As tributes pour in mourning the death of former President Jimmy Carter and praising his service, the nation will turn to memorializing his presidency over the course of this coming week.
Statements from former U.S. presidents and world leaders flooded the news Sunday afternoon after Carter, age 100, died in his hometown of Plains, Georgia, marking the end of the longest life of any former U.S. president. President-elect Donald Trump, President Joe Biden, and former Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton all sent messages of gratitude for the 39th president’s career in government, and Washington, D.C., is now poised for an even busier month with memorial services for Carter coming ahead of Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20.
Those services have a long history and will include a state funeral for Carter in Washington, flags flown at half-staff, and the closing of federal buildings for a national day of mourning, among others.
Here’s what one can expect from the memorial services for Jimmy Carter.
State funeral
After a former U.S. president dies, a state funeral is held, which is a longer period of observance separated into three stages.
Stage one consists of a ceremony where the former president resided, which in Carter’s case is Georgia. The Carter Center announced in a statement that there will be a public observance in Atlanta first, but a date for it remains “pending.” A New York Times report said that Carter will be taken by motorcade to Atlanta before stops at the Georgia State Capitol and the Carter Center, where he will lie in repose for 36 hours.
Stage two is the ceremony in Washington, D.C., where Carter will lie in state at the U.S. Capitol for a day and a half. This typically includes traditions such as the three volley salute, the 21-gun salute where 21 rounds are fired from a cannon over five-second intervals, a military flyover, the playing of “Taps,” and the carrying of a casket using a horse-drawn wagon.
The third and final stage is where the former president has decided to be buried, which for Carter will be in his hometown of Plains, Georgia. Only two presidents are buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia: John F. Kennedy and William Howard Taft.
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Day of mourning
As president, Biden will issue an executive order for a national day of mourning, the date of which has not been announced yet.
On that day, the federal government will shut down and the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq will be closed for trading.
Flags will also be flown at half-staff for 30 days. The American flag at the White House was at half-staff Sunday night.
