US Holds State Cemetery For Late Jimmy Carter In Washington, Buried Beside His Wife

President Biden is young with President Jimmy Carter. (Twitter/@POTUS)

JAKARTA - The United States will hold a state funeral for the late 39th president Jimmy Carter whose series starts this weekend, before it peaks in Washington next week and is buried next to his wife.

The White House on Monday confirmed that the official state funeral will be held in Washington DC on January 9, after President Joe Biden previously announced January 9 as National Berkabung Day in a proclamation on Sunday.

"With his grace and moral clarity, he works to eradicate disease, create peace, advance civil rights and human rights, encourage free and fair elections, accommodate the homeless, and always advocate for those weakest among us. He saved, raised, and changed the lives of many people around the world," President Biden said of the late Carter.

President Biden will deliver a speech at Carter's funeral ceremony, a White House official said on Monday.

The plan is for Carter's funeral ceremony to be held at Washington National Cathedral, as quoted by Reuters.

Today, America and the world lost an extraordinary leader, statesman and humanitarian. pic.twitter.com/Ki7Rhbent0

— President Biden (@POTUS) December 29, 2024

Today, America and the world lost an extraordinary leader, statesman and humanitarian. pic.twitter.com/Ki7Rhbent0

Carter's series of state funerals, which will last for six days starting on Saturday this week, as her body travels by motorcade through her hometown in Plains, Georgia, the US Army said in a statement.

The motorcade carrying Carter will stop at the farm where he grew up. There, the National Park Service will ring historic agricultural bells 39 times - signaling Carter is the 39th president.

Carter's body will then be taken to Atlanta, where he will be buried at the Carter Presidential Center until the morning of January 7. From there, his body will then be flown to Washington, DC, where he will be buried in the Rotunda of the US Capitol Building until his national funeral ceremony.

The family will hold a private funeral and burial in Georgia on January 9, after a ceremony at the Washington National Cathedral.

"President Carter has exemplified what it means to translate faith into action," Washington's National Cathedral wrote in a statement.

"From his selfish attitude and human spirit, we get inspiration. And from the example of loyalty and faith that is generous, we find hope that we can still learn to embody his example in good and loyal service," he continued.

It is planned that Carter will be buried in a plot of land next to his wife, Rosalynn Carter, on their land that has long been occupied in Plains.

James Earl Carter Jr. was born on October 1, 1924, in Plains, Georgia, one of four children from a farmer and shop owner.

Over six decades, Jill and I had the honor of calling Jimmy Carter a dear friend.

But, what’s extraordinary about Jimmy Carter, though, is that millions of people throughout America and the world who never met him thought of him as a dear friend as well. pic.twitter.com/irknhZ6CJY

— President Biden (@POTUS) December 29, 2024

Over six decades, Jill and I had the honorarium of calling Jimmy Carter a dear friend.

But, what's extraordinary about Jimmy Carter, though, is that millions of people through America and the world who never met him thought of him as a dear friend as well. pic.twitter.com/irknhZ6CJY

The young Carter graduated from the US Navy Academy in 1946, served in a nuclear submarine program, and left to manage the family's peanut farming business.

He married his wife, Rosalynn, in 1946. They have three sons and a daughter.

Carter became a millionaire, a member of the Georgia State legislature, and the Governor of Georgia from 1971 to 1975. Unseeded, Carter even defeated his competitors in the Democratic Party for a presidential nomination in 1976.

He served as 39th president of the United States from January 1977 to January 1981, after defeating the incumbent Gerald Ford of the Republican Party in the general election in 1976.

His one-term presidential term was marked by the peak of the 1978 Camp David agreement between Israel and Egypt, which brought stability to the Middle East.

Another chapter of his political journey was protests against the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 by boycotting the 1980 Moscow Olympics. He also asked the US Senate to postpone the consideration of the major nuclear weapons agreement with Moscow.

In its era, Panama's Canal control status shifted from the United States to Panama after obtaining the Senate's thin approval in 1978, despite the continued criticism that it was important for Uncle Sam's country's security.

Next, he also managed to complete negotiations on the United States' full relationship with China.

Carter also traveled to North Korea in 1994 to defuse the nuclear crisis, with President Kim Il Sung agreeing to freeze its nuclear program in exchange for dialogue resumed with the United States. This resulted in an agreement in which North Korea, in exchange for assistance, pledged not to revive its nuclear reactor or reprocess the former factory's fuel.

He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 in recognition of his "untiring efforts to find peaceful solutions to international conflict, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development."

Carter's performance footprint is in Eritrea, Bosnia to Haiti. Not only that, his Carter Center in Atlanta sent a delegation of international election monitoring monitoring to polling stations around the world.