Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter passed away on December 29, 2024, at the age of 100. He died peacefully at his home in Plains, Georgia, surrounded by family, just over a year after the passing of his wife, Rosalynn, in November 2023. President Joe Biden shared his condolences via Instagram, stating, “Over six decades, Jill and I had the honor of calling Jimmy Carter a dear friend. But what’s extraordinary about Jimmy Carter is that millions of people throughout America and the world who never met him thought of him as a dear friend as well.”
A National Day of Mourning has been declared in Carter’s honor, falling on Thursday, January 9th. President Biden signed an executive order on December 30th, mandating the closure of all federal government agencies on that day as a mark of respect. Flags will fly at half-staff at the White House and other public buildings. The New York Stock Exchange and the Supreme Court Building will also be closed, and the United States Postal Service will suspend mail delivery. In his proclamation, President Biden urged Americans to gather in their places of worship to pay homage to the memory of President Carter, extending the invitation to people worldwide who share in the nation’s grief.
President Carter will receive a state funeral with services held in both Georgia and Washington, D.C. He will lie in state at the Capitol Rotunda from January 7th to 9th. The last National Day of Mourning was observed following the death of former President George H. W. Bush in December 2018.
At the time of his death, Carter was the oldest living former president. Born on October 1, 1924, in Plains, Georgia, he spent his final years in the same town where he was born. He had been receiving hospice care at home. In his 1998 book, “The Virtues of Aging,” Carter reflected on the inevitability of mortality, writing, “If our doctors tell us that we have a terminal illness and can expect to live only another year, or five years, how would we respond? In fact, we confront exactly the same question if we are still healthy and have a life expectancy of fifteen or twenty more years.”
Following Carter’s passing, President Joe Biden, at 82 years old, becomes the oldest living former president—a title he will hold until Donald Trump, at 78, assumes office for a second term in January 2025.