Carter’s State Funeral Will Be Latest Presidential Farewell To Reflect the Wishes of the Deceased Commander in Chief

WASHINGTON — President Carter’s memorial journey will end at his house at the tiny town of Plains, Georgia, where he grew up on a peanut farm. That is where his wife, Rosalynn, was laid to rest last year in a burial plot that they chose years ago.Before Carter reaches his humble final destination, though, there will be an interstate choreography of grief, ceremony, and logistics that is characteristic of state funerals. Ever since the nation’s founding, America has bid farewell to former presidents with an intricate series of events weaving together longstanding traditions and personal touches.Funerals often are planned by the presidents themselves, who usually have years after leaving the White House to ponder how they want to be memorialized.“They are very much involved in the planning process, and the decisions that they make tell us a lot about who they are, how they see the presidency, and how they want to be remembered by the American people,” said the senior historian for the White House Historical Association, Matthew Costello, who co-wrote a book called “Mourning the Presidents: Loss and Legacy in American Culture.”Carter had more time to plan than most. He lived for 43 years after his presidency ended, the longest post-presidency in American history, before dying Sunday at 100.St. Matthew’s Cathedral at Washington, D.C., during President Kennedy’s funeral, November 25, 1963. AP, fileMany details of his funeral remain under wraps, at the discretion of the family and military units that are responsible for carrying out the plans. Most presidents lie in state at the Capitol, and there is usually a service at Washington National Cathedral.President Biden let slip last year that Carter had asked him to give a eulogy. “Excuse me, I shouldn’t say that,” Mr. Biden admitted.Mr. Biden said Sunday his team is working with Carter’s family and others “to see to it that he is remembered appropriately, here in the United States and around the world.” Carter’s son Chip is his main point of contact, though Mr. Biden said he has spoken with all the Carter children.He described a process underway “that will take a little time” but will result in a “major service in Washington, D.C.” for Carter, which Mr. Biden scheduled for January 9.Sometimes former presidents help with even the smallest details.The director of the Center for Presidential History at Dallas’s Southern Methodist University, Jeffrey Engel, recalled meeting with President George H.W. Bush shortly after the former president revised the seating chart for his funeral.“And I said, ‘Is that weird? You know, it’s your own death,’” Mr. Engel recalled. “And he said, ‘You know, you do it every three months. You kind of get used to it.’”President Nixon, center, speaks from a podium in front of the casket of President Eisenhower at the Capitol Rotunda, March 30, 1969. AP, filePresident Eisenhower, who commanded Allied troops during World War II before becoming a politician, wanted to be buried in an $80 government-issued casket. Apart from a glass seal that was added to the design, it was indistinguishable from the casket of any other soldier.Details of the processions also can reflect aspects of a president’s life. President Reagan’s casket was carried up the Capitol’s west steps, which face his home state of California. When President Ford died, his casket was brought through the House side of the building, a nod to his years as a lawmaker.The job of carrying out presidential funerals falls to the Joint Task Force-National Capital Region, which includes 4,000 military and civilian personnel. The unit said in a statement that it “is privileged to provide this support on behalf of the nation.”Presidential funerals can leave lasting marks on the American consciousness. One of the most memorable descriptions of President Washington — “first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen” — came from a eulogy that was widely reprinted when the country’s first leader died.After President Kennedy was assassinated, his son John Jr. was photographed saluting the casket. Kennedy’s casket was transported down Pennsylvania Avenue on the same caisson that carried President Lincoln after he was assassinated a century earlier, and a riderless horse was included in the procession.Kennedy’s was the first presidential funeral to be widely televised.“Technology has made mourning in a way more accessible, more democratic. More people have the opportunity to take a moment and reflect upon what this person meant,” Mr. Costello said. “And I think it also opens the door to more people being involved in the grieving process.”In many democratic countries, the head of state and the head of government are two different people. America combines both roles, ceremonial and chief executive, into the office of the presidency.“Since we have no national figure other than the president, we’ve essentially taken all the traditional weight and civic emotion that is put on to the death or the birth or a wedding for a sovereign or a king and placed it on the heads of the presidents,” Mr. Engel said. “And there aren’t that many of them, to be honest. So whenever one of them passes, it’s unusual and a big deal.”He described funerals as a moment to remember “that we’re all in this together” and “this man was the president for all of us, whether you’re a Republican or a Democrat.”However, in today’s divided politics, state funerals can produce awkward, even tense, moments.During Bush’s funeral in 2018, the audience included President Trump. He shook hands with President Obama, his predecessor, but did not interact with Senator Clinton, who he defeated in the 2016 election, or her husband, President Clinton.“These funerals are always political,” Mr. Engel said. “Whatever happens in the Carter funeral is going to be political, frankly, whether people around the Carter family want it to be or not.”Associated Press

Carter’s State Funeral Will Be Latest Presidential Farewell To Reflect the Wishes of the Deceased Commander in Chief

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