Nation honors President Jimmy Carter with National Funeral Service

The 39th president of the United States has been carried out of Washington National Cathedral after an emotional, two-hour state funeral service.

Jimmy Carter's body now is set to be driven back to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland before being flown back to Plains, Georgia.

Carter will receive a funeral service at his local church before a burial next to his wife, Rosalynn.

Celebrity couple and country music stars Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood played a moving, acoustic rendition of John Lennon's "Imagine" at the Washington National Cathedral Thursday as the morning changed to afternoon.

Brooks and Yearwood's performance comes after several speeches made by members of Jimmy Carter's family and former colleagues.

Brooks and Yearwood befriended Carter while working for Habitat for Humanity.

Once the service concludes at the Washington National Cathedral, President Jimmy Carter will begin his journey home to Plains, Georgia.

The family will leave for Joint Base Andrews to travel to Fort Moore, Georgia, and then by motorcade to Plains. An invitation-only funeral will be held at Maranatha Baptist Church.

Finally a military caisson will bring Carter to the family's home for a private graveside ceremony and interment. A U.S. Navy missing man formation will conduct a flyover in honor of Carter’s naval service and time as commander in chief

Eventually, the house where the Carters lived will be open to the public, Jill Stuckey, a longtime friend of the Carters and the superintendent of the Jimmy Carter National Historical Park in Plains, told NBC. His gravesite will be open to the public within the coming six months.

Photo by Mandel NGAN / AFP

Biden said in his eulogy that his friendship with Carter, spanning nearly six decades, taught him that "the strength of character is more than title or the power we hold."

"It's the strength to understand that everyone should be treated with dignity, respect ... that everyone, and I mean everyone, deserves an even shot," Biden said.

The president recalled how in April 2021, he and first lady Jill Biden visited Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter in Plains, Georgia, at their home. He said the Carters greeted them like family, and "that day, just the four of us sat in the living room and shared memories that spanned almost six decades, a deep friendship that started in 1974."

Biden said he learned from Carter, "We have an obligation to give hate no safe harbor, and to stand up" to "the abuse of power."

Grandson Jason Carter described his grandparents as small-town people whose house had "walls papered with pictures of children and great-grandchildren.”

“They had a little rack next to the sink where they’d hang Ziploc bags to dry," he said.

Former President Jimmy Carter, he said, “Eventually did get a cell phone," and he described his grandfather's sometimes fumbling efforts to use it.

“They were small-town people who never forgot who they were and where they were from no matter what happened in their lives. ... But I realize we are not here because he was just a regular guy.”

Stuart Eizenstat, who served as Carter's chief domestic policy adviser, honored the former president with a eulogy today, calling him "skilled in an astonishing range of activities."

"Jimmy Carter taught all of us how to live a life fulfilled with faith and service. He said, 'I have one life to live. I feel like God wants me to do the best I can do with it, to let me live my life so that it will be meaningful.' Well, Mr. President, you’ve more than achieved that goal," Eizenstat said.

He also honored Carter's commitment to the Jewish community, mentioning him being the first president to light a Hanukkah menorah.

Steven Ford, son of former President Gerald Ford, took the podium to deliver the eulogy his late father wrote for Carter.

Prefacing with a heartwarming story, Ford explained that his father and Carter once made an agreement over the phone to each other to deliver eulogies at one another's funerals. His father was "thrilled to agree," Steven Ford said.

"After that call, as you can imagine, both of them got off the phone and had a pretty good chuckle," Steven Ford said. The two would often joke with another, and in order to ensure he followed through on his end of the deal, Gerald Ford made sure to write his eulogy for Carter before he passed. In exchange, Carter delivered a heartfelt speech at Ford's 2006 funeral.

"It's an honor to share dad's euology to his old friend," Steven Ford said, noting he could imagine his dad getting his yellow legal pad and writing the speech.

Gerald Ford's friendship with Carter was one of his "deepest and most enduring," Steven said. Carter often pointed out Gerald Ford's political weaknesses in what was a welcomed annoyance, Steven said.

Joshua Carter talked about the legendary Sunday school class his grandfather led for decades at Maranatha Baptist Church, also noting that Jimmy Carter spent his “entire life helping those in need.”

He said his grandfather “eliminated diseases in forgotten places” and “waged peace” around the world.

During Sunday School lessons, Carter said he did it because “he worshipped the Prince of Peace, and he commanded it.”

He noted Carter’s Sunday School students were the first to learn he’d won the Nobel Peace Prize.

President Joe Biden will eulogize President Jimmy Carter but there will be other tributes from politicians who died before him.

Ted Mondale, son of Walter Mondale, Carter’s vice president, is expected to read a eulogy his father wrote for Carter before his own death in 2021.

And Steve Ford, the grandson of President Gerald Ford, will read a tribute from his grandfather, who died in 2006. Carter defeated Ford in 1976 but the pair, and their first ladies, became close friends, and Carter eulogized Ford at his funeral.

Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

President-elect Donald Trump entered the Washington National Cathedral Thursday morning ahead of Jimmy Carter's national funeral by shaking the hand of Mike Pence, his former vice president.

During NBC News' special report, Trump could be seen exchanging words and laughs with former President Barack Obama.

George and Laura Bush and Bill and Hillary Clinton are also seated in the row with Obama and Trump.

Bipartisanship is on display in the Washington National Cathedral, with former Vice President Al Gore, a Democrat, seated next to former Vice President Mike Pence, a Republican.

As often is the case with the funerals of former politicians, the reverence and respect on display thus far among attendees at Carter’s upcoming funeral supersedes their partisan differences.

Another point of note is that Carter’s funeral appears to be the first time that Pence and his former running mate, Donald Trump, will be in the same space as Pence since their term together and fractured relationship following the Jan. 6 violence at the U.S. Capitol.

The two spoke at a 2023 Lincoln Day Dinner in Iowa during the 2024 GOP presidential primary but were on stage at different times.

President Joe Biden, who is set to eulogize Jimmy Carter, has arrived at Washington National Cathedral.

Also among the guests who have arrived include former vice presidents Al Gore and Mike Pence.

Carter's funeral will be broadcast on "TODAY" and NBC News. It will be available to stream on NBC.com or the NBC mobile app upon logging in with a TV provider.

Savannah Guthrie and Lester Holt will anchor NBC News’ coverage with Craig Melvin reporting live from the funeral ground. "TODAY" will start coverage at 9 a.m. ET and continue throughout the service.

NBC News' coverage can be found on your local NBC channel.

NBC News NOW’s live coverage will also be on YouTube.

President Joe Biden is the highest-ranking eulogist for Jimmy Carter’s national funeral Thursday morning. But there are several other speakers from different stages of the late president’s 100 years.

The speakers include Jason Carter, the former president’s eldest grandchild who now chairs The Carter Center board; Stu Eizenstat, who shaped Carter’s domestic policy as a top White House aide; and Andrew Young, Carter’s fellow Georgian who served as his U.N. ambassador.

Steve Ford, the grandson of President Gerald Ford, will read a tribute from his grandfather, whom Carter defeated in 1976. The 38th president died in 2006.

Ted Mondale, son of Carter’s vice president, Walter Mondale, will read a eulogy his father wrote for Carter before his own death in 2021.

After leaving the White House in 1981, former President Jimmy Carter spent his next 43 years living in a much more modest abode.

Carter, the nation's 39th president, died on December 29. 2024, at age 100 — the first U.S. president to ever reach his centennial birthday. Carter's funeral will be held at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. on January 9, and President Joe Biden has declared it a day of mourning for the nation.

By all accounts, Carter lived a fairly normal and frugal life until his death. He passed away in the ranch house he built himself in 1961, and will reportedly be buried on the property next to his late wife, Rosalynn, who died in 2023.

The home, in rural Plains, Georgia — about a two-and-a-half hour drive south from Atlanta — is a two-bedroom ranch most recently assessed at just $167,066, according to public property records. That is "less than the value of the armored Secret Service vehicles parked outside," the Washington Post reported in 2018.

Read the full story here.

Carter’s casket is departing the U.S. Capitol as part of a procession to the Washington National Cathedral for his funeral. Accompanied by a 21-gun salute, the procession has paused during a performance of “Hail to the Chief.”

The U.S. Navy band has continued to play as the body bearer team descends the steps, which are flanked with uniformed Special Honor Guard members.

Following former President Jimmy Carter's death Dec. 29, President Joe Biden declared a National Day of Mourning honoring the humanitarian leader Jan. 9, the day of Carter's funeral in Washington, D.C.

The tradition, which began with a one-day government shutdown following Abraham Lincoln's assassination in 1865, is one of many ways the United States honors its late presidents. Biden's statement also declared all American flags displayed at public and military sites globally be flown at half-staff for 30 days following Carter's death.

Though a National Day of Mourning isn't recognized as an official federal holiday, meaning many of the businesses typically affected by national celebrations won't be closed, some organizations will be affected by the day of observance.

From schools to the stock market and more, check out what's open and closed on today's National Day of Mourning here.

President Jimmy Carter 's legacy of giving back endures in several nonprofits he and his wife, Rosalynn Carter, supported for the almost 50 years after they left the White House.

In Los Angeles on Monday, members of Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles signed wooden two-by-fours that will be used in a new house as a tribute to the former president, who died at age 100 on Dec. 29. In Houston, they are planning to let members of the community sign a door and wall in a new house to remember the thousands of homes the Carters helped build. They will do the same in Tallahassee, Florida, and numerous other communities, in preparation for Carter's state funeral on Jan. 9.

The tributes to his dedication to providing affordable housing show how the Carters' work will continue.

The couple established The Carter Center in 1982 with a mission to help resolve conflicts, which expanded to advocating for democracy and eliminating treatable diseases like Guinea worm.

Read the full story here.

Carter's national funeral service at the Washington National Cathedral will begin with a brief arrival ceremony at 9:30 a.m. ET, followed by the full service at 10 a.m.

Carter will eventually be transported to Plains, Georgia, where a private funeral service will be held at 3:45 p.m. ET.

Afterward, he and his family will move to the Carter residence for a private interment at 5:20 p.m. ET.