Mourners defy sub-freezing temperatures to honour former US president Jimmy Carter at Capitol
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The US Army's Caisson Detachment carrying the casket of Jimmy Carter to lie in state at the US Capitol building in Washington, DC, on Jan 7.
PHOTO: AFP
Maya C. Miller
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WASHINGTON – They came amid the ice and snow, bundled in parkas and long johns, expecting an hours-long wait in the sub-freezing temperatures and whipping winds.
Instead, the mourners who journeyed through the maze of barricades around the Capitol early in the morning on Jan 8 to pay their final respects to former US president Jimmy Carter
Parents pushed strollers. Children and adults alike lumbered into the Capitol dressed in insulated snow pants and clunky winter boots.
The Rotunda saw fewer celebrities by the late afternoon of Jan 8 than it had for previous presidents, although country music stars Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood came.
President-elect Donald Trump and his wife Melania, both wearing black coats, stopped by on the evening of Jan 8 to pay their respects.
But it was the slow and steady stream of regular people – as well as several members of Congress, staff, military leaders and dignitaries – that seemed the most fitting tableau for the lying-in-state of the humble peanut farmer from Georgia, who prided himself on living more than 60 years in a four-bedroom home valued at just over US$250,000 (S$342,000).
First in line to bid farewell to Mr Carter was Virginia educator Chris Forward who showed up on the afternoon of Jan 7, just before Vice-President Kamala Harris and congressional leaders gathered to eulogise Mr Carter in a closed-door ceremony in the Rotunda.
“I was sort of surprised,” said Mr Forward, who became fast friends with three other women who joined the line shortly after she did. “I thought it’d be a long wait because he was such a great man.”
German couple Peter and Uta Schreiner were also near the front of the line.
On a trip to the US to celebrate Mr Schreiner’s 50th birthday, they had been attending a Washington Commanders football game on Dec 29 when they learnt that Mr Carter had died.
Then winter weather delayed their flight back home until Jan 9, and the couple decided to head to the Capitol to pay their respects.
“It’s a special moment. It’s hard to describe – it’s incredible to be a part of all this,” Mr Schreiner said. “He was a special man, and it’s an honour to be here right now to give him the last honour.”
As well-wishers slowly processed around the coffin, some wiping tears and others sombrely bowing their heads, a near silence gripped the cavernous and echoey hall under the Capitol dome, which is usually awash with noise from tourists and frenzied staff.
Only the shutters of cameras, yelps from agitated children and the occasional cough or stray cellphone alert broke the hush.
The solemn ritual in the Capitol was a prelude to Mr Carter’s state funeral on the morning of Jan 9 at Washington National Cathedral, which the four living presidents will attend and where President Joe Biden is scheduled to deliver a eulogy.
Throughout the day, several members of Congress passed through the Rotunda to pay tribute, including Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the former Republican leader, and Senator Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, a Democrat and one of the Senate’s first female combat veterans, who offered a salute.
The former president’s daughter-in-law Becky Carter arrived in the afternoon on Jan 8 to shake hands with mourners, and thank them for coming.
“God bless you,” one of them told her.
Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro stood in silence as he honoured Mr Carter, a Naval Academy graduate and veteran submariner, before laying a hand on his coffin.
Mr Thomas Donilon, who worked for Mr Carter and served as former president Barack Obama’s national security adviser, also stopped by to pay his respects.
Most who came to the Capitol to mourn Mr Carter were not old enough to remember his presidency. But many lauded his legacy as a humanitarian and pointed to him as an example of decency and humility in a world racked with incivility.
Ms Shermanda Williams of Maryland, who came with her two sons, said she had brought them to teach them about “having the heart for humanity”, as the former president did.
“That was very, very important to come and show our respect,” Ms Williams said, “and to let them see that someone who is kind and gentle and concerned about others can be successful.”
Her younger son, Kellen, 11, chose to come to the Capitol even though he could have enjoyed a free day at home since school was cancelled because of the winter weather.
“Jimmy Carter was a great man,” he said.
“With all his decisions, he was not going to make everybody happy, but he made as many people happy as he could. Because nobody – no country – is perfect, so he did all he could.” NYTIMES
