Jimmy Carter honoured at state funeral as US mourns former president

Jimmy Carter, the late US president who served only one term in office and was widely admired for his humanitarian work after leaving the White House, was remembered during his state funeral on Thursday as a man who put honesty and kindness above partisan politics.

Hundreds of mourners, including President Joe Biden and the four living former US presidents, filed into the Washington National Cathedral, where a military guard deposited Carter’s flag-draped coffin at the start of a roughly two-hour service that featured tributes to Carter’s long life.

Fellow Democrat Biden eulogised the 39th president, who died on December 29 at the age of 100, saying Carter’s life was the “story of a man who never let the tides of politics divert him from his mission to serve and shape the world”.

“The man had character,” Biden said.

Tens of thousands of Americans over the past two days filed through the Rotunda of the US Capitol to pay their respects to Carter, who was president from 1977 to 1981 and was burdened by an ailing economy and the Iran hostage crisis. Many mourners hailed him as an example of decency and humility for today’s breed of highly partisan politicians.