Five presidents come together for Jimmy Carter's state funeral, but President-elect Trump can’t act appropriately
It was revealing but far from surprising.
The five living American presidents came together on Thursday for a funeral service for former President Jimmy Carter at the Washington National Cathedral.
President Joe Biden, former President Donald J. Trump, who will return to the office on Jan. 20, and former presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama were seated in the front.
Other prominent guests were Vice President Kamala Harris, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former Vice Presidents Mike Pence and Al Gore, their spouses, and many other famous and powerful people, including Supreme Court justices, members of Congress and top officials in several administrations.
As Carter’s flag-draped casket was carried out, all the guests stood and put their hands over their hearts. Well, all but two.
Trump and his wife Melanie did not. Maybe they are unsure where it is, or feel uncomfortable in a church.
Trump’s actions during the service were troubling. Several amusing stories were told, including warm, personal reminiscences from Jason Carter, one of the 39th president’s grandchildren.
“One of the best ways to demonstrate that they were regular folks is to take them by that home. First of all, it looks like they might have built it themselves,” he said, eliciting laughter. “Second of all, my grandfather was likely to show up at the door in some ‘70s short-shorts and Crocs, and then you’d walk in the house and it was like thousands of other grandparents’ houses all across the South: Fishing trophies on the wall, the refrigerator (of course) was papered with pictures of grandchildren and great-grandchildren, their main phone of course had a chord and was stuck to the wall in the kitchen like a museum piece, and demonstrating their Depression-era roots they had a rack next to the sink where they would hang ziplock bags to dry.”
Cameras cut to the pews, and people were smiling and chuckling at these wonderful stories.
Except Trump. He leaned forward, his face a mask.
Jason Carter continued to delight the mourners with another story about “Paw-Paw.”
“Eventually, he did get a cell phone. One time, he called me sort of early on in that process,” he recalled. “So I answered it of course and said ‘Hey Paw-Paw,’ and he said ‘Who's this?’
“‘I said “This is Jason!” He said, “What are you doing?” I said, “I’m not doing anything, you called me.” He said, “I didn’t call you, I’m taking a picture.’”
Again, laughter to lift the mood. But not from the once and, sadly, future president. He shook hands with some of the dignitaries, including his former vice president, Mike Pence, who was a target of the Trump mob when it invaded the Capitol Jan. 6, 2021.
Pence’s wife Karen ignored the Trumps, as did Bush and his wife Laura. Biden and first lady Jill Biden and the Clintons, Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff all made sure not to make eye contact.
Trump also appeared to almost fall asleep at one point. He also chatted with President Obama, drawing laughs from him. A lip-reader claims Trump wanted to talk business with the 44th president. That was his goal, rather than paying a respectful tribute to the man who invited him to the service.
You can see why he is not a member in good standing in the World’s Most Exclusive Club. Trump’s bullying, insults and crude behavior have alienated himself from the other men who served in the White House.
It doesn’t have to be that way.
The 1976 race between President Gerald “Jerry” Ford, the incumbent Republican, and Carter was spotlighted during the service.
It was tense, and at times bitterly contested. Carter was narrowly elected, garnering 50.1 percent of the vote to Ford’s 48, as the president made a late charge to almost overcome a double-digit deficit in the polls. The two presidents had a chilly relationship after that contest.
Then, in 1981, President Ronald Reagan, who had opposed both in campaigns, asked them, along with the other living former president, Richard Nixon, to represent the United States at the funeral of the slain Egyptian leader Anwar Sadat.
The long flight over was tense, Ford and Carter recalled. But on the return trip, with Nixon gone on another mission, the rivals from 1976 relaxed and found common ground on a number of issues. Jerry and Jimmy talked about the challenges of building a presidential library, and vowed to assist one another.
In an extremely unlikely manner, a friendship was formed. It endured until Ford died in December 2006. A few years earlier, the two former presidents had agreed to deliver a eulogy at each other’s funeral.
Carter did so at Ford’s funeral in East Grand Rapids, Mich., on Jan. 3, 2007.
“You learn a lot about a man when you run against him for president, and when you stand in his shoes, and assume the responsibilities that he has borne so well, and perhaps even more after you both lay down the burdens of high office and work together in a nonpartisan spirit of patriotism and service,” he said.
“Jerry and I frequently agreed that one of the greatest blessings that we had, after we left the White House during the last quarter-century, was the intense personal friendship that bound us together.”
On Thursday, Ford’s eulogy for his “dear friend” was delivered at a service at the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. His son Steven Ford delivered the words his father had written.
“According to a map, it’s a long way between Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Plains, Georgia,” President Ford wrote. “But distances have a way of vanishing when measured in values, rather than miles. And it was because of our shared values, that Jimmy and I respected each other as adversaries, even before we cherished one another as dear friends.”
That was a deeply moving part of the service. It also served as an important reminder that we are all Americans with a deep love for our nation. That is all too often forgotten in these times of harsh politics and angry exchanges.
While Ford and Carter are gone, five other presidents were at the service:
They have worked together in the past, Ford and Carter reminded them, and can do so again. We need not consider ourselves at war with people we disagree with on some issues.
You have relatives and friends who differ from you on politics. You might sit down at the same table on holidays, but hold beliefs and cast votes that are completely the opposite. As Carter and Ford showed, that is completely understandable.
“Certainly, few observers in January 1977 would have predicted that Jimmy and I would become the closest of friends,” Ford told the guests at a December 2000 gathering to mark the 200th anniversary of the White House. “Yet we have, bonded by our years in this office and this house.”
Carter echoed that.
“I challenge any historian here tonight to find any former presidents who, after leaving the White House, have formed a closer and more intimate relationship than Gerald Ford and I,” he said. “I am grateful for that.”
Of course, there will be differences, debates and disappointments when one side triumphs and the other is defeated. But we cannot — we must not — stop treating each other as fellow Americans, even friends.
In the final lines of Ford’s eulogy, he spoke of the strong, shared faith that helped bond the old opponents. They would renew their friendship in a more peaceful setting than Washington.
“As for myself, Jimmy, I’m looking forward to our reunion. We have much to catch up on,” Ford wrote. “Thank you, Mr. President. Welcome home, old friend.”
Fourth-generation South Dakotan Tom Lawrence has written for several newspapers and websites in South Dakota and other states for four decades. He has contributed to The New York Times, NPR, The London Telegraph, The Daily Beast and other media outlets. Do not republish without permission.
Photo: Carter’s funeral procession on Pennsylvania Avenue, public domain, wikimedia commons
