A state funeral service for former President Jimmy Carter took place at the Washington National Cathedral in the US capital on Thursday, in a highlight of a solemn send-off process to honor the nation's 39th president who passed away late last month.
The pomp-filled event brought together President Joe Biden, President-elect Donald Trump and former presidents -- Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton -- as they bid their last farewell to Carter who served as America's commander-in-chief from 1977 to 1981.
Carter, a 2002 Nobel Peace Prize laureate and statesman noted for his interest in Korean Peninsula peace efforts, died at his home in Georgia's countryside town of Plains at the age of 100 on Dec. 29. Biden declared Thursday as a "national day of mourning."
The funeral service kicked off as a team of uniformed officers carried into the high-profile cathedral Carter's casket draped in the US national flag, with all participants standing and watching in a show of their homage to the late president.
Biden, Carter's grandsons and friends delivered their last words to Carter, underscoring his legacy in life, including contributions to world peace and humanitarian endeavors, such as his dedication to Habitat for Humanity, a nongovernmental organization meant to build affordable housing.
Biden recalled a time decades ago when he endorsed Carter's candidacy for president based on what he called "Carter's enduring attribute -- character."
"Because of that character, I believe, is destiny in our lives and quite frankly, destiny in the life of the nation," he said in an eulogy as he stood behind the podium overlooking Trump and all living former presidents.
"It's an accumulation of a million things built on character that leads to a good life in a decent country, life of purpose, life of meaning."
He went on to say that his friendship with Carter taught him that the strength of character is "more than the title or the power we hold."
"It's the strength to understand that everyone should be treated with dignity, respect, that everyone deserves an even shot, not a guarantee," he said. "We have an obligation to give hate no safe harbor and to stand up (against) what my dad just said is the greatest sin of all -- the abuse of power."
Biden paid his tribute to Carter's versatile life as a "white Southern Baptist who led civil rights, a decorated Navy veteran who brokered peace, a brilliant nuclear engineer who led nuclear nonproliferation and a hard working farmer who championed conservation and clean energy."
Jason Carter, grandson of the former president, said that Carter's presidency and political life was not just ahead of its time, but "prophetic," while stressing Carter had the "courage and strength" to stick to his principles even when they were politically unpopular.
"As governor of Georgia, half a century ago, he preached an end to racial discrimination and an end to mass incarceration. As president in the 1970s, he protected more land than any other president in history," he said.
"Fifty years ago, he was a climate warrior who pushed for a world where we conserved energy, limited emissions and traded for expanded renewable sources," he added.
He also recalled that he never perceived a difference between Carter's public face and private one.
"He was the same person no matter who he was with or where he was, and for me, that's the definition of integrity," he said.
Following the cathedral service, Carter's remains returned to Georgia for a private funeral service and burial alongside his wife Rosalynn Carter who died in November 2023 at 96.
Many South Koreans have expressed their condolences over the passing of Carter as well due in part to his ties to Korean Peninsula affairs both during and after his presidency.
While in office, he went through a rough patch with then South Korean President Park Chung-hee as he pushed to deliver on his campaign pledge to withdraw US forces from the peninsula, taking issue with human rights issues under the Park administration.
His push for troop removal put to the test the South Korea-US alliance forged after the 1950-53 Korean War and further cemented in the wake of South Korea's participation in the Vietnam War. But it came to a halt later amid opposition from congressional members, the intelligence community and others.
Carter also forged an image as a peacemaker and a troubleshooter when he visited North Korea in 1994 and met with then leader and national founder Kim Il-sung in the midst of nuclear tensions.
His negotiations led to a landmark nuclear disarmament deal between Pyongyang and Washington, known as the Agreed Framework, though the agreement later fell apart with the outbreak of another nuclear standoff in late 2002.
In 2010, Carter traveled again to North Korea and brought home an American citizen detained in the country.
He is survived by his children -- Jack, Chip, Jeff and Amy -- 11 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren. (Yonhap)
