State funeral for Jimmy Carter begins at the US Capitol

The remains of the 39th president of the United States, Jimmy Carter, were placed this Tuesday in the rotunda of the Capitol in Washington, DC, where they will remain for three days in a state funeral.

The remains, who had been resting at the Carter Presidential Center since Saturday, left the Atlanta campus on Tuesday morning, accompanied by their children and family.

Special Air Mission 39 departed Dobbins Air Reserve Base north of Atlanta and arrived at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. A motorcade carried the casket to Washington for a final trip to the Capitol, where members of Congress will pay their respects.

In Georgia, eight military pallbearers held Carter’s casket while cannons fired salvos on the tarmac nearby. He was taken to a vehicle that lifted him into the passenger compartment of the plane, the iconic blue and white variant of the Boeing 747 that is known as Air Force One when the sitting president is on board.

Carter never flew as president on the plane, which first flew as Air Force One in 1990 with President George HW Bush.

The scene was repeated on the outskirts of Washington. The former president’s coffin was taken off the plane, new gunshots were fired and a military band played. A hearse emblazoned with the president’s seal joined the motorcade heading toward Washington.

A bipartisan delegation of members of Congress was led by Sens. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, Democrats representing Carter’s home state, in the Capitol rotunda. Also present were Vice President Kamala Harris, members of President Joe Biden’s Cabinet and three of the nine justices of the United States Supreme Court: John Roberts, Brett Kavanaugh and Elena Kagan.

The U.S. Army Band’s brass quintet played as people waited for the casket. The room fell silent as three knocks on the rotunda door signaled Carter’s arrival. The casket was placed in the center of the room on the Lincoln Catafalque, a platform built in 1865 to hold the casket of assassinated President Abraham Lincoln in the same place.

Harris, Senate Majority Leader John Thune and House Speaker Mike Johnson delivered eulogies celebrating Carter’s faith, his military service and his devotion to service, including his practical contributions to building housing for those in need through Habitat for Humanity.

“Jimmy Carter was that rare example of a talented man who also walked with humility, modesty and grace,” Harris said, recalling his unassuming approach to campaigning. He slept at his supporters’ homes to “share a meal with them at their table and hear what was on their minds,” he said.

The U.S. Naval Academy Glee Club performed the patriotic anthem “My Country, ‘Tis of Thee” before bipartisan congressional leaders, and Harris, accompanied by her husband Doug Emhoff, placed wreaths at the casket. Members of Carter’s family, including some of his grandchildren, wiped away tears.

Carter, who died Dec. 29 at age 100, will be laid to rest again Wednesday. He will receive a state funeral at Washington National Cathedral on Thursday. Biden will deliver a eulogy.

[Con información de AP]

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