U.S. Senators from Georgia, Jon Ossoff (L) and Raphael Warnock pay their respects at the end of a memorial ceremony for former President Jimmy Carter in the Rotunda at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 7, 2025 in Washington, DC.
© Jack Gruber / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
(Washington, DC) — President Carter is now lying in state at the U.S. Capitol. Lawmakers, including Senate Majority Leader John Thune spoke at an evening ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda. Thune said President Carter was a great public servant even after his term in office ended.
The remains of the 39th President arrived Tuesday afternoon (Jan. 7, 2025) after being flown from Georgia earlier in the day. Carter’s family and hundreds of lawmakers watched as an honor guard carried his casket up the steps of the Capitol. Carter’s body will remain at the Capitol for public viewing.
Some of the route selected for Carter’s processional in DC was made to replicate his inaugural parade route. There will be a state funeral for the nation’s 39th president on Thursday, along with a National Day of Mourning. All five living U.S. presidents are expected to attend the service.
While President, Carter created a national energy policy that included conservation, price control, and new technology. Carter successfully pursued the Camp David Accords, he promoted and helped form a peace agreement by which Egypt recognized Israel’s right to exist in exchange for the return of land in the Sinai Peninsula. He’s credited with the Panama Canal Treaties, and the second round of Strategic Arms Limitation Talks. He and his wife Rosalynn received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1999.
