Updated
8 min read
The state funeral of former President Jimmy Carter was held Thursday at Washington National Cathedral, where all five living presidents — President Biden, former Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and President-elect Donald Trump — and other dignitaries gathered to pay their respects to the 39th president, who died on Dec. 29 at age 100.
Jason Carter, his grandson, shared personal anecdotes about his grandfather, who he called “Pawpaw,” including memories of him answering the door wearing short-shorts with Crocs and his home filled with fishing trophies.
Biden also delivered a eulogy at the funeral, and eulogies written by former President Gerald Ford, who died in 2006, and Walter Mondale, Carter’s vice president who died in 2021, were read by their sons.
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“Throughout his life, he showed what it means to be a practitioner of good works,” Biden said, noting that Carter also helped establish a “model post-presidency by making a powerful difference as a private citizen in America.”
Stuart Eizenstat, who served as Carter’s domestic policy adviser, remembered him as “the first president to make human rights a priority for U.S. foreign policy.
“He may not be a candidate for Mount Rushmore,” Eizenstat added, “but he belongs in the foothills of making the U.S. stronger and the world safer.”