Former President James Earl Carter, who was 100 years of age and our oldest living former president, passed away on Sunday at his home in Plains, Georgia. Carter was a former governor of Georgia, so he will lie in repose in Atlanta before being flown to Washington, D.C. where Carter’s body will lie in repose at the U.S. Rotunda for three days ahead of his state funeral at the Washington National Cathedral on January 9, 2025.
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Our last living former president to pass was George Herbert Walker Bush in December 2018 at the age of 94. So, it’s an opportune time to refresh ourselves on some of the traditions and rituals that occur on the death of the person who wore the illustrious mantle of the leader of the free world.
Flags Fly at Half-Mast for 30 Days
The terms are often interchangeable, but “Half-Staff” tends to be used in official governmental contexts and in reference to flags flown on land, while “Half-Mast” is more commonly used in the nautical sense. So, it would be appropriate for President Carter who was a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, and a lieutenant in the Navy before taking over his family’s peanut farm business and moving into politics.
Per presidential declaration, all government buildings, public schools, offices, and military bases will lower their flags to half-staff for 30 days as is the custom when a U.S. president or former president dies. Carter’s date of death was Sunday, December 29, so the White House lowered its flags after President Joseph Robinette Biden’s announcement. The rest of the nation began flying their flags at half-staff on December 30, 2024, and will fly them in this manner until January 28, 2025.
The President Issues an Official Death Announcement
The sitting president is expected to issue a proclamation announcing the death of a president. President Biden made an unofficial proclamation on the social media platform X (which frankly is becoming an official source these days), before his issuance of an official proclamation for the legacy news media.
Today, America and the world lost an extraordinary leader, statesman and humanitarian. pic.twitter.com/Ki7Rhbent0
— President Biden (@POTUS) December 29, 2024
President-elect Donald John Trump issued a statement on Carter’s passing.
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The President Declares a National Day of Mourning
This tradition began with President John Tyler upon the death of President William Henry Harrison in 1841 and slowly morphed into the official part of the president’s duties. According to the American Presidency Project, “The current set of rituals are fully apparent by 1969 with the death of Dwight Eisenhower[.]” President Richard Milhous Nixon issued an executive order declaring a Day of Mourning, which “closed all government departments on the day of the funeral, directed that flags be flown at half-staff for 30 days, and directed that suitable honors be rendered by units of the United States Armed Forces.” For me, that last part is the coolest.
Presidential designations of Days of Mourning are not just for presidential deaths. President Lyndon Baines Johnson declared one for the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and President George Walker Bush designated one for the victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks.
President Biden issued his executive order on Monday declaring January 9 as a National Day of Mourning on the death of former President Carter.
EXECUTIVE ORDER
– – – – – – –
PROVIDING FOR THE CLOSING OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ON JANUARY 9, 2025
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1. All executive departments and agencies of the Federal Government shall be closed on January 9, 2025, as a mark of respect for James Earl Carter, Jr., the thirty-ninth President of the United States.
Sec. 2. The heads of executive departments and agencies may determine that certain offices and installations of their organizations, or parts thereof, must remain open and that certain employees must report for duty on January 9, 2025, for reasons of national security, defense, or other public need.
Sec. 3. January 9, 2025, shall be considered as falling within the scope of Executive Order 11582 of February 11, 1971, and of 5 U.S.C. 5546 and 6103(b) and other similar statutes insofar as they relate to the pay and leave of employees of the United States.
Sec. 4. The Director of the Office of Personnel Management shall take such actions as may be necessary to implement this order.
Sec. 5. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.
THE WHITE HOUSE,
December 30, 2024.
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Transportation of Presidential Remains to the Capitol
Eight presidents have died while serving in office, and four died outside of D.C. President James Abram Garfield escaped an attempted assassination during the summer of 1881 and went to Elberton, NJ to recuperate only to succumb to the complications of his gunshot wound. Garfield’s remains were conveyed by train to the U.S. Capitol Rotunda and escorted by U.S. Army and Navy service members. President William McKinley was assassinated in 1901, while in Buffalo, New York, so his body was conveyed by train back to D.C., then escorted to the White House by a cavalry squadron. McKinley’s flag-draped casket lay in the East Room overnight before being transported to the U.S. Capitol for his state funeral.
In 1923, President William Gamaliel Harding died in San Francisco of a possible heart attack while on a tour of the Western United States. After a brief, private service with family and traveling companions, President Harding was conveyed by train back to D.C., guarded by Armed Forces service members. The funeral train did not make any stops, but mourners gathered along the route to pay their respects. When the train arrived at Union Station it was met by President Calvin Coolidge and former President William Howard Taft, who served as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Harding lay in repose in the East Room before his remains were transported to the Capitol Rotunda for public viewing.
In 1945, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt passed away in Warm Springs, GA. His flag-draped coffin was conveyed by train to Washington, D.C., and was met by President Harry S Truman and members of the cabinet. A military caisson transported Roosevelt’s remains to the White House, and with an accompaniment of U.S. military, cabinet members, the Marine Band, and Roosevelt’s family, he was placed in the East Room, decorated with flowers and tributes.
On November 22, 1963, President John Fitzgerald Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, TX. His body was conveyed aboard Air Force One to Andrews Air Force Base, then transported by a military honor guard to the East Room of the White House, where Kennedy’s casket was placed atop the Lincoln catafalque. November 23 was a rainy day, but mourners still stood vigil outside the White House gates, while a private Mass was held for family and close friends.
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Remains of Former Presidents Transported to the Capitol
Once their presidential term is done, most former presidents return to their chosen home states. So, if they want a state funeral, it requires their remains be conveyed to the U.S. Capitol.
In 1964, former President Henry Hoover passed away. His remains were conveyed by train from New York to Union Station in Washington, D.C. President Lyndon Baines Johnson and Lady Bird Johnson along with the Coast Guard Band met the funeral party at the train station. The Coast Guard Band played “Hail to the Chief” and “The Light of God is Falling” as the coffin was carried through the station and taken by horse-drawn caisson to the Capitol Rotunda. As the processional approached, the U.S. Marine Band played “Hail to the Chief” and “Ruffles and Flourishes,” a 21-gun salute was fired, and jets flew overhead. Hoover was placed upon the Lincoln catafalque in the Rotunda.
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In 1969, former President Dwight David Eisenhower died in Washington, D.C. Eisenhower and former First Lady Mamie Eisenhower had planned his funerals to a T. They included two ceremonies in Washington, D.C., and one in Kansas. A military escort conveyed his body to Washington National Cathedral, where it lay in repose for a day. The next day, Eisenhower’s casket was placed atop a caisson and transported to the U.S. Capitol Rotunda with a 21-gun salute honoring his arrival. Heads of state, dignitaries, and others paid their respects, and President Richard Milhous Nixon read a eulogy. The next day, Eisenhower’s body was returned to the National Cathedral for a second funeral service. Eisenhower’s remains were then conveyed to Abilene, KS for the final funeral held on the grounds of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum where his remains are interred.
Former President Harry S Truman died in December 1972, but his widow, former First Lady Bess Truman, did not want a big fanfare. So, a small funeral was held in his beloved Independence, Missouri, on the grounds of the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum. Eight military pallbearers conveyed Truman’s casket to a hearse, then transported his body via motorcade procession to the presidential library. The procession passed by the Truman home, where Bess Truman watched from the window. Upon the arrival of Truman’s remains, twenty-one Air Force Jets flew overhead. As the casket was conveyed into the library, the Fifth Army Band played “Ruffles and Flourishes” and “Hail to the Chief.” Truman’s body lay in repose in the front lobby of the library. The closed casket was draped with an American flag featuring 48 stars, to represent the number of states that existed during his presidency. The funeral took place the next day in the library auditorium. As the burial rites were being performed, the band played “The Star-Spangled Banner” and “Stars and Stripes Forever,” accompanied by a 21-gun salute, three volleys of musket fire, and “Taps.” The State Department held a public memorial service at the Washington National Cathedral in January 1973.
Less than a month after Truman, in January 1973, Lyndon Baines Johnson passed. Johnson’s body first lay in repose for a day at the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library in Austin, TX. The next day, Johnson was conveyed via presidential jet to Andrews Air Force Base. An honor guard accompanied the casket to a hearse while a 21-gun salute was fired. The processional made its way to the Capitol, as crowds looked on, bands played, and military units marched. Johnson was then taken to the Capitol Rotunda where he lay in state.
Former President Ronald Wilson Reagan, passed away on June 5, 2004, after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. On June 7, a hearse conveyed him by motorcade from the funeral home to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, CA. A military honor guard brought the casket into the lobby of the library to lie in repose, while a brief, family service was held. The lobby was then opened to guests, and some 100,000 people came through the library to pay their respects. On June 9, the casket was conveyed aboard a presidential jet and transported to Andrews Air Force Base. The coffin was conveyed to a hearse and driven toward the Ellipse. As the hearse neared the White House, it stopped, and the casket was transferred to a horse-drawn caisson, escorted by military units. “Hail to the Chief” was played and a 21-gun salute was fired.
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Former President Gerald Rudolph Ford passed away in 2007. Ford retired to California, so his family held a private service at his home church before his remains were conveyed via presidential jet to Andrews Air Force Base. Eight military members transferred the casket to a hearse as a military band played, “Hail to the Chief” and “America (My Country Tis of Thee).” Ford also received a 21-gun salute. The processional went through Washington, D.C., stopping at the World War II Memorial to acknowledge Ford’s service during the war, before proceeding to the U.S. Capitol Rotunda, where Ford was placed atop the Lincoln catafalque to lie in state.
George Herbert Walker Bush died in early December 2018. On December 3, the casket was conveyed from Houston, TX, aboard “Special Airlift Mission 41,” to Andrews Air Force Base where he received a 21-gun salute.
Repose “In State,” and Other Traditions
William Henry Harrison died on April 4, 1841. It was the first occurrence of a United States president dying while in office, so it set the precedent. Harrison’s funeral on April 7, 1841, would be the first state funeral at the nation’s capitol, occurring at noon in the East Room of the White House. Harrison’s coffin was decorated with a laurel wreath and two swords. The Executive Mansion was draped in black, businesses were closed, and bells tolled throughout the city and guns were fired throughout the day in his honor.
President Abraham Lincoln was the first president whose body lay in state at the U.S. Capitol Rotunda. A hastily constructed wooden bier was made to hold Lincoln’s casket (which was quite substantial), earning the nickname the “Lincoln catafalque.” His casket lay in repose for three days, outfitted in black, before it was conveyed to Illinois for his internment. This same Lincoln catafalque would hold future presidents as they lay in state in the Capitol Rotunda.
In 1893, the U.S. Code dictated that “no building owned, or used for public purposes, by the Government of the United States, shall be draped in mourning.” So, the death of President William McKinley ended the draping of the White House and federal buildings in black as had been the custom. What it began is the draping of the President’s coffin with the United States flag.
Because our nation was still in the thick of World War II, for security reasons, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt did not lie in state at the U.S. Capitol. After a small ceremony in the East Room, Roosevelt’s body was conveyed to New York. Roosevelt wanted to be buried in the Rose Garden at his home in Hyde Park, so his body traveled by train to the Empire State. Roosevelt’s burial ceremony in Hyde Park included a 21-gun salute and a P-47 flyover. As White House historians relate, Roosevelt’s beloved Scottish Terrier Fala was present graveside and barked after each gunshot.
On November 24, 1963, President John F. Kennedy’s flag-draped coffin was transferred to the Capitol Rotunda where more than 250,000 viewed the closed casket. On November 25, the official state funeral was held and was the first to be televised, allowing millions of people around the country, and the world, to bear witness and collectively mourn. Mrs. Kennedy instructed Chief Usher J.B. West to follow the protocol and details of President Abraham Lincoln’s 1865 state funeral for her husband. So, on the day of the funeral, a horse-drawn caisson carried the casket down Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House. We all recognize the powerful photo of young John F. Kennedy, Jr. saluting his father’s horse-drawn casket. Mrs. Kennedy, the Kennedy family, and other mourners, officials, and personnel, walked behind the casket in the procession—military escort, band, and the symbolic riderless horse with boots reversed in the stirrups—the eight blocks to St. Matthew’s Cathedral, where the state funeral service was held. After the service, the caisson carried the president’s remains to Arlington Memorial Cemetery where he is interred. At the graveside, there was an Air Force and Navy flyover, including Air Force One, and Mrs. Kennedy, Edward Kennedy, and Robert F. Kennedy lit the eternal flame at the president’s gravesite. Having been to Arlington and seen the eternal flame, it does carry a significant weight of history.
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Former President Richard Milhous Nixon died in 1994 after a severe stroke. Nixon was the first president to resign from office due to the threat of impeachment from the Watergate scandal. Perhaps because of this history, Nixon did not wish to have a state funeral, preferring a smaller funeral at his presidential library in Yorba Linda, CA.
After former President Ronald Reagan’s casket was conveyed from the horse-drawn caisson it was positioned atop the Lincoln catafalque in the East Room of the White House, where an evening memorial service for members of Congress was held. Reagan was transferred to the Capitol Rotunda, where over 100,000 people paid their respects. The state funeral was held on June 11 at Washington National Cathedral. Following the ceremony, the casket was transported back to Andrews Air Force Base and returned to California where Reagan was interred on the Reagan Presidential Library grounds. His gravesite is known as the Memorial Site. It looks out on the Pacific Ocean and is near a piece of the Berlin Wall.
Former President Gerald Ford’s state funeral took place at Washington National Cathedral. Following the funeral, the coffin was taken back to Andrews Air Force Base and flown to Grand Rapids, MI, where Ford lay in repose at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum. After another funeral service, Ford was interred at his presidential library.
Former President George H.W. Bush was placed atop the Lincoln catafalque and lay in state in the Capitol Rotunda for three days. A motorcade transported the casket to Washington National Cathedral for the state funeral service. H.W. Bush’s casket was carried from the church as “Hail to the Chief” played. H.W. Bush traveled to his final repose via a Union Pacific train, painted with an Air Force One color scheme and the number 4141 on it all the way to College Station, TX, to the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum. H.W. was interred at his library, as a missing man formation flew above his grave.
Because former President Jimmy Carter was a military veteran and has such a rich history of service, his funeral journey from Atlanta, to D.C., and back to Plains, GA should be a rich unfolding of history, honor and tradition.
