Live updates: Jimmy Carter’s motorcade heads to Atlanta for state funeral ceremonies
Proceedings will start Saturday for the state funeral of former President Jimmy Carter, who died Dec. 29 at 100 years old.
Carter, the 39th president, often faced controversies as commander-in-chief and lost a bid for reelection in 1980, but became widely known as one of America’s most high-profile and appreciated humanitarians post-presidency.
Carter had been in hospice care for nearly two years prior to his death.
Carter’s funeral ceremonies Saturday were expected to start at 10:15 a.m. at the Phoebe Sumter Medical Center in Americus, where the late president’s family will arrive before his body is placed in a hearse to start a motorcade procession.
The U.S. Joint Task Force-National Capital Region said Carter’s motorcade will stop at his childhood home before proceeding to Atlanta, where he will be honored at the Capitol and the Carter Center.
Stay tuned for updates throughout the day here.
Memorial service concluded
5:30 p.m. - A choir closed out Carter’s memorial service around 4:40 p.m. with “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.”
“Glory, glory, hallelujah,” the choir crooned.
Six service members stood at arms around Carter’s casket during the entire roughly 40-minute service.
Carter family pastor prays to casket
5:20 p.m. - On any other Saturday, Rev. Tony Lowden, the Carter family’s personal pastor, would visit their home for a blessing, he said.
Now, he prayed next to his closed casket.
“You walk in the room, he’s wrapped in a blanket that has Psalm 23 on it – one of his favorite psalms,” Lowden said around 4:15 p.m.
“’The lord is my shepherd. There is nothing I lack,’” Lowden read the psalm. “’He lets me lie down in green pastures. He leaves me beside quiet waters. He renews my life... Even when I go through the darkest valleys, I fear no danger.’”
Carter’s grandson opens memorial
5 p.m. - Jason Carter, the late President Carter’s grandson, opened his grandfather’s memorial service with an emotional speech about his legacy.
“His spirit fills this place...” Jason Carter said around 4:10 p.m. “It’s amazing what you can cram into 100 years.”
Service members laid down Carter’s casket covered with an American flag inside the Carter Presidential Center as the service began.
Memorial service begins
4:05 p.m. - A memorial service for Carter commenced inside of the Carter Presidential Center in Atlanta.
The arrival ceremony finished and the U.S. Army band departed.
Casket arrives at memorial
4:05 p.m. - Carter’s motorcade arrived at the Carter Presidential Center in Atlanta.
A group of service members unloaded his casket from the hearse, while the U.S. Army band played a solemn rendition of “America the Beautiful.”
Service members carried the casket into the Carter Presidential Center for a memorial service, followed by Carter’s family members dressed in black.
Former state representative on Carter’s inclusivity
4 p.m. - Former Georgia State Rep. Calvin Smyre admired Carter’s attempts to rid racism in politics.
“He had a turn-around in race relations,” Smyre said, while standing outside of the state Capitol. “It’s a remarkable story.”
He said the former president’s attempt to “reorganize the government ... was a major political pill to swallow, but Carter did it.”
Former secretary of agriculture at Georgia Capitol
3:40 p.m. - Former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue reflected on Carter’s legacy of public service while standing outside the Georgia Capitol Saturday.
“I think he exemplified what a public servant really should be,” Perdue said. “I hope that says something about us as far as a country that’s willing to recognize a great person, a great leader in that regard.”
He supported Carter as a person, regardless of his political views.
“I have great respect for what he did, not what party he belonged to, but what he created and did for mankind,” Perdue said.
Motorcade arrives at Capitol
3:15 p.m. - Carter’s motorcade procession was set to arrive at the Georgia Capitol, beating an earlier delay that was expected to push it back by a half-hour.
It arrived only 15 minutes later than the original plan of 3 p.m.
How bad is traffic?
2:25 p.m. - Streets leading into the Carter Presidential Center were closed at least two hours before the motorcade’s expected arrival.
Most surrounding streets were still clear.
Interstate 75 Northbound was congested, according to 511 Georgia, the Georgia Department of Transportation’s real-time traffic map.
Motorcade running late
2:10 p.m. - The funeral motorcade was running about a half-hour late to its arrival in Atlanta, according to security at the Carter Presidential Center.
The procession is now expected to arrive around 3:30 p.m. instead of 3 p.m. at the Capitol.
It was unclear what caused the hold-up.
Public can pay respects in Atlanta
2 p.m. - Members of the public are encouraged to view the motorcade Saturday, attend the repose ceremony at 7 p.m. at the Carter Center, or sign Carter’s online condolence book, the Carter Center said.
Carter Center prepares for former president’s arrival
1:15 p.m. - An American flag was seen at half-staff outside the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta as the Carter Presidential Center prepared to receive the former president.
The scene was quiet as security and reporters awaited the motorcade’s arrival, expected around 3:45 p.m.
What’s next in Carter ceremonies
12:40 p.m. - The funeral motorcade was driving to the Georgia Capitol for an arrival ceremony and moment of silence with state politicians.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, state legislators, Georgia State Patrol troopers and others will greet the procession around 3 p.m. for a moment of silence at the Capitol.
Then, Carter’s remains are expected to be taken to the Carter Presidential Center for an arrival ceremony at 3:45 p.m. and memorial service at 4 p.m.
Family outing
11:50 a.m. - Watching the motorcade was a family outing for Jonathan Gibson of Plains. He and his wife, Kelly, set up chairs and blankets for their three children along Church Street three hours before Carter’s casket was scheduled to go past them.
They are friends of Kim Fuller, Carter’s niece and the executive director for the Friends of Jimmy Carter, which helps maintain the Jimmy Carter National Historical Park. So, in addition to honoring a former president, they attended to comfort their friend in the wake of losing her uncle.
The moment was worth the cold wait because it will make warm memories for them, said Gibson, 35, who works as an insurance agent in Albany.
Read more coverage from Plains here.
National Park Service honors Carter at childhood home
11:15 a.m. - A ringing bell broke the somber silence at Carter’s Boyhood Farm in Plains.
A member of the National Park Service rang the bell 39 times on the lawn, while around 30 rangers stood at salute.
The bells honored Carter as the 39th U.S. president.
Carter’s motorcade heads for boyhood Georgia home
10:45 a.m. - The motorcade departed from its first stop in Americus and was en route to Plains.
It left the Phoebe Sumter Medical Center where him and his wife Rosalynn Carter were treated. It’s next stop was Carter’s boyhood Farm.
His remains were transferred to a hearse by former and current members of his Secret Service personnel.
Family connections to the Carters in Plains
10:40 a.m. - This was personal a moment for Kathy Cross and a half dozen of her relatives who gathered along Church Street in Plains to watch the motorcade.
Cross’ father, Edmond Hollis, was one of Carter’s boyhood playmates as they grew up 3 miles from Plains in Archery, an unincorporated rural community in Webster County.
She recalled her father saying, “The Carter family were good people. They didn’t think about Black and white. They were just all one family together.
Read more coverage from Plains here.
Statewide road closures
10:10 a.m. - Carter’s hometown streets of Sumter County and northbound interstates toward Atlanta were shut down due to Carter’s memorial services Saturday, the Georgia Department of Transportation announced.
A statewide traffic alert by the GDOT notified drivers of “temporary rolling closures” from morning to afternoon on these roads:
Surface streets in Sumter County
I-75 Northbound in Byron, Ga.
I-75 Northbound toward Atlanta
I-475
Travelers brave long drives, cold weather to see Plains motorcade
9:30 a.m. - It was sunrise on a frigid Saturday morning in Plains, and two couples in their 60s and 70s from Florida were the first folks to stake a claim at the intersection of Church and Bond streets.
They drove 6 1/2 hours to witness history and express their gratitude in the hometown of the nation’s 39th president.
The six days of events for Jimmy Carter’s state funeral were not scheduled to begin for another three hours, but Darcy and Jeffrey Buck of Dunedin and Charley McClaren and Richard Smith of Largo made sure they got a good spot to view the motorcade.
As they tried to keep warm, they explained what compelled them to be here.
“To honor the kindness, the integrity, what he stood for,” said Darcy Buck, whose first vote for president went to Carter. “Personally, there’s not enough of that right now, especially in politics. A man that wouldn’t do the things that are being done in politics now, call people names. He always rose above that.”
Read more coverage from Plains here.
This story was originally published January 4, 2025 at 9:31 AM.