All US living presidents honor Jimmy Carter as Biden announces state funeral

HOUSTON -- All living US presidents condoled with the family of Jimmy Carter after the 39th US president from 1977 to 1981 died Sunday at the age of 100 in Plains, Georgia. A state funeral has been announced.

"To honor a great American, I will be ordering an official state funeral to be held in Washington DC for James Earl Carter, Jr.," US President Joe Biden said in a statement issued by the White House, describing the longest-living former president as "an extraordinary leader, statesman, and humanitarian."

"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.

On social media, President-elect Donald Trump said, "The challenges Jimmy faced as President came at a pivotal time for our country and he did everything in his power to improve the lives of all Americans."

"For that, we all owe him a debt of gratitude," he said.

Former president Barack Obama and his wife Michelle said in a statement that they remembered Carter for his many years teaching Sunday school in his hometown Plains.

"He taught all of us what it means to live a life of grace, dignity, justice, and service," the Obamas said.

"James Earl Carter, Jr., was a man of deeply held convictions," former President George W. Bush said on social platform X. "He was loyal to his family, his community, and his country. President Carter dignified the office. And his efforts to leave behind a better world didn't end with the presidency."

Former president Bill Clinton and his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, remembered Carter as a man who lived to serve others.

"Hillary and I mourn the passing of President Jimmy Carter and give thanks for his long, good life. Guided by his faith, President Carter lived to serve others -- until the very end," Clinton said in a statement.

The Carter Center said on Sunday that public memorial observances for Carter will take place in both Atlanta, the capital city of Georgia, and Washington, D.C. A formal schedule will come from the Joint Task Force-National Capital Region.

According to the US flag code, the US flag should be flown at half-staff for the next 30 days at "all federal buildings, grounds, and naval vessels" across the country and its territories in Carter's memory.

If this tradition is observed, American flags will fly at half-staff at all US federal buildings in honor of Jimmy Carter during Trump's presidential inauguration on Jan 20.

During Carter's presidency in December 1978, China and the United States issued the Joint Communiqué on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between the People's Republic of China and the United States of America. On Jan 1, 1979, the two countries officially established diplomatic relations.

Carter signed the Panama Canal Treaties in 1977 which restored Panama's full jurisdiction over the Panama Canal Zone starting from 2000 and guaranteed its neutrality. He also witnessed the inking of the Camp David Accords, which were signed by then-Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and then-Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin in 1978.

Since leaving the presidency, Carter and his wife established the non-governmental organization Carter Center.

Carter was born on Oct 1, 1924, in the southeastern US state of Georgia. His father was a farmer who owned large areas of peanut land.

Carter and his wife Rosalynn, who died in November 2023, had been married for 77 years, making them the longest-married presidential couple in US history.