the eastern side of the building, taking them one at a time. It’s a fairly cold 26F today in Washington DC and the honor guard is bundled up.
They just slid the casket into a hearse, which will proceed to the National Cathedral.
Members of the Carter family are gathered outside the Capitol, as Jimmy Carter’s casket is set to be moved from the building and into a hearse that will take it to the National Cathedral.
Carter has been lying in state inside the Capitol since Tuesday as dignitaries and members of the public came by to pay their respects.
Kamala Harris and Doug Emhoff will join Joe and Jill Biden at the National Cathedral in Washington DC for Jimmy Carter’s memorial service.
The president will deliver the eulogy for Carter during today’s service. Harris eulogized Carter on Tuesday, after his casket arrived at the US Capitol.
Donald and Melania Trump stopped by Jimmy Carter’s casket during a visit to the Capitol yesterday.
The incoming president was meeting with congressional Republicans about how to implement his campaign promises, once he is inaugurated on 20 January.
Representative Ro Khanna, a Democrat from California, paid tribute to Jimmy Carter in an opinion piece yesterday:
Jimmy Carter represented politics at its highest calling. He reminded me of my grandfather, Amarnath Vidhyalankar, an Indian freedom fighter who served in jail as part of Gandhi’s independence movement. They both shared a commitment to standing up for principle.
American politics is different these days. Ridiculing is in vogue along with making outlandish statements that go viral on social media. Colleagues on both sides scream at each other in hearings and cling to power long past their mental and physical primes. In frivolous political times like ours, Carter is a refreshing reminder that it is possible to have a politics of dignity and statesmanship.
You can read the full piece here:
Pictures from the newswires show people waiting outside the US Capitol to pay their respects to Jimmy Carter as he lay in state.
You can read our obituary for Jimmy Carter here:
Timeline of events
7am: Public visitation of Carter’s lying in state ends.
9am: Carter’s casket departs the US Capitol. The funeral motorcade travels to Washington national cathedral, passing by the White House.
9.30am: Carter’s motorcade arrives at Washington national cathedral.
10am: The Washington funeral begins.
11.15am: Carter’s remains and his family depart the cathedral for Joint Base Andrews.
11.45am: They board Special Air Mission 39.
2pm: Special Air Mission 39 arrives at Lawson Army airfield at Fort Moore, Georgia. Carter’s remains will be transferred with ceremony to the hearse. Carter and his family then travel to Plains by motorcade.
3.30pm: Motorcade arrives at Maranatha baptist church in Plains.
3.45pm: An invitation-only funeral at the church begins.
4.45pm: A motorcade takes participants from the church to the Carter residence, with the funeral procession passing through Plains so the community can pay respects.
5.20pm: A US Navy missing man formation conducts a flyover in honor of Carter’s naval service and time as commander in chief, followed by a private graveside ceremony and interment.
Joseph Gedeon
My colleague Joseph Gedeon writes from Washington with what we can expect from today’s events:
Jimmy Carter honored with state funeral at Washington’s national cathedral
Good morning. Thousands of mourners and living former US presidents will gather at Washington’s national cathedral today for the state funeral of Jimmy Carter, the 39th president.
Joe Biden will deliver the eulogy for his fellow Democrat, with Bill Clinton, George W Bush, Barack Obama and president-elect Donald Trump expected to join about 3,000 mourners at the service. Thursday has been designated a day of national mourning, with federal offices closed.
Biden said in an interview on Wednesday that Carter had asked him to do the honors when the pair met for the last time four years ago. He added: “Carter was a decent man. I think Carter looked at the world not from here but from here, where everybody else lives,” as he gestured from above his head towards his heart.
The service comes after a week of mourning that has seen people pay their respects to Carter as he lay in state in the US capitol after he died on 29 December, aged 100, in his home state of Georgia. His funeral procession began in Georgia before reaching Atlanta and finally being transported to Washington DC.
Chuck Schumer, the leader of the Democrats in the Senate, described Carter as “one of the most decent and humble public servants we have ever seen”.
“President Carter was a living embodiment of leadership through service, compassion, and a thirst for justice for all,” he said.