President Joe Biden signed an executive order closing the federal government on Jan. 9 "as a mark of respect" for the late President Jimmy Carter.
In his proclamation announcing the passing of the 39th president, Biden also called on the American people to pay their respects on Jan. 9, the day of Carter’s funeral.
“I do further appoint January 9, 2025, as a National Day of Mourning throughout the United States,” the executive order states. “I call on the American people to assemble on that day in their respective places of worship, there to pay homage to the memory of President James Earl Carter, Jr. I invite the people of the world who share our grief to join us in this solemn observance.”
Due to the New Year’s holiday, services for the 39th president will not begin until later this week.
The former president will be taken by motorcade on Saturday through his hometown Plains, Ga., to his boyhood home for a brief pause in front of his family’s farm. A historic farm bell will ring 39 times.
The former president will then be taken to Atlanta to the Georgia State Capitol for a moment of silence by Gov. Brian Kemp and other officials, and then transported to the Carter Center, the home of his post-presidential humanitarian work. He will lie in repose at the center for mourners to visit Saturday night, Sunday and Monday, according to a detailed schedule released by the U.S. military task force that organizes presidential funerals.
Mr. Carter, who died at his home in Plains, Ga., at 100 on Sunday, will be flown by presidential plane on Tuesday, Jan. 7, to Washington, where he will be taken to the U.S. Navy Memorial in honor of his service as a submariner. He will then be taken by horse drawn caisson up to the Capitol, where he will lie in state through Jan. 8, much as several presidents going back to Abraham Lincoln have. Thousands of people are expected to file through the Rotunda to pay their respects, including lawmakers, diplomats and everyday Americans.
The service at the cathedral, which traditionally hosts state funerals for presidents as well as other major American figures, will be the highlight of the remembrances. […]
After the cathedral service, Mr. Carter will be taken back to Georgia for burial. (NYT)
Carter died Sunday at the age of 100.
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