In a few days, Jimmy Carter will be feted at Washington's towering cathedral by fellow U.S. presidents, prominent humanitarians and other world leaders.
But before all that, a hearse carrying the remains of Carter, the 39th president of the United States, stopped outside a Georgia farmhouse on Saturday. There he raised chickens, helped his father tend peanuts, and vaulted from Plains, Georgia, to the heights of political influence, spending a seemingly improbable hundred years on a globe-trotting mission to eradicate and protect disease. I started a journey to. Democracy.
It was the first stop on a valedictorian's journey that spanned a long and varied life. This journey, like his life, begins and ends in rural Georgia. He was born and raised there and died on December 29th at the age of 100.
A series of memorial events in the coming days will highlight the impression Carter made on the world, including the legacy he left after his one term in the White House and the post-presidential life that came to define it. There will be a discussion about. he.
On Saturday, the journey began by recognizing the places and people who helped shape him.
He wrote a book that lovingly recounts his upbringing, milking cows, learning to cook possum (its taste is “unique”), and drawing water from wells. He also described the difficult racial dynamics of the segregated South and the enduring tensions from the Civil War.
“I grew up in a family where people couldn't forget that they were conquered, while most of my neighbors were black people whose grandparents had been liberated in the same conflict,” Carter said. “Our two races, although inseparable in daily life, were separated by social customs, misunderstandings of the Bible, and religious differences. Mandated by the Supreme Court of the United States, and the undisputed law of the land.”
The journey began around 10 a.m. in Americus, Georgia, after the body was taken to a hearse by current and former special agents in charge of the Secret Service unit protecting Carter.
The hearse stopped at his childhood home, now managed by the National Park Service, and passed through Plains, a town of about 500 people that was his lifelong base.
As the hearse and motorcade came to a stop on the shoulder of a country road past a farmhouse on the outskirts of Plains, the bell representing his place in the ranks of the U.S. president rang 39 times.
It was a crisp morning, and people from near and far were stopping by the roadside. “I love Jimmy Carter,” said Heather Baade, 54, who drove from Austin, Texas, expressing a sentiment shared by many others. She praised his ability to balance his deep Christian faith with secular leadership. She also believed he “tried to win the hearts of the whole country,” but said that “you don't see that as much these days.”
Robert Garland, a former Miami-Dade County sheriff's deputy, was appointed to provide security for Carter when he visited Miami in 1991 to help build homes for Habitat for Humanity. “He was probably our greatest president,” said Garland, 64. “He led with dignity, honor and respect.”
From the Plains, the convoy will wind through country roads surrounded by farmland and forests before arriving at a vast interstate on the outskirts of Atlanta.
There, city and state leaders, including Georgia's Republican Gov. Brian Kemp and Democratic Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, were scheduled to wait outside the gold-domed Capitol. Those assembled had to offer a moment of silence.
A tour through the streets of Atlanta begins there, with a hearse carrying the former president through the city where he had a lasting presence. He cheered at Braves games. He often stopped by Manuel's Tavern, a bar that was a regular hangout for Georgia Democrats. And after leaving the White House, he worked countless hours at the Carter Center, a nonprofit he founded with his wife.
This day's trip will end in a central location in a wooded expanse of northeast Atlanta. A private service will be held in the afternoon, and he will be laid to rest Saturday evening, where he will remain until early Tuesday.
On Tuesday morning, his journey continues toward Washington, where he will spend a day and a half on duty at the U.S. Capitol. The funeral is scheduled for Thursday morning at the Washington National Cathedral, where President Biden is expected to deliver the eulogy. President-elect Donald J. Trump has indicated his intention to attend.
From there Mr. Carter would be transported to the Plains. He will be buried Thursday next to his wife of 77 years, Rosalyn, just outside the home they built together in 1961.
