Carter Remains to Travel by Caisson to Capitol Hill from Navy Memorial

January 6, 2025 4:32 PM - Updated: January 6, 2025 11:26 PM
US Navy Memorial

A horse-drawn caisson will take President Jimmy Carter’s remains from a hearse to lie in state at the Capitol from the United States Navy Memorial tomorrow.

Carter, died Dec. 29, 2024, at his home in Plains, Ga. He was 100.

Carter chose the United States Navy Memorial as the site of the transfer when planning his own funeral, according to a statement from the Navy. Carter, as president, authorized the building of the United States Navy Memorial Plaza and Visitors Center on Pennsylvania Avenue in 1980.

The Carter family will walk beside the caisson, calling back to Carter’s inauguration when he decided to walk down Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House instead of arriving in a limousine.

Carter “wanted to send a message of simplicity, authenticity, and unadorned integrity” to the nation on his view of the executive office, biographer Kai Bird wrote in “Outlier, The Unfinished Presidency of Jimmy Carter.” He told his mother then, “I’m going to walk among the people who voted for me.”

Carter’s connection with the Navy dates back to his teenage years.

 

Jimmy Carter and Rosalynn Carter walk down Pennsylvania Avenue during Inauguration in 1977. National Archives Photo

His first exposure came through his uncle Tom Gordy, who served in the Navy and inspired his young nephew to write to the Academy for a catalog to get a taste of what life was like ‘on the Yard’ at Annapolis. Carter joined the Brigade of Midshipmen after a year of study in the NROTC program at Georgia Tech and graduated from the Academy in the top 10th of the class of 1946. As an ensign, he served two years on board the battleship-turned-experimental gunnery ship USS Wyoming (E-AG-17). He then served as executive officer, engineering officer and electronics repair officer aboard submarine SSK-1, which was laid down in 1949 by Electric Boat in Groton, Conn., as an experimental attack sub called Barracuda III and launched in 1951 as K-1.

Lt. jg. Carter became one of the first candidates to join then Capt. Hyman G. Rickover’s disciples. Schult wrote Carter later reportedly described Rickover as “second to my own father, had more effect on my life than any other man.” The junior officer withstood at least one of Rickover’s notorious and exhaustive entrance interviews and was promoted to lieutenant.

In the February issue of Naval History, Glenn Robins wrote, “After meeting directly with Rickover, Carter noted in his White House diary that he “seems very proud of the fact that I’m President. He gives me frequent memoranda concerning ways to make the government more effective, and although he’s highly opinionated and is sometimes perhaps in error, his suggestions have been helpful.”

Maintaining an active public career following his election defeat in 1980, Carter was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for his decades of work seeking peaceful solutions to international conflicts, advancing democracy and human rights. He was also involved in numerous humanitarian and peace initiatives, including his work with the Atlanta-based Carter Center in disease eradication, election monitoring, and conflict resolution.

President Carter’s family and remains are scheduled to be flown in Special Air Mission 39 from Georgia to Joint Base Andrews, Md., earlier Tuesday.

A special service at the Capitol for members of Congress is scheduled for 3 p.m. Tuesday.

President Carter will lie in state while the military maintains a guard of honor. The public is invited to pay their respects throughout visitation hours through Thursday.

The National Funeral Service will take place at 10 a.m. Thursday at the Washington National Cathedral. After the service, President Carter’s family and the remains will be flown back to Georgia for a private service in Maranatha Baptist Church and burial.

On Thursday afternoon following the service there, the Navy will fly a “Missing Man” formation in honor of \ his naval service and time as commander in chief shortly after the motorcade arrives at the residence in Plains, Ga.

John Grady

John Grady

John Grady, a former managing editor of Navy Times, retired as director of communications for the Association of the United States Army. His reporting on national defense and national security has appeared on Breaking Defense, GovExec.com, NextGov.com, DefenseOne.com, Government Executive and USNI News.

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