JIMMY CARTER

NPR -  This morning, all five living U.S. presidents will gather with hundreds of other dignitaries at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., for former President Jimmy Carter’s state funeral. Carter, who died on Dec. 29 at 100, was the nation’s longest-living president. He left a mark on the country and the world beyond his four years in the White House. Presidential funerals are grandiose, and Carter’s will be no exception, infused with ceremony and tradition. Watch NPR’s live special coverage ahead of the service here.

The dynamics of all the presidents sitting with their spouses in a single pew is always fascinating, NPR’s Tamara Keith says. The last presidential funeral was in 2018 for George H. W. Bush in which Carter was in attendance, along with the Obamas and Clintons. President Biden will deliver a eulogy during the service. When Biden was a young senator, he was the first national political figure to endorse Carter in 1976. Keith says one unique thing is the sons of former President Gerald Ford and former Vice President Walter Mondale will read eulogies written by their fathers for Carter.