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Thank you.

Good morning and welcome to PBS news special live coverage...

I'm the Navy.

And I'm Jeff Bennett.

Today we will see a rare and sober gathering of.. President Joe Biden in one of his final acts as he prepares... Today caps off days of ceremonies honoring the 3... Last Saturday, the procession to Washington began in his homet... On Tuesday, he was flown to Washington and was brought... Capitol on a horse drawn caisson.

He's been lying in state in the Capitol Rotunda where thousa... And this morning, he will be transported to Washingto... And with us in studio to remember Carter's life ... Stanley Godbold, professor emeritus of history... And joining us from Atlanta is Randy Lewis, who worked in ...

Welcome to all of you.

Barbara Perry, we'll start with you, Your re.. My reflections are personal, chef.

And first of all, what an honor to be with you on this day ... And I was looking for a candidate to support at t... And I remember being so impressed with him, especia... And I thought, how does this Georgia governor know so m...

But in my mind, I said I don't see how he's going to def...

So to me, it's a it's a day of personal reflection of a man ... And now we know him as the 39th president of the United Sta... And Stanley, you've written two books, not just about Ji...

It's important to point out both their names are in both tit... 77 years of marriage.

How are you reflecting on this day?

Well, I'm reflecting on this day in kind of a personal way...

I think the importance of this day is really to draw attent... And so it's a wonderful time for us to look back and appreci...

So that's that's much.

And, of course, my relationship with Jimmy Carter is primar...

I spent a long time researching the papers.

I did have some interesting interviews and I got to k... And once I got to know them through reading the origi... Every, you know, every day.

The hard facts of history often quite different from what we ... We see in the news every day.

And Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter deserve all the respect that ...

They literally saved hundreds of thousands, maybe even milli... And giving this tribute to them is very important ... And we should say the president's lying in state ...

This was the departure ceremony.

His casket was being brought down the steps of the east fr... Randy Lewis, let's go to you in Atlanta.

You know, Jimmy Carter occupied a unique space in American life.

South Georgia native peanut farmer, Navy midshipmen, st... Help us understand what he meant to you.

Well, I met Jimmy Carter when I was a senior in high school ...

I ended up working for him for six years, including four ye... Jimmy Carter was, in many respects, a larger than l... As of his.

His very, very background leading up to the White .. And I think that what we're seeing here over the last w...

They're they're seeing all of the different aspects of what... And just as the professor said a moment ago, there are milli...

It's the campaigning for human rights around the world.

So it's an extraordinary life well-lived.

And and I'm I'm frankly very pleased at what I've seen of ... We're seeing live picture now as the casket is placed by ... You see there in the background we saw earlier members of ... And Barbara, this is important to underscore here, ... We read some 33 members, very tight knit.

They're spread across the country.

And the Carters, of course, Rosalynn and Jimmy, deeply ... Tell us about those details of this funeral and what they ... Well, I think that they say so much about him.

They say that he wanted to be remembered for his Navy serv...

The fact that he wanted to have a state service to be lying...

But I think it was important that we honored him there ... And then for him to worship at that tiny church in Plains ...

But it means that thousands of people can go there to honor ... Stanley Godbold, Jimmy Carter obviously had a deep and abid...

He's so often described as having been a moral leader.

How did his approach to leadership differ from ot... Carter lived his Christian faith.

There's no doubt about it.

He put it into action.

Habitat for Humanity is one of the best examples.

But he did it as president, too.

He taught the Sunday school class in a Baptist church.

But the most important thing for us to learn about Carte... His religious background taught him that.

But when he was president, he did not have religious servi...

He was very, very careful not to impose his religion upon ot... And one reason he was able to pull off the Camp David Acco... And he thought everybody's religion should be respected.

And he believed and he was a Christian believer, but he ... We're watching now, of course, as that hearse prepares to ca... Capitol to the Washington National Cathedral.

They'll be passing by the White House along that route.

And expected to arrive in the next 20 to 30 minutes at ...

Brandy Lewis, as we're watching all of this unfold here.

It was interesting to hear, Barbara.

Note, of course, that the Carters picked a large st... Back in his hometown of Plains, Georgia.

But this was not a man who really embraced the pomp of ...

He rejected much of it when he was in office.

What does it say to you that this is how he saw his fune... Well, Jimmy Carter assumed the presidency under unus...

He was the first president elected after Watergate, fi...

He was the first president to assume the presidency fro... And certainly there were issues with regard to Richard Nixo...

So I think what when he ran for president, they were looking ... And it certainly fit with President Carter's personal... And so there wasn't the Marine band playing Hail to the Ch...

He frequently didn't take Air Force One.

If it was a short trip, he would take one of the Air Fo... And he, you know, in the evenings would be seen aro...

So he made this effort to the imperial rise, the presidency.

Ultimately, that proved to be a little bit of a problem towa...

They wanted to see Air Force One when the president flew i...

But I think Jimmy Carter, out of a profound respect for for ... And that includes a state funeral in Washington an...

But I would point out that his final burial will be in ... That's right.

Barbara Perry, This notion of imperial i.. Tell us more about that and help us understand how the Cart... Well, our guest was absolutely right to to put out that conc...

It wasn't just that, but it was this concept is Art...

But in the case of Jimmy Carter, he is elected because he is ...

He is not imperious in his style.

He's a populist.

He's a man of the people.

And as was also said, it turns out that the American peo...

They want to see the ceremony.

And I think it goes to the American people, though.

We broke away from England and a bloody revolution started...

So I think that it's a perfect harmony today of that bala... That's what got him elected.

But it also, in the end, I think, came back to hurt him.

So this is the writing of that balance between man of ... We see that motorcade now carrying the casket towa... That will carry, of course, the casket of Jimmy Carter, also ... Stanley, this idea of President Carter as the everyman.

I mean, I think it's worth reminding everyone that ...

It.

He is in khakis.

He is in shirt sleeves.

The sleeves are rolled up.

This idea that his roots in rural Georgia really defined ... You visited him and Rosalynn in their home.

Tell us about that.

Okay.

I think you're correct.

And he wanted to be remembered as everyman.

They wanted to be remembered as ordinary citizens from Plai...

But one comment on the funeral.

The person who's physically missing at this funeral,... She planned a funeral.

The funeral planning started from the moment that he ... And I read all of those papers once upon Once upon a time.

And it must have been a kind of a grim task because she ... And Rosalynn Carter was an astute politician, and she li... And they frequently argued about that.

Is that right?

Yes.

An.. You know, Rosalynn Carter is face should be on the scr... That's where you see her fingerprints here and more... And I understand the musical selections as well.

Yeah.

Yeah.

..

There's a burial site at the Carter Library and Center... And they argued about whether they would be buried there o... And I think he won that argument.

And I think he was the one who wanted to be buried in plains.

So that's why they are that's why it is happening there.

It's a shame that she couldn't be there in person today beca...

In your time with them in their home, though.

What did you see between the two of them?

Well, when I took me four years to get the interview because ... And we should note, this was in 1994.

This was in 1994, which was a very important year in th...

It was it was interesting.

I just I was ushered in by Mary, who had been the nanny for t.. And when they came in, they greeted me like they've known...

Soon I was calling them by their first names.

But the one story that stands out has to do with Edw... And Carter gave Rosen a stern look and said, Rosalynn, he o... And Rosalynn just gave him a stern look right back ... And that's a wonderful story.

So now do you shall I tell the story?

You have enough time for that.

Please do.

Yes.

Well, .. Stanley Kennedy was allergic to cats.

And when he was sitting in one of the parties in the Wh... And Amy, his cat, Mr. Malaki Ying Yang, came in and jumped down in Kennedy's lap.

So when Rosalynn comes back into the room, she said Kenn...

He was so terrified and upset by the cat.

And then she told me that story.

She said, and I think that was appropriate.

Randy Lewis, as I understand it, you worked in the Carter Wh... You served four years working for President Carter.

What do you remember about that time?

Yes.

Well, first, I'd like to add one last point to the discuss...

Please Do I have here the 1975 Plains, Georgia teleph... And there was Jimmy Carter, the the immediate past governor... And his phone phone number is listed in the Plains telephone.

And if you couldn't reach him at his home, you could try ... That number is in the in the book, as is the number of ...

So I don't think you would find today any presidential candid... And call directory assistance from across the United States...

The White House under Carter during that era, the Democra... Jimmy Carter, of course, was probably a center ri...

The staff was about the same.

About half were what at the time we called National Democrats ...

So it made for a very interesting workplace, you kn... And and it it also created some some interesting soc...

The president's executive assistant secretary at the t... And she said the president wants to know if you want to watc... And I said that would be nice to ask what the movie was.

She said she had no idea.

And I said, well, I'll be there.

So I walk over at 7:00 to the Family Theater and we all ...

The president comes in very casually dressed.

None of us know what the movie is.

The lights go down, the screen lights up.

And we're all watching the White House premiere of a film cal... And the as as the somewhat raunchy humor begins, you kn... And nobody could figure out how to read the room.

So everybody waited to see what the president's response to ... And when he did a big, loud, long laugh, you could feel ...

There were about 15 or 20 staff.

You could feel everybody glass.

And they all started laughing along with the president as...

But it was it was a very, very interesting evening.

And hearing the president enjoy himself was, I think, fun ...

If the next thing that Randy says is there was a toga pa... Well, I know that Jimmy Carter was a different figure than... And we should just note just briefly that the the hearse ... Jeff, can I say at this moment, especially as the hearse ... Smith goes to Washington when Jimmy Stewart arrives at Un...

But what also flashes me back to Pennsylvania Avenue, 1977, ... And again, it was that person of the people, the populace, b... And so now he makes his last trip from the Capitol to ... And it almost brings a tear to my eye to think back to ... Barbara, you and I were speaking earlier and Randi's st... You mentioned one of the things we don't hear a lot about...

But it wasn't something that he leveraged necessarily while...

But those who knew him well and those who followed ... Tell us about that.

Right.

And I'm su.. And so I don't remember seeing that.

We think of, for example, John Kennedy and his mastery of ...

But I was telling colleagues here today that I last night ... And for all the time from, you know, 20, 25, 30, 40 years ... And I was just guffawing at his jokes, at his timing and ...

I see Stanley is shaking his head and saying, yes, he ha... Had a great sense of humor, a really great set, a really gr...

I want to come in upon that about there, walking d... That didn't happen by accident.

Of course, as you can imagine.

It was very.

We forget a lot about how.

Carter what was going on when Carter is in office?

There was already rampant out of control inflation dating back... Carter also assumed the presidency after the collapse... And at that time, the United the dollar went from being suppor... OPEC started in 1971, really became an effect...

In 1973.

Jimmy Carter was the first president to deal with OPE..

Even White House staff people.

So he he faced some economic headwinds.

He tried to deal with it by two means.

One was deregulating the federal government's control over ...

It was in 1979 he decided that that just could go on ... And he brought Paul Vocal and Volcker in to be head of ... His staff told him that appointing Volcker wo... And he said, I don't care.

We're going to do this anyway.

So he had the he ended up running for president when th...

It's hard to write President Reagan, who, you know, I adm... And eventually inflation did break.

But it took about two years more, but it kept Jimmy Carter.

One of the reasons kept Jimmy Carter from having that sec...

But it's important with any presidency, as you have to... Because we see let me just note, we do expect the motorcade... We'll bring that to you live as it happens.

But please, Barbara.

I was just going to say about inflation ..

But interest rates, when they go up, also help savers.

And so I knew this personally because my father retired... And they put it into ten year seeds at 15% and they gre...

So you don't hear that much.

And again, I understand why for those who aren't savers at t...

But for those who were savers, it was actually a boon at ... You know, something Randy mentioned brings me to a po... Do you do you see it that way?

I do, because, again, of that man, of the people, I'm not...

I won't lie to you.

But the man of the people only went so far.

And the combination of the Iranian hostage crisis ... One quick remark we need to remember that Carter was ... And at that time, that was the longest war we had fought.

And if you look at the American history overall, after any w...

Transforming the country back to a domestic economy is a gigan... Stansfield Turner told me that what happened during Vietnam... And so it felt to Carter the last year he was president... And he did it.

And Reagan got credit for it.

But Carter did it the last year he was in office.

We are.

Taking a l.. We're taking a look inside the ..

The this procession is still on its way.

Just a few moments, we understand, away from ... Eastern.

And Stanley, we will when this fu..

Though he had an at times tense relationship with other memb... And that didn't seem to matter much to President Carter.

Why not?

He didn't care.

I think it was a.

He was the same person.

He was he was the same person even when he was president.

And just because his funeral and the burial, of course, is go... That's who he was.

But also, I think another part of the answer to your quest... And so he felt obligated to criticize his successors w... And he was a little bit protective of his own territ...

But he never did really fit into that club, just like he ne... And Lee, I'm sure, knows this photograph and maybe others ... We figure it probably.

But lately at the Miller Center in Charlottesville.

And it's a picture when Barack Obama came to the White Ho...

There's the club.

And they're standing in front of the Resolute Desk in.. And it just it's so symbolic of the fact that he was a ...

But I noticed on those talk shows when I was watching t... And he said, of course.

He said, I'm meeting with two of them tomorrow.

I'm meeting I'm meeting with George W Bush and Clin... And we talk about issues.

So, again, we want to get that balanced view that he was...

But as Stanley says, he he went his own way.

And that's what's important to remember, too.

Randi, as we continue to keep an eye on on this motorcade as...

Remarks that his father wrote for this moment in time.

It's striking that that he'll be speaking there.

It speaks almost to a completely different political era.

How are you looking at that?

Well, after the election of 1976, Gerald Ford and Presid... That really all went away.

And at that at that point, they both became presidents toget... And I think a lot of folks don't understand that even though... And President Carter is that kind of personality who m...

He could sit down and do that with everybody.

And it's apparently became a very rich friendship between ... President Reagan to dedication of the Carter Center.

I saw a clip of that the other day.

And it's heartwarming to see the person who defeated him come... And I think we're all longing for that now because we see... And Jimmy Carter also redefined the post-presidency.

Given his work at the Carter Center, obviously his imprint... Tell us more about that.

What I like to say is he founded the post-presidency model ... Much to the upside, I think, of his mother, who was still al...

But he he planned it.

He'd draw he drew up the drawings for it, thinking...

So we know that presidential libraries go back that far.

But a center notice, it was called a center.

And the Obama library will be a center as well.

But it was coming out in his 50s.

And Rosalynn said, I'm sure Stanley talked to them ab... And he said, I know what we're going to do in ... We're going to have a center.

It's going to be a place to promote peace in the world.

We're going to have a place that people can gather, and then...

So presidents just have a library with archives o... We're seeing there the primary motorcade arrive at ...

The advance motorcade had already arrived.

Military ceremonial troops await their arrival outside.

And of course, members of the Carter family, including th...

They will disembark and carry the casket in.

And Stanley, as we watch all of this unfold, we reflect on ... After his time in office, Jimmy Carter famously joked ab... You talk about the partnership, the sense of mission between ... Tell us about that.

That's that's very true.

I want to make a comment about Carter's relationship w... Carter's relationship with Reagan, both Carte... Reagan's was tortured at best.

And Barbara mentioned Reagan's dedication of the Car...

It was a brilliant speech, Carter told him afterwards, I... Another example, another example of his service humor.

But I saw all the documents behind that in the Car... And Nancy Reagan opened the papers for the 1980 campaign ... And I think she didn't know everything that was in them ...

But when you look at how that speech was built, it was bu...

But if you looked at what they said behind the scenes, it ... And both cod as a rose and especially because she was a ... Left out.

They resented the treatment they got from the Reagans.

He had a hard time getting access to foreign pol...

It was really a very difficult relationship behind the scenes.

But to be to give credit to the Carters and the Reagans.

Actually, they kept that behind the scenes because the Cart... And, of course, Carter was really wanted to work w...

So they kept it was not what you saw on TV.

You know, every night.

Randy Lewis, as we just saw, members of the Carter fam... Help us understand how the former president was intentio...

He he had a mission in his own mind.

He knew what he wanted to do.

And he was perhaps a little opportunistic with the Car...

They they believe they got too scattered and they resha...

He he could be an impatient man.

And there was probably still yes, probably still a command... We certainly saw that in the West Wing.

Everybody knew not to get out of their lane.

They had to stay in their lane until they could make g...

But I think I would say what I saw in him, of course, a... And that is the man who was so completely focused, complet...

There's a determination that I really have not seen in ... And so that's one of the things that I think set him apart f...

I think that that level of focus and determination is j...

But he had it.

This is a live look outside the Washington National Cathedral... Stanley, I heard you laugh when Randy describes the for... All of those things.

How did it manifest?

It it manifests in every aspect of his life.

I mean, Carter was a very tough guy.

He got it from his father.

He was more like his father than he was like his mother.

We knew Miss Lillian, of course, because she was still around.

But we didn't know Mr. Earl because he died in 1953.

Carter was exactly like his father.

He expected you to do what he told you to do what was right.

And if you did it, there was no reward.

There was no thanks for doing it.

If you did not do it, then you got dressed.

And Jody Powell tells this wonderful story.

Jody Powell, you know, was his press secretary.

And he says doing something right around here is l...

He said you might feel all warm and comfortable, but nobody w...

When I wrote about that, Barbara, I mean, that'... A I will not become it.

No, no, no.

But it speaks so much to who..

Yes.

Yes.

I think that in the story is that he decided as a very lit... And and just to think that this little boy growing up on t... And I could have seen him rising in the ranks probably to...

I just have that feeling that he would have done that.

But when Mr. Earle, his dad died prematurely of can..

I'm sure Stanley must have heard a lot about that.

I know that Jimmy Carter would say she didn't even talk to...

But that that single mindedness and focus, which again, can b...

I always say to my friends, the first two adult words I lear... And and I think he was that way.

He was obstinate.

And presidents need to be a little bit more flexible.

Stanley, you and I spoke about this earlier.

We've heard a lot about this stubbornness, the impatien...

I mean, we often have heard to him referred to as a pea... You take some issue with that because you talk about what he.

Was able to do on his family farm and how that sort...

While Carter was not a common peanut farmer.

He was a highly successful agribusiness man.

And when he came back home to Plains in 1953, and you've s...

But the family property and money was all there.

Ms.. Li.. And when Jimmy and Rosalynn went to work, they became busin... And it's interesting to know that she was the one with ... She ran the books.

She told me in an interview I had with us, she said Ji... And so she kept the books and from it was a fledgling busin...

But it was still a good start.

And the two of them working together turned it int... By the time he ran for the presidency, it was I've seen... And Carter himself has said many times he was able to take a y...

So they were multi-talented and they were multi-talented people.

And we cannot minimize her role in it because she was alw... And they they emphasized the personal touch.

But I think the Carter family went to work on the on ...

When we talk about his political imprint, you know, after Ji... How was he able to do that?

That's a that's a good question.

And it explains to a degree his difficulty with his own par... Because Carter came out of a solid Democratic South, wh...

Tip O'Neill didn't understand that very well.

When he got to when he got to the presidency, the way Car... We wouldn't have the Panama Canal treaties if he had...

I say Carter still put issues and doing what he thought ... And that got him into a lot of trouble by the time he left ...

He had reformed a bit and was much more loyal to the party.

But Tip O'Neill never thought he was loyal enough to the par... And he conceded.

He, Tip O'Neill said he conceded too soon.

The polls were still open in California.

So he made the transition, but I think never really completely.

We're looking at live picture, of course, outside Washing...

The Cathedral of the Episcopal Diocese here in Washington, D.C. is the primary motorcade carrying the casket of for...

Inside, we know guests have been lining up, taking their seats.

Members of the Carter family have been escorted in and h... And we know there's been music for those guests being play...

Some of those song selections we know came as part of a v... Let there be peace on Earth.

Wind beneath my wings Climb every mountain.

This idea of faith being at the core of everything he did.

And we're talking at a time when, you know, faith can now...

It wasn't that way for Jimmy Carter.

It was not.

Although Washington has always paid what I would I would .. People were at least comfortable when.

Matters of faith would come up in the discussion.

Obviously, now that's that's a little different.

I point out that Jimmy Carter's first post-presidency book... And there there is no way you can really analyze who Ji... And I know that probably makes some people skeptical of him... And it did work its way into the presidency, but it came f... A good example going back to it again is the the ...

In fact, a lot of Democrats and I would point out, l...

Brandy?

Pardon?

Pardon the int..

I just like to point out for those watching, we're now see... We're also now seeing what we believe to be members of ... Randy, please continue.

Well, Jimmy Carter was a problem, as we know.

Jimmy Carter was a prominent business leader in southw... And I think the first thing that shaped him was making his fa... And it was done in a way where it was a daily part of life.

You had to work with the people you disagreed with on on matt... You he worked with the black community extensively.

And you had to do it in a way that allowed you to sit in ... And it was a I guess you could call it a daily file that sha... And that certainly went straight into his presidency.

And then, as we've all seen, it went into his post-presidency.

But again, I have to insist that the the only way to underst...

I'd like to comment on his presidential memoir, Keep... Yeah.

Certai.. Jimmy Carter was saying that he still had faith in this coun...

He wrote that book himself.

It was not written by a ghostwriter, as president...

He applied his faith to everything he did.

But he still had faith in the country, faith in its potential.

And getting back to Jeff's question earlier.

I think that's one of the reasons he had the kind... And he never gave up on this country.

He never gave up on this country.

I heard a story when he heard about the current problem... Barbara Perry comment on this this scene we're all watching.

Which so rarely happens in American history.

All the former living presidents, the curr...

There you see two former vice presidents in the back as well.

Just what this moment means.

I'm riveted, as you can imagine, as a presidential stud... To see them all gathered there.

The individual stories that we're telling of Jimmy Cart...

Many people may know that the Miller Center does o... And so for all of these people in that row now, we have d...

It's fascinating to think what is now Donald Trump saying...

I didn't notice that when they came in, the bushes didn't s...

They kind of went by and sat in the middle.

And then the Clintons were brought in on the other side...

So it's it's remarkable.

And it.

I think it says that we carry on, that we carry on, and t...

But we've been through other times like that and we've c... And maybe it takes something like this to to bring... What about excuse me, what about that, Randy Lewis, the se... We saw earlier former President Obama, President-Elect Tru... What does all of this suggest to you?

How does it strike you?

Well, it is one of the most critical elements in ... You can't you can't be in battle every day, all day long.

And the reality is that whether you're the furthest l... You want the same thing for America and the American people.

You want to build a better country.

You want to create more opportunity.

You have different views of how to get there, but everyb... And I think Jimmy Carter understood that better t... And he was always able to sit down with with oppositions.

And I think that's how these Gyptian Israeli peace tre... One, he knew the Bible as well as Menachem Begin.

He certainly knew the Middle East and Arab factions as w... And he was able to sit down with them and both of them toget... And that's really where things get solved.

It's not I'm sorry, it's not a it's not a TV moment, but i... And I think that's what we're all seeing here in the cathed... Stanley Godbold, We are awaiting the arrival of President Bi... Jill Biden after Jimmy Carter passed.

President Biden spoke to the press and he talked about ... Tell us about their relationship.

Well, Biden was the first senator who really suppor... And so they were friends from the beginning.

Biden was also the senator who warned Jimmy Carter that...

So he had he was forewarned what was about to happen.

And they've stayed in they have stayed in touch.

The Carters were very elated when when Biden was elected.

Rosalynn Carter this famous comment was, I'm so thank... And of course, they have some of the same goals.

They supported most of the same most of the same issues.

And Card, the Carters were not able to attend Bide...

But shortly after they were inaugurated, they made th...

So it's a professional relationship, but it's als... And they're very careful in not revealing too many perso...

But they did share to Stanley, didn't they, that that fam... And I remember that President Joe Biden mentioned that in ... Yeah.

Yeah, they did.

Cancer was took it took all of the Carter fam.. And he had a close call.

We see now President Joe Biden and First lady Dr. Jill Biden being escorted to their seats and taking th... And Barbara Perry.

I just have to say, I am I.. As we watch this unfold and await the casket of for...

These sorts of scenes rarely unfold in this way and at t... You mentioned briefly sort of the the many stories each... You're talking about political rivalries at play here w... A lot of political history.

We are just coming off the heels of another heated president... What does that say to you?

I suppose it's like what maybe some people have experien...

It might be over money, it might be over politics.

And they say, yet, you know, we gather at the Thanksgiving ta...

I think you're seeing that today.

And even for all that has changed in terms of our no... And I love Stanley's comment about the Carters had th...

But we know that at least one person sitting in that row to...

I'm also thinking of George W Bush.

Is he flashing back to fairly recently, 2018, his da... Bush, and also the moving service?

Us right after 911.

It feels like that was the last time we were really all toget...

This is PBS News Live special coverage of the state funeral... We expect this funeral to begin within moments.

The door of the hearse is now open.

We expect the casket to be brought into the cathedral.

Stanley, God built this elaborate national mourning ... Every song selection, every speaker selection, ev... You were talking earlier about how the Carter's starting b... Give us a sense of how this was meant to tell their life story.

The Carters never really left Plains.

The this state funeral actually began in Plains, Georgia.

The hearse left Sumter Day, Sumter County Hospital, beca... And they we were there.

We went to Plains.

The car to identify with is the man from Plains, the plain ... And it was very impressive because you had all the ... And then they went to the Carter boyhood farm, which was private.

And they paused in front of the Carter boyhood farm wher... That was Carter's decision himself, 39 times since he ... And one of the best books he wrote is An Hour Bef...

It's time to get up to go to work.

But it also had a second meaning, and that was it was... Of course, he was a senator and a governor.

He is the governor who hung the portrait of Martin Luther K... And then the Carter Center, of course, which he and Rosal...

It's almost seeing all those presidents and first ladies... To me, it tells us that America really is great, that we ... Carter himself, when he talked about this funeral, what he ...

The only house that he and Rosalynn have ever have e...

So all of those.

If you if I can, let's just listen in for just a.. As the remains are carried into the Washington Natio...

I know.

Thank.

My apologies.

Of course, Hail to the Chief was ..

I believe thou almighty king is being played as the remains ...

Since we receive the body of our brother James for burial.

Let us pray with confidence to God, the giver of life, that...

Deliver your servant, James.

Sovereign Lord Christ from all evil and set him free from ev... Let us also pray for all who warn that they may cast th... Almighty God look with pity on the sorrows of your servants ...

Remember them, Lord and mercy.

Nourish, nourish them patients.

Comfort them with a sense of your goodness.

Lift up your countenance upon them and give them peace.

Through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Amen.

Mean.

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Right now.

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I am the resurrection and the life say that the Lord He t... And whoever liveth and believe within me shall never die.

I know that my redeemer lives.

And that he shall stand at the light of the day upon the earth.

And though this body be destroyed yet, shall I see ... And my eyes shall behold.

And not as a stranger.

But none of us liveth to himself and no man dies to himself.

There's all ready stuff.

Ready stuff.

Ready.

Ready.

Ready.

Ready.

Ready.

Step by step.

Ready.

Ready.

Ready.

Step.

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Or mar our bears au center.

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I am.

For if we live and if we die, we die unto the Lord.

Ready.

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Write a foreword for.

Far none of us limit to himself and no man diet to himself.

For if we live, we live under the Lord and we die unto ...

Whether we live, therefore, or die, we are the Lord's.

Blessed are the dead who die and the Lord.

Even so, saith the spirit for their rest from their labors.

The Lord be with you and let us pray.

God.

Whose merc.. On behalf of your servant, James, and grant him an entra...

Through Jesus Christ, our Lord who lives and reigns with ... One God now and forever.

Amen.

My grandfather started teaching Sunday school when he wa...

He taught the Bible every Sunday from World War Two to Covid.

For all my grandfather's travels, he structured his l...

It was central to his life.

Every time I went to church with him, it was packed.

The line started before sunrise, and I was always very thank... And as soon as we sat down, Sunday school would start.

My grandfather always began by asking if anybody had been... My grandmother and I raised our hands and almost no one instead.

And then my grandfather would pull the congregation and... And my grandfather would address the most diverse Sunday sch... My grandfather talked about his week If you monitored...

If he stopped the conflict, to talk about it, if he elimina...

When my brother Jeremy died, he announced that News and Sun...

In fact, I remember that my brother died on a Sunday beca... My grandfather won the Nobel Peace Prize.

The Sunday school class learned first at the end of his No... For the next two decades, as the problem compounded, he retur...

Many of the people that my grandparents helped lived... My grandfather spent the entire time I've known him help...

He built houses for people that needed homes.

He eliminated diseases and forgotten places.

He waged peace anywhere in the world.

Wherever he saw a chance.

He loved people.

And whenever he told these stories in Sunday school,...

He worshiped the Prince of peace.

And he commanded it.

The bedrock of my grandfather's faith comes from the Apos...

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who ... And so he condemned sin and sinful men in order that right.

The righteous requirements of the law might be fully met.

And us who do not live according to the sinful nature, ...

But those who live in accordance with the Spirit, how th...

The mind of sinful man is death.

But the mind controlled by the spirit is life and peace.

The central mind is hostile to God.

It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so.

Those controlled by the central nature cannot please God.

You, however, are controlled not by the sense of nature, but... And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does ...

But if crises in you, your body is done because of sin.

Your spirit is alive because of righteousness.

And at the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead...

He who raised Christ in the dead will also give life to y...

Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation.

But it is not to the sinful nature to live according to it.

For.

But if by the spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the bo... For you to not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again...

But you receive the spirit of Sonship.

And by hand we cry.

ABBA Father.

The spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we ... Now, if we are children, then we are heirs, heirs of God ...

If indeed we shared His sufferings in order that we ...

I consider that our present sufferings are not wo... For.

.. Those in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

The word of the Lord.

That was a reading by Joshua Carter, grandson to the l... You're watching the state funeral for former Presid... We expect next to hear tributes in honor of President Carter.

We believe the next one will hear will be delivered by St... That is the son, former President Gerald Ford.

Britain, of course, in his own words, before his passing.

Let's listen in.

For our story.

The Carter children.

My wife and I were sitting several rows behind you and... And I was humbly reminded that it was 18 years ago, almost... And it was your dad and his great faith that supported...

So thank you.

God did a good thing when he made your dad.

Jack.

Chip.

Jeff.

Amy.

Mr. Pres.. Madam Vice President.

Former Presidents and First ladies.

Members of the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Justices of the Supreme Court.

Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen.

In the twilight of my dad's life, Dad and President Car... And dad asked President Carter if he would do a eulogy at Da... President Carter graciously agreed.

And then he also asked if Dad would deliver a eulogy... Now, Dad was thrilled to agree after that call.

As you can imagine, both of them got off the phone and ha... As you know, dad died in 2006.

And President Carter's eulogy continues to bring comfo... And thus, on behalf of my dad, it's an honor to share Da...

I. I can just see m.. And writing this for his beloved friend.

By fate of a brief season.

Jimmy Carter and I were rivals, but for the many wonderful ye... Two presidents since John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.

It is said that President Adams last words were Thomas Jeffer... Now, since Jimmy has a good decade on me.

I'm hedging my bets by entrusting my remembrances...

According to a map, it's a long way between Grand Rapi...

But distances have a way of vanishing when measured... And it was because of our shared values that Jimmy an... Now, this is not to say that Jimmy never got under my sk... During our 1976 contest.

Jimmy knew my political vulnerabilities and... Now, I didn't like it, but little did I know that ...

In the summer of 1981, the two of us found ourselves toget...

There's a old line to the effect that two presidents in a room...

Frankly, I wondered how awkward that long flight might be... And it was a long flight, but the return trip was not nea... We immediately decided to exercise one of the privile... Then we got on to much more enjoyable subjects discuss... We commiserate over the high cost of building president... We agreed to participate in programs at each othe... And if that wasn't newsworthy enough, we told reporters on ...

It was the first time, but by no means the last time that ... Now.

Honesty.

And truth telling.

Were synonymous with the name Jimmy Carter.

Those traits were instilled in him by his loving paren... And the strength of his honesty was was reinforced by ...

Poised on the brink of social transformation, he displa... For Jimmy Carter, honesty was was not a aspirational goal.

It was part of his very soul.

Now, I think Jimmy wrote more books than any former president.

Once asked if you really enjoy writing, he replied with t...

It beats picking cotton, but I think he enjoyed writing ... As an author, he was under no pressure to tailor his opini... Now, both of us had experienced the harsh reality that defeat...

But we also came to know more important consequence.

Political defeat and writing can also be liberating.

If it frees you to discuss topics that aren't necessar... Now, Jimmy learned early on that it was not enough merely to b...

He pursued brotherhood across boundaries of nationhood, acr...

In America's urban neighborhoods, in a ru...

He reminded us that Christ had been a carpenter.

And in third world villages, he successfully campaign not ... Now, of course, not all of Jimi's time was spent build...

While Jimmy is probably the only former president to conduc...

I know for certain he is the only former president to perf... Georgia wasn't just on Jimi's mind.

It was in his blood.

However far he traveled, he never forgot where he came h...

In the end, he would finally come home to.

One of the many things Jimmy and I had in common.

The most important is this We both married way ab... Every step of the way was his first lady from Plains an... None was greater for Jimmy than his.

The love he shared with Rosalyn and the love the two of t... Rosalyn was and is a symbol of American compassion.

Like no other first lady in our history, Rosalyn Carter... And she became a beloved friend to my wife, Betty and me and...

While the Carter and Ford men were decidedly mixed record w... Now is the time to say goodbye.

Ah, ah, ah, ah.

Grief Comforted with the joy and the ..

He was given the gift of years.

And the American people and the people of the world will... Jimmy Carter's legacy of peace and compassion will rem...

The entire Ford family.

We extend our love to you and we add our prayers to the pray... May God bless and watch over this.

This good man.

May he grabbed peace to the Carter family.

As they say goodbye to a man whose life was lived to for... As for myself, Jimmy.

I'm looking forward to our reunion.

We have much to catch up on.

Thank you, Mr. President.

Welcome home, the old friend.

And we are set to hear next from Ted Mondale, the elder son... And that will be followed by a musical selection.

Eternal Father strong to save by the US Marine Chamber Orches... My father wrote this in 2015 and clearly he edited it a couple...

But here we go.

Today we join in sadness to honor our dear friend, Presid...

I remember the emergence of Jimmy Carter on the natio... For the first time, a Georgia governor called for a commitm... And for the decency that his leadership stood for.

Over his lifetime.

I was surprised when then candidate Carter asked me...

He amazed me then, as he has every year since.

He, of course, was brilliant.

He also had a great sense of humor.

And while we had only four years in the White House, he achie...

In that time, it stood as a marker for Americans dedica... Carter was a man of his words.

I remember when he talked about the concept of the v...

I told him I'd like to do it.

And had only two requests.

I wanted to make a real contribution and I didn't w...

He agreed.

Welcome my full participation and directed his staff to tr...

He was very careful to protect me from the frustration and ...

I want to thank the president for the good choices he m... We don't have time to mention many of them, but Stu Eizens... Hamilton, Jordan and Jody Powell were blessings every day to ... One of the things that dawned on me during the course of our t...

I think one of the realities what that Carter was a dev...

I was also a small town kid who grew up in a methodist chu... And our faith was core to me as Carter's faith was core to him.

That common commitment to our faith created a bond between...

He allowed me to take a leadership role on issues t... For instance, he directed and trusted me to take a cent...

The boat people were picked up by our great Navy from th...

Most became good American citizens working for a heal... Joan loved her time as a second lady.

And we have Jimmy and Rosalynn to thank for helping ...

These were good years for Joan and I.

President Carter and I became very close friends.

We often spent hours together throughout the day.

We were working on real problems, not wasting time.

The personal relationship we established while in off... Carter was farsighted.

He put aside his short term political interests to tac...

Very few people in the 1970s had heard the term climate cha... Carter put his presidency on the line to pass laws to conse...

It wasn't a perfect program, but thanks to President Carter.

U.S. energy con..

In many ways, he laid the foundation for future preside...

Some thought he was crazy to fight so hard to pass th...

But he was dead right.

And we know that now.

We also know that President Carter elevated human rights...

Sometimes sometimes we forget how seriously he pursued.

He pushed to advance the rights of women.

He proposed and signed the law, extending the period for sta...

He appointed women to head the Departments of Commer... Women on his White House staff played crucial roles...

In all in all, he appointed five times as many women to ... Two decades ago, President Carter said he believed inc... More recently in a 2018 commencement address at Libe...

He concluded that.

And still, until stubborn attitudes that fos...

Towards the end of our time in the White House, the presid... We came up with a sentence which remains an important summary... We told the truth.

We obey the law.

And we kept the peace.

That we did.

Mr. Presiden..

It was then and will always be the most rewarding experience...

Thank you.

That was Ted Mondale, son of the late one term, Walter Monda... We now expect to hear music inside the Washington Natio... You.

It's.

That was Eternal Father.

Strong to say.

Performed by the US Marine Chamber Orch.. Jimmy Carter was this close to being a renaissance man as ...

He was skilled in an astonishing array of activities.

Farmer, businessman.

Nuclear engineer.

Naval Submarine Officer.

Woodworker Painter.

Fly Fisherman.

Music lover.

Poet.

Author.

Sunday School teacher.

Creator of the Carter Center.

And, yes, a loving husband, father, grandfather and gr...

Behind that toothy smile was a man of steel, determinati...

In 1974, when he was governor of Georgia, has suggested that... With his broadest grin, he said, Stu, I've already decided... For one of our nation's most religious presidents, i... His religious values gave him an unshakable sense of right ... As the only Democratic president elected between 1968 and 1992.

His faith brought integrity to the presidency after ...

I'll never lie to you, he promised.

It was a vow.

He fulfilled that his faith re..

He was the first president to light a Hanukkah menorah.

He created the U.S.

Holocaust Memorial Museum, which I have the honor of sharing.

He had a kosher Shabbat dinner at Camp David for the Isra... As we lay our 39th president to rest, it's time to redeem ...

The test of American presidents is not the number of years t... By this measure, Jimmy Carter was among the most consequent... His intellect, prodigious work habits, discipline and mast... President Carter parked politics at the Oval Office door to...

Taking controversial challenges on regardless of the politi... And frankly, there were many much of his agenda passed w... A quaint notion in today's hyper polarized politics.

Independent surveys indicated he had one of the highest succ... And he was remarkable, remarkably accessible.

To the press and to the American people, This president, from ...

Appointing more people of color and women to senior execut...

He created the Department of Education and dramatica... And we can thank him for all the ethics in government la... And we see it in Los Angeles.

Jimmy Carter was also the greatest environmental presid... And his global 2000 report forecasts climate change.

His energy bills were critical to move our country f... We are now, as a result, the largest oil and gas producer...

He provided the first incentives for conservation and inaugura... Winning legislative battles to loosen the regulatory bonds ... Telecommunications leading to the cable TV era and even ... And he did so without compromising health and safety.

These laid the foundations for today's innovative economy.

Nothing better embodies President Carter than how... Over the objection of all of his savvy advisers, he chose P... Knowing in advance that Volcker's tough monetary pol... You take care of the economy, Paul.

I'll take care of the politics.

Inflation indeed dropped like a rock after he left office ... Jimmy Carter laid the building blocks for a better world.

He was the first president to make human rights a priority ... foreign policy.

And this led directly to the release of thousands...

He ushered in a new era of hemispheric relations with the.

Panama Canal treaties.

The toughest legislative battle of his presidency.

He uniquely combines the soft power of human rights champi...

He combine that with hard power, rebuilding America's milit...

He negotiated a major nuclear arms treaty with the Sovie... Those new weapons helped in the Cold War.

He normalized relations with China.

And even his critics applaud his tough measures.

After the Soviets invaded Afghanistan, Jimmy Carter's m... For 13 days and nights, he negotiated with Israe... And he saved the agreement at the 11th hour.

And it was the 11th hour by appearing to beg his love of ... For the past 45 years, the Egypt-Israel peace treaty ... On the other side of the ledger was Iran.

Jimmy Carter did not lose Iran, the Shah.

But the hostage crisis was a major factor and denying hi...

Securing their release on the last day of his presidency.

In the end, Jimmy Carter taught all of us how to live a l...

He said, I have one life to live.

I feel like God wants me to do the best I can do to let me l... Well, Mr. President, you have more than achieve that goal.

He may not be a candidate for Mount Rushmore, but he belo... stronger and the world safer.

Jimmy Carter has earned his place in heaven.

But just as he was free with sometimes unsolicited advice ...

The Lord of All creation should be ready for Jimm... That was Stu Eizenstat, longtime aide, former chief domes... You're watching the state funeral of former Presid... We now expect remarks as the tributes continue from Ja...

In my church, we sing a song that says from the moment tha...

I don't know how many people in here can say that.

I know I can't.

But my grandfather certainly can.

From the moment that he woke up until he laid his head, his l... And I thank all of you for being here to celebrate this life.

To the presidents and first ladies.

It is a great honor to have you here.

You know the human side of the American presidency like... And we appreciate you.

To the vice president's other distinguished guests and frie...

Thank you for being here.

To those of you who came from all across the world, thank ...

I say grandfather, but we call him Papa.

As many of you know, we call him my grandmother, Mom Carter.

So we spend our time talking about mom and Pop.

And mostly speaking of the human side of the presidency, j...

Yes.

They spent four years in the governor's mansion..

But the other 92 years they spent at home in Plai... And one of the best ways to demonstrate that they w... First of all, it looks like they might have built it themselves.

Second of all, my grandfather was likely to show up at ... And then you'd walk in the house and it was like thousands...

Fishing trophies on the walls.

The refrigerator, of course, was papered with pictures... Their main phone, of course, had a cord and was stuck to the w...

They had a little rack next to the sink where they would h... And demonstrating that they changed with the times.

Eventually he did get a cell phone and he one time he cal...

So I answered it, of course, as a hip hop bar.

And he said, Who's this?

I said, This is Jason.

He said, What are you doing?

I said, I'm not doing anything.

You call me.

He said, I didn't call you.

I'm taking a picture.

As a nuclear engineer, right?

I mean.

They were small town people who never forgot who they were ... No matter what happened in their lives.

But I recognize that we are not here because he was jus... As you've heard from the other speakers, his political life ...

It was prophetic.

He had the courage and strength to stick to his principles, e... As governor of Georgia half a century ago, he preached an ... As president in the 1970s, as you've heard, he protected m... 50 years ago, he was a climate warrior who pushed for a wo... By the way, he cut the deficit, wanted to decriminal...

Deregulated so many industries that he gave us cheap flights.

And as you heard, craft beer, basically all of those ye... And you can make great playlists, as we've heard... Maybe this is unbelievable to you, but in my 49 years, I ne...

He was the same person no matter who he was with or where he was.

And for me, that's the definition of integrity.

That honesty was matched by love.

It was matched by faith and in both public and private.

My grandparents did fundamentally live their li...

Sometimes I feel and felt like I shared my grandfather with ... Today is one of those days.

But really, he shared the world with me.

The power of an atom.

The beauty and Complexity of a South Georgia forest.

When we fished, he celebrated the majesty of everything f... And he shared this love with my boys.

Taking these Atlanta public school kids out into the fie...

In the end, his life is a love story.

And of course, it's a love story about Jimmy and Rosalynn ... As the song says, they were the flagship of the fleet.

And rest assured that in these last weeks, he told us that...

But his life was also a broader love story about love for ...

I believe that that love is what taught him and told him...

It focused him on the power and the promise of democracy, ... That conviction made him a naval officer who believed ... And those values were personal to him, and he lived them b... As you heard Stu say, as president, he gave voice... His heart broke for the people of Israel.

It broke for the people of Palestine.

And he spent his life trying to bring peace to that holy land.

And he talked about it at the dinner table.

It was the same in public as it was in private.

And for the last 40 years, as you've heard, he spent his t... And that work, again, has been based fundamentally on love ...

The Carter Center has 3500 employees, but only a cou...

The rest are spread throughout the countries where we work.

Ethiopia, South Sudan, Chad, Bangladesh and all of the Car... To give one example, we've all heard a lot lately about Gui...

It's an ancient and debilitating disease of poverty, and t...

There were 3.5 million cases in humans every year.

Last year there were 14.

And the thing that's remarkable is that this disease is ...

It's eliminated essentially by neighbors talking to neighb...

In the poorest and most marginalized villages in ... And those neighbors truly were my grandfather's partners ... And as this disease has been eliminated in every village... And that is a fundamental truth about my grandfather.

It begins where it ends.

When he saw a tiny 600 person village that everybody e... That's where he was from.

That's who he was.

And he never saw it as a place to send pity.

It was always a place to find partnership and power an...

Essentially he eradicated the disease.

With love and respect, he waged peace with love and respect.

He led this nation with love and respect.

To me, this life was a love story.

From the moment that he woke up.

Until he later said.

Conclude with this.

As Andy Young told me, he may be gone, but he's not gone far.

The outpouring of love and support that we have felt f... For us.

He'll be in the kitchen making pancakes.

Or in his woodshop.

Finishing a cradle for a great grandchild.

Standing in a trout stream for mom.

Carter.

Or for me.

Just walking those Geo.. Where he's from.

Thank you.

Jason Carter, the late president's grandson ... Humanizing his grandfather as a regular guy and remembering ... We're set to here now, a performance by Phyllis Adams ... A performance of the Christian Standard.

Amazing Grace.

You see this?

Anything else?

Got.

Phone was.

14 Yes.

Screams Two.

George.

To me it is.

She shoes.

The.

First.

So this was.

Good.

Hello.

A stunning rendition of Amazing Grace, resounding through ... Let's listen in now as the 46th president bids goodbye to ...

Leaders of the clergy.

Distinguished guests.

Most importantly, the Carter family.

In April 2021.

Jill and I visited Jimmy and Rosalynn on a warm spring ...

Wanted to see them.

Frozen meats, front door.

Their signature smile.

Together we entered a home that they had shared for almost... An unassuming red brick ranch home reflects their modesty m... You walked in the living room where Jimmy greeted us l... Just the four of us sat in the living room and shared memor...

I was a 31 year old senator and I was the first senator outs... Maybe the first senator to endorse his candidacy ... Because of that character, I believe his destiny.

Destiny in our lives and, quite frankly, destiny, the life...

It's an accumulation of a million things build... Life.

A purp.. Now, how do we find that good life?

What does it look like?

What does it take to build character?

Do the ends justify the means?

Jimmy Carter's friendship taught me and through his life tau...

It's a strength to understand that everyone should be trea...

Respect that everyone and I mean everyone deserves an even shot.

Not a guarantee.

Just a shot.

You know, we have an obligation to give hate, no safe harbor ... Now, it's not about being perfect is none of us ... We're all fallible.

But it's about asking ourselves, always striving to do thin..

The right things.

What value?

What are the values that animate our spir.. Do we show grace?

Do we keep the faith when it's most tested?

Or keeping the faith with the best of humankind in the best... Is a story, in my view, from my perspective.

Jimmy Carter's life story of a man to state the obvious.

You've heard today some great, great eulogies.

Who came from a house without running water or electricity.

And Rose is the pinnacle of power.

A story of a man who was at once driven and devoted to mak...

The story of a man who never let the tides of politics divert ...

The man had character.

Jimmy held a deep Christian faith in God and that ...

Faith founded on the commandments of Scripture.

Love the Lord, my God with all my heart and all mine.

All my soul.

And love thy neighbor as I self.

Easy to say, but very, very difficult to do in his life.

In this life.

Any walk of faith can be difficult.

It can be lonely, but it requires action to be the do...

But in that commandment lies the essence, in my view, found... Because the very journey of our nation is a walk of sheer faith.

To do the work to be the country we say we are to be the coun... We've never fully lived up to that idea of America.

We've never walked away from it either because of Patriots...

Throughout his life, he showed us what it means to b... And today, many think he was from a bygone era, but... White Southern Baptist who led on civil rights.

A decorated Navy veteran who brokered peace.

A brilliant nuclear engineer who led a nuclear nonproliferation.

A hardworking farmer who championed conservation ... Jimmy and I often talked about our dear friend Walter Monda...

Together, they formed a model, partnership, collaboration ...

Both were men of character.

And as we all know, Jimmy Carter also established a mo... By making a powerful difference as a private citizen in America.

And I might add, as you all know, around the world.

Through it all, he showed us how character and faith start w... At our best, we share the better parts of ourselves J...

Commitment.

Not for reward.

But in reverence for the incredible gift of life we... To make every minute of our time here in our count.

That's the definition of a good life.

The life Jimmy Carter lived during his 100 years.

To young people.

To anyone in search of meaning and purpose.

Study the power of Jimmy Carter's example.

I miss him, but I take solace in knowing that he is alive.

Rosen are reunited again.

To the entire Carter family.

Thank you.

And I mean this sincerely for sharing them both with Amer... We love you all.

Jill and I will cherish our visits with them, including t... We saw Jimmy, as you always was, at peace with a life fu... And filled with the power of faith, hope and love.

Say it again.

Faith.

Hope and love.

As he returned to Plains, Georgia, for his final rest... You can say goodbye.

In the words of the Prophet Micah, Jimi so admired until ... Jimmy Carter did justly love mercy, walked humbly.

May God bless A great American and a dear friend and a good ...

Bury on the breath of dawn.

Make it shine like the sun And hold you in the palm of ... God bless you, Jimmy Carter.

President Biden remembering and eulogizing his friend.

He was the first Democratic senator to endorse Carter's l... We're set to hear next from James Carter, one of ... You will read from the book of Matthew.

The.

A reading from the Gospel, according to St Matthew.

Now, when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside ... His disciples came to him and he began to teach them, sayi...

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, ...

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

Blessed are the pure and heart, for they will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called Sons of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted because... For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are you.

When people insult you, persecute you .. Of evil against you because of.

Me.

Rejoice and be glad because great is your reward in heaven.

For in the same way they persecuted the prophets who w... You are the salt of the earth.

But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be m...

It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown ... You are the light of the world.

A city on a hill cannot be hidden.

Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl.

Instead, they put it on its stand and it gives light... Let your light shine before men that they may see your g...

The Word of the Lord is.

That was a reading by James Carter, one of the grandsons...

The state funeral.

Jimmy Carter continues at the Washington National Cathedral.

We expect next to hear a homily delivered by the Honora...

The apostle Paul in writing to the Ephesians, the fou... Forgiving each of them just as in Christ.

God forgave you.

Jimmy Carter for me was something of a miracle.

I was born in the Deep South.

Shortly, a few years after him.

And it was always a place of miracles.

I couldn't see how we could have had the differences...

The coming from different places on the planet, the experien...

It was something of a miracle.

And I don't mean this with any disrespect, but.

It's still hard for me to understand how you could get...

I knew planes from my pastorate in Thomasville, Georgia, ab... And I was even nervous driving through trains and planes.

And Sumter County gave us one of the meanest experiences that...

So much so that Martin Luther King said that the sheriff... And when I first met.

Jimmy Carter running for governor and said, the o... And he said, yes, he's one of my good friends.

And that was the last thing I wanted to hear.

And yet, time and time again, I saw in him the ability to.

Achieve greatness by the diversity of his personality ... Dr. King u..

Strongly marked.

You've got to have a tough mind and a tender heart.

And that was Jimmy Carter.

And he grew up in the tremendous diversity of the South.

And he embraced both sides.

He was a minority in Sumter County, just about.

2,025% of the population was white.

But growing up as a minority, he became the friend of ... And when he went to the Naval Academy, he asked that ... And he said, I know minorities and I've been a minority most... And he went out of his way to embrace those of us who.

Had grown up in all kinds of conflict.

But that was the sensitivity.

The spirituality that made James Earl Carter a truly gr... James Earl Carter was truly a child of God.

Not only a good farmer, but.

A nuclear physicist chosen by Admiral Rickover is just him ...

But at the same time, he was working on a nuclear navy.

He was thinking of peace on earth and goodwill toward ...

I've known President Carter for more than half of my life.

And I never cease to be surprised.

I never cease to be enlightened.

I never cease to be inspired by the little deeds of love ...

It was President James Earl Carter that for me, symboli... And I am truly grateful for him, because in spite of ... Jimmy Carter was a blessing that helped to create a great Uni... And for all of us and many who are not able to be here, I w... You have been a blessing from God, and your spirit will rem... And as Jason said, he may be gone, but he ain't gone far.

Thank you, President Carter.

And thank you, Almighty God.

That was Andrew Young, luminary of the Civil rights movement.

In 1977, President Carter appointed him to serve as... We'll hear next from country music stars Garth Brooks ...

They're going to perform John Lennon's Imagine reprising th...

Imagine there is no heaven.

S.Z.

if you try.

No help below.

Above a solid sky.

Imagine all the people.

Live for two day.

Imagine there's no cook.

It isn't hard to do.

Nothing to kill or die.

No original to.

Imagine all the people living life in Queens.

You who?

You may say I'm a dreamer.

But I'm not the only one.

I hope someday.

You'll join us.

And the.

Will be a small marginal process.

I wonder if you can.

No need for greed or.

The brotherhood of man.

Imagine all the people sharing over you whom you may say, I'...

I'm not the only one.

I hope someday you'll join us and look.

Will.

He sang a rendition of the song imagined performed by Ga... You're watching the state funeral of former Presid... We expect a series of prayers led by various people, includ... Now who art in heaven.

Hallowed be thy name.

I think to come by will be done on.

Earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses... And then lead us not into temptation, but deliver us f...

Welcome, sir.

For our brother James.

Let us pray to our Lord Jesus Christ who said, I am ... Lord, you consoled Mother Mary endure distress, draw near to... You weep at the grave of Lazarus, your friend comforts... You raise the dead to life.

Give to our brother.

Eternal life.

Here.

You promised Paradise to the thief who repented.

Bring brother to joys of heaven.

Our brother was washed in baptism and anointed with ... Give him fellowship with all your saints.

So.

Lord comfort us in our sorrows at the death of our brother.

Let our faith be our constellation and eternal life.

Our hope or.

Father of all.

We pray to you for James and for al.. Let light perpetual shine upon them.

May his soul and the souls of all the departed through ... Amen.

Give rest of Christ to your servant with your saints.

Where sorrow and pain are no more, neither sighing but l... You only are immortal.

The creator and maker of humankind.

And we are mortal formed of the earth.

And to earth.

Shall we return for.

So did you ordain when you created me saying you are d... All of us go down to the dust.

Yet even at the grave we make our song.

Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia.

Give resto praise to your servant with your saints.

Where sorrow and pain are no more neither side but l...

Into your hands.

Merciful Savior.

We commend your servant, James.

Acknowledge, we humbly beseech you a sheep of your own fol... A center of your own redeeming.

Receive him into the arms of your mercy.

To the blessed rest of everlasting peace.

And into the glorious company of the saints in light.

Amen.

The Lord bless you and keep you.

Lord, make His face to shine upon you and be gracious u...

The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace and.

Let us go forth in the name of Christ.

Thanks be to God.

Ready.

You're watching PBS News special live coverage of the st...

The events in the Washington National Cathedral here in ... And, of course, heartfelt and at times humorous remarks f... We'll continue to bring you live coverage as the cerem... And the casket, along with Carter family members, trav...

Still here with us in the studio.

As we watch these events unfold.

Barbara Perry is here.

E Stanley Godbold is also here.

And also joining us to talk about President Carte... Barbara and Stanley, I'd love to start with you.

We're watching all of the tributes, the homilies, ... Barbara, what stood out to you as people remembered the l... What stood out to me was that it was the essence of Jimmy Carter.

And I think we can say that on a number of levels, based on ...

But what struck me was the gospel reading that when t... And instead, it was equally appropriate for Jimmy Carter.

It was the Beatitudes from the Sermon on the Mount that Je... And he was also one who cared for the poor in spirit, and t... And then I just want to say one thing on a slightly ligh... You heard it here first.

Okay.

Stanley, what about you?

Well, what stood out for me was the choice of speakers.

They were very carefully chosen.

There were people who knew him well.

Stuart Eizenstat, of course, knew him extremely well.

The grandson did an excellent job, but the one who impres... That was really a impressive performance.

He knew the car as thick and thin.

And even when he was ambassador to the U.N., when Carter was... And I thought he did just a beautiful job and summed it... And without notes.

Without notes.

Absolutely.

Andra Gillespie, we're s.. You know, it strikes me that Jimmy Carter's life span reac... How did his upbringing there in the racially segregated D... And then how did how did it evolve over time?

Well, Jimmy Carter, even though he was born into what m...

He certainly, you know, benefited from the privil...

But he also grew up in close proximity to the blacks ... And he talked about how they were very influential in ... And his first playmates were African-American.

But as they came of age and started going to school, he,... As a as a young man, even sort of into his business career.

He was somebody who was sympathetic towa...

But he didn't always stick his neck out and wasn't alw... And so you started to see him taking different types...

So after he'd won the governorship and he admitte...

He did, for all intents and purposes, a bait and switch ... And what you'll see over the rest of his life... You'll see his advocacy for civil rights issues even in ...

I think the choice of causes that he took up.

Democratization in the world, thinking about solving cri...

Even his defense of President Obama when President Obama ...

I think all of that was, you know, an example of his hav...

He's arguably one of the targets of the letters of a Mar... And to your point, as president, he was instrumental in elevat... Folks like Hazel O'Leary, even Andy Young, he named him a... Tell us more about that.

Yeah.

So b.. And he's notable for having elevated and having name beca...

He, you know, expanded the representation...

So there are ways that it's much setting up the type of dive...

So he was the one that was doing it first and setting t... You're seeing live picture there outside the Washington Natio... Ceremonial troops are now taking their place, and we believe ... Stanley Godbold, As we watch and wait here for you to respond... Carter's views on racial injustice manifest themsel... Tell us more about that.

That's very true.

But I think we have to mention Rachel.. She was an African-American woman who was virtually ...

They didn't use the word.

His mother was frequently away being a nurse.

And so the woman who was really with him all the time was ri... She was like a surrogate mother.

And he went fishing with her.

And when you go fishing with somebody, you get to know th... And so and he later referred to her as an African queen.

And I think she had just a tremendous influence on him.

And she watched him and she was still alive when he bec... And she was very defensive.

She was very defensive about it.

And that's a Carter was like a lot of liberal Southerners ...

But it was a difficult position.

It was a very difficult position.

Carter was a business man.

He didn't want his business to be destroyed.

So he kept quiet.

Lots of times he kept quiet.

And then that 1978 campaign for governorship, which is v...

He said things that segregationists wanted to hear.

He was opposed to bussing and things like that.

But he never said he was.

And so once he was inaugurated, he said the day for rac... That wasn't necessarily a change of heart for him.

That was simply the way he managed to get elected.

And one time he said when he was criticized on this, he said... And a big picture question as we watch here, as this motorcade... Jimmy Carter is the longest living U.S. president.

How did his long life .. How did that enable him to continue shaping his life, ...

It certainly gave him the opportunity to many things o...

So, you know, while just waiting since he kicked out of office...

He was very much influenced by his faith.

But when he envisioned the Carter Center, he created t...

So, you know, setting up Carter Center is separ... And now the same place where he was like having to use, ... And so he and Rosalynn Carter chose a number of issues t...

They looked at public health issues like guinea worm ...

They promoted democracy and fair elections, their elect...

They continued to promote human rights around the world.

And so we know that President Carter was very active in m... And when there were flare ups around the world and, you kn... And so the Carter Center is not just this great museum.

It's also a place where people are actively working to prom... And this is something that is going to continue even now t...

I think he has set the gold standard for what a p...

I mean, I think he did so in a really palpable way that, ... presidents.

Barbara Perry, I see you shaking your head in agreement with w... For certain.

I love that.

Andra, the gold standard we talked about.. And they are different in that libraries usually cont...

So it will all be digitized, but nevertheless archival.

Often then museums and then this center that is the very esse... And I also wanted to mention, too, the military dignity of ...

He was.

We hope it's not a bygon.. We hope that there are other patriots, but that he could ... And I think he was trying to say we want patriotism for ... And this is patriotism.

It's it's not the violence.

It's not what we saw January 6th of 2020, one of people carry...

But this is the true patriotism that was embodied in Carter, ... And that that term that was repeated three times by Bi... And that then went on to say through Andrew Young, that ... And he said, Andrew Young said that's exactly what Jimmy Car... We're watching now as the motorcade will begin to make ...

It will be the final journey home to Georgia for for... Andra Gillespie we're witnessing a true homegoing service he... And this was something we heard referred to a number of times...

Privately, we know President Carter often quoted famously ...

It struck me, too, as Andy Young joke.

You know, I didn't understand how someone from Plains, Geor...

This idea of where he came from, defining how he led.

Not only in office, but afterwards.

Talk about that.

Well, size matters.

They shape all of us and we all have affected ties.

Hopefully good.

But in some cases, I do ackn.. And so playing was important for Jimmy Carter because it's wh...

It's where his family was.

It's where many of them have stayed.

And so it's always a place to come back to.

And so even though I wasn't really having to give up ... And he and Rosalynn Carter jumped into coming back to t...

This was the place that launched his political career.

So he starts off on the board in Sumter County.

He used the contacts that he was making for his business.

There was involvement in the Lions Clubs around the state... And so I think that the importance of place here is t... And that always maintained personal relationships and t...

If there's one thing I've been struck by in the past week...

I think his connection to his hometown was evidence of ... Stanley Godbold, we heard so many of the speakers t...

He famously called for the country to embrace, sacrif... How did that resonate with Americans at the time?

It did not resonate well at all at the time.

Because they didn't want to hear about sacrifice.

They wanted to hear.

They wanted sort of a Churchillian pep talk.

Things are fine when they really weren't fine.

But that was Carter's personality.

That was and people close to him at the time when he gave t...

They knew he was going to say what he did.

He gave he laid out his energy policy once again, perfectly.

Everybody forgot about that.

And so it was not what the country wanted to hear.

And it was very damaging politically to them.

But we were talking about the Carter Center, and there's t... Jimmy Carter did not found the Carter Center.

Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter founded the Carter Center.

And if if Jimmy were here with us today, he would h... Because in an interview I had with him, I made that mist...

They were they were co-chairs of the Carter Center.

And they had you know, it was a demonstration that they w...

There's another institution that we need to mention, and that,...

It's also symbolic of how they work.

They work together.

But she also had to do a little something extra on her own.

And so she founded the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregive... And it was extended beyond that.

And that's on the campus of Georgia, Southwestern...

But, of course, Jimmy always supported her in what she did.

And so he had when he won the Nobel Prize, most of it went... And, you know, the Carter Center does great things.

But I wouldn't underestimate the Rosalynn Carter Instit...

There's just a major event that affects all of us in some way... And that's a major part of our continuing legacy.

And that it affected her, as I recall, Stanley, that she ...

Yes.

And ..

So she and I also obviously caring for her husband.

She knew it personally.

And once again, they used that personal experience to bet... That's exactly.

Right.

Barbara, there was..

The awareness around mental health, the idea that clim...

But you also heard from Stu Eizenstat, something that st... Carter presidency that this narrative has taken shape ...

It was an unsuccessful presidency because of the way... What did you make of the way he sort of ticked through ...

I think Stuart Eizenstat is, first of all, makin... To alert us not to think that simply because someone does... Now, it is true that Americans are pretty nice to for...

But it tells us to wait to see what happens.

And I think he said it's not necessarily even how much g... At the time, though, he pointed out that Carter probably hold... And so I commend Stewart Eizenstat, because I ...

The motorcade is making its way.

It's about a half hour drive from the National Cathedral... Andra Gillespie, one of the reasons I'm so glad you're h...

When John Lewis, the congressman and civil rights luminary, died.

Jimmy Carter wrote a letter that was read aloud at John Lewi... And there's so much history there because there would ... 80%.

Jimmy Carter captured something like.. How did how did that happen?

Walk us through it.

Well, so Jimmy Carter, even though he ran a problemat... And so by campaigning in African-American communities,...

But he also gained notoriety nationally for being on ...

So not being in the mold of a George Wallace, but also kind... And, you know, it's through these efforts that he is, ... And he's showing kind of his commitment and his loyalty... And there are, you know, black activists who are warming up... And so he's able to leverage this change in policy and ... And I think this is also something that, you know,...

So after he lost the Democratic nomination for governor in 19...

He was aided by his sister kind of in having that type... And that led him to do missionary work sort of in t... And this is also sort of a place where you start to see ... And so this is something that activists are going to t... And so that helps African-Americans become m...

I think, you know, it should be noted that Gerald Ford, ...

But it's that effort to reach out to black voters and be... We're watching as the motorcade makes its way.

Through Washington, D.C., en route to Maryland's Joint B... Special Air Mission 39, as it will be known, carrying Ji... Stanley Godbold, it strikes me, as Andra Gillespie noted, t... We all laughed out loud as Jason Carter shared those stor...

I love that.

Where there was a cord.. Tell us about how that informed and manifest in their lives.

Well, that's the way they they lived their lives everywhere.

They got the reputation for being stingy in the White Ho... And, of course, the president gets personal budget.

And when they left the White House, he had $50,000 left... And so they stopped in Atlanta and invested in the st...

They had other sources of income.

But I heard I didn't hear all of Jason's speech just now.

And this didn't come from Jason, but it Rosalind's funeral.

I think it was Tony Louden who was one of the ministers.

She had told this story when they were both pretty much ho...

They like to compete with each other.

They like to compete with each other.

And Jimmy was in a wheelchair and Rosalynn was using a wal...

The the Secret Service helped.

Of course, they had that race.

And but the most important thing about it is Rosalynn, one.

Which goes to Steve for reading his dad eulogy to say b... And if you think of Rosalynn Carter and Betty Ford, t... Not that the men were great themselves, but they b... Jason Carter also described his grandfather as the countr...

But it really speaks to when we heard this from Stu Eizenstat...

I absolutely think so, because not only do we know that... We've said on climate, he looked ahead on energy.

He looked ahead on human rights, in foreign policy.

So in all of these areas, domestic and foreign affairs,... And if you also stop and think about his naval career and be... And I have a quote that I always cite from JFK, who cal... And we could probably have an interesting discussion o... Did he ever have disillusions or did he have was he with...

So he knew what was practical and what he could accomplish?

And I think that's also what Stuart Eizenstat is saying ab... Now, Andra Gillespie, we've talked a lot today about ... We know how intimately involved Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter w... As the state funeral and funeral services back in Georgia ...

So we heard from people who knew him in office, people who ...

The choice of Andrew Young as former U.S. ambassador to the U.N., as Jeff noted, luminary of the ci... Martin of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

The choice for him to deliver that homily and speak as ... Carter is sending a message that he knew would be delivered af... What does that say to you?

It was an inspired choice and it was also not surprising.

Andrew Young is one of those diverse cabinet for cabi... That is certainly part of his legacy.

Also as one of others by.

Members of Dr. King's inner circle.

He brings a certain type of moral authority.

And so I interpret the entire service actually as a story... You have the opportunity to make amends, things and mistakes ...

I think President Biden talked about that in his eulogy, an...

I think it was a really important moment to underscore.

When we talk about the Carter legacy.

There is, of course, his foreign policy legacy from the C... What could modern day leaders take away Barbara Perry from ...

I think to be open to the world, Jimmy Carter, speaking of Dr. King's antithesis, he was and is if we look back at him and ...

He is therefore the antithesis right now of Trumpian Amer... That is, that he believed in internationalism, which was ... We called it the Cold War consensus, and we lost some...

So I can remember being in graduate school in the 1980s ... And you can argue yes or no on that realist versus idealist...

But I think the United States has proved that its better ... And Jimmy Carter was involved with the world.

What about that, Stanley?

Filling filling power vacuums wh.. Well, one thing we have to remember is, as Carter alw...

He was he was accused of not doing that, but he always ...

He's the one who developed our modern military machine.

His undersecretary of state for human rights, who was ... And of course, his powers were limited and the security ... had to go head to head to come first.

But I would add, if you look at the story of the collapse of ...

Most of them were Jewish dissidents, but there w... And I'm one of the people I think Carter himself fina...

When you give people freedom, you can't take it back.

It's not going away.

And today, whatever is going to happen next in our society ... Their ancestors lives were saved, thanks to Carter.

And all of these people are not going to forget that.

I mean, I think Carter has generated millions of peo... And it's not going to go away.

Andra Gillespie, In terms of how the Carter legacy manifests...

But two things struck me from the tributes.

One was Steve Ford sharing the stories in his father's wo... You heard Stu Eizenstat reference the bipartisan age...

When when you think about that juxtaposition, does it seem... Well, I mean, I think it's up to us.

I think that this funeral was an exhortation for us to re.. Of what we could be.

You can disagree with somebody vehemently and still think t...

If that person acts on faith and that that person is act... And if they are being selfless as opposed to necessarily bei...

I think Stuart Eizenstat also presented a really import... People get judged instantly in the moment where their polici... And so decisions that were made now or five years ago are go... And we might have a different opinion about them in the fut...

So I think that's a really important lesson.

I think overall, what President Carter demonstrated was jus... That really strikes me as a state funeral.

Barbara Perry as an exhortation.

What strikes me about it is that state funerals.

Yes, honor the individual president who has passed.

But it really is in many ways a celebration of the institut...

It is.

And it's almost a unique office ..

Most other democracies have parliamentary systems where t... We've seen this now are happening in Canada.

They'll be going through this election.

And the person who is in the majority party and is voted... And then often those democracies will have a head of state wh...

In England, it's the monarch is the head of state.

I think why we feel so close to our presidents is that they ... And so when we're saying goodbye to them and we're reflecting,... And I think that that unique position is something that g... We combine that into our presidential funerals.

And so it it, I think, helps people to understand the dign... Stanley, we've been watching over these past several days.

Today in particular, a very public grieving.

Right.

These ..

It's important to point out how this will end, though, and t...

There will be a procession through the streets.

We know that was very important to former President Carter.

There will be a private service back at this Baptist church... And then there will be an entirely private burial at ... No audio of those remarks or anything said will be m... What does that say to you?

Well, it tells us what kind of person he really was.

I remember the story when he was actually the first president ... One of the most interesting conversations they had was ... And the basic answer from the pope and from Jimmy is you p...

But the story with the Maranatha Church in Plains is a spec...

It's also related to what we were talking about, race ...

So that symbolic, too, of his stand.

It's a small church.

The car does Rosalynn Carter children Sunday school class.

Carter would mow the lawn at the church sometimes.

And they have close friends in Plains.

They not only have family, but they have really close frie... And so those are the people who will be admitted to t...

The national park down there, headed by Jill Stuckey, wh...

So you could see it in the visitor center at the natio... And so there will be some public access to it.

But afterwards, the procession goes down Bond Street to M... And right before you get to the Carter compound, we were th...

I'm sure this was the say you'll have a Secret Service agents ... And you would just see them turn into the property.

And that will be the last that you will see.

As we wrap up our coverage here.

We have time for some final thoughts.

We'll start with you, Andra Gillespie.

What struck you about all that has transpired today and rea...

I think what strikes me most about President Carter is ... And I think that that was the lesson that they were trying...

But what it made me think about and I'm so glad that he got...

I was sorry that he had to go in almost two years ago, but he ...

But the balance that we have reached now about ... Barbara Perry is down like bold.

And Andra Gillespie, thank you so much to all of you ... To all of you at home as the motorcade now makes its way... We're going to turn our continuing coverage of the st... You can find that on our website, PBS.org slash News H...

The president will be transferred to the special ... You can find that on our website and on YouTube.

And we will, of course, have a complete wrap up of this and ... And with that, I'm Jeff Bennett.

And I'm Omnivore's.

Thank you so much for joining us.

This program was made possible by the Corporation for Pub...

Thank you.

You're watching PBS.