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What we know about funeral plans for former President Jimmy Carter

By Michelle Shen and Nikki Carvajal, CNN

(CNN) — The official state funeral in Washington, DC for former President Jimmy Carter will be held on January 9, the White House confirmed Monday.

President Joe Biden declared January 9 as a National Day of Mourning in a proclamation on Sunday, hours after Carter’s passing at the age of 100.

“With his compassion and moral clarity, he worked to eradicate disease, forge peace, advance civil rights and human rights, promote free and fair elections, house the homeless, and always advocate for the least among us. He saved, lifted, and changed the lives of people all across the globe,” Biden said of Carter.

Biden will deliver a eulogy at Carter’s funeral service at the Washington National Cathedral, a White House official said Monday, a marquee moment for the Democrat to pay tribute to his longtime friend in the waning days of his own presidency. And President-elect Donald Trump told reporters Tuesday that he plans to attend the service.

“President Carter exemplified what it means to translate faith into action,” a statement from the Washington National Cathedral read. “From his selflessness and humanitarian spirit, we draw inspiration. And from his example of fidelity and generous faith, we find hope that we might yet learn to embody his example of good and faithful service.”

Public observances honoring Carter’s legacy will be held in Atlanta and Washington, DC, followed by a private interment in Carter’s hometown of Plains, Georgia, according to the Carter Center.

Carter to travel from Plains to nation’s capital

Carter’s motorcade will travel through Plains on January 4, past his boyhood home and the Georgia State Capitol, before arriving at the Carter Presidential Center in Atlanta, according to plans released by the Joint Task Force-National Capital Region in the Department of Defense, which will conduct the ceremonies. After the service at the Carter Center, the former president will lie in repose there, and the public can pay their respects until the morning of January 7.

He will then lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda in Washington, DC, congressional leadership announced Monday. The Capitol will be open to the public on the night of January 7 through January 9, ahead of Carter’s funeral service at the Washington National Cathedral at 10 a.m., according to the Joint Task Force-National Capital Region.

Following the service, the late president and his family will travel back to Georgia to the Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, where the former president taught Sunday school for decades, for a private funeral service. After, the public is invited to gather along a motorcade route that will travel through Carter’s hometown to his residence, where he will be buried — the same location his wife, Rosalynn, was buried following her death last year.

The last president to lay in state was George H.W. Bush in 2018. A state funeral for Bush was also held at the Washington National Cathedral, where some 3,000 people – including Carter and other political leaders – congregated to say goodbye to the 41st president.

Biden will eulogize a ‘beloved friend’

Biden told donors last year that Carter had asked him to deliver the eulogy, and it’s a speech Biden has long been planning to give.

In October, Biden celebrated Carter, who he called a “beloved friend,” with a video marking his 100th birthday, and on Sunday, the president delivered heartfelt remarks detailing how their families provided each other support in their shared battles against cancer.

“This is a sad day, but it brings back an incredible amount of good memories,” Biden said, taking time from his St. Croix vacation to deliver the previously unscheduled speech. “America and the world, in my view, lost a remarkable leader. He was a statesman and humanitarian, and Jill and I lost a dear friend.”

The president, who said he’d been “hanging out with Jimmy Carter for more than 50 years,” said Carter “lived a life measured not by words, but by his deeds.”

“To know his core, you need to know he never stopped being a Sunday school teacher at that Baptist school in Plains, Georgia,” he said.

Biden called Carter “just as courageous in his battle against cancer as he was in everything in his life,” and talked about how the illness had impacted both of their lives.

“Cancer was a common bond between our two families, as in many other families, and our son, Beau, died – when he died, Jimmy and Rosalynn were there to help us heal,” Biden said.

The Bidens, the president recalled, “did (their) best to comfort him” when Carter himself was diagnosed.

“We talked and he shared our beliefs that as a nation we have the talent and the resources to one day end cancer as we know it,” Biden said.

Biden told reporters he had spoken with all of Carter’s children and that his team was “working with his family and others to see to it that he’s remembered appropriately.”

An outpouring of love from around the world emerged as people celebrated Carter’s life as a humanitarian, faith leader, politician and Navy veteran. World leaders, nonprofit organizations, military personnel and politicians from across the aisle, especially in his home state of Georgia, honored his work in eradicating disease, brokering peace in the Middle East, advancing civil rights and overseeing free and fair elections across the globe, with many of them highlighting his moral compass and sense of decency.

This story has been updated with additional developments.

CNN’s Jack Forrest, Haley Talbot and Jeff Zeleny contributed to this report.

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