In a few days, Jimmy Carter will be celebrated in a church in Washington by US presidents, humanitarians and other world leaders.
But before all that, the hearse carrying the remains of Mr. Carter, the nation's 39th president, stopped Saturday outside a farmhouse in Georgia. There, he raised chickens, helped his father grow peanuts and began a seemingly impossible, century-long journey that lifted him from Plains, Ga., to the heights of political influence and a worldwide campaign to eradicate disease and prevent disease. the majority.
It was just the beginning of a long and varied journey of life. The journey, like his life, began and will end in rural Georgia, where he was born and raised and where he died on Dec. 29 out of 100.
In the coming days, a series of commemorative events will include a discussion of the idea Mr. Carter's impact on the world, including the legacy he left behind after one term in the White House and his post-presidential life were also described. he.
On Saturday, the journey began with the honoring of places and people who played a major role in shaping.
He lovingly wrote books about his upbringing milking cows, learning how to cook possums (taste: “unique”) and fetching water from a well. He also described the racial dynamics of the segregated South and the lasting problems from the Civil War.
“I grew up in one of the families whose people could not forget that we were defeated, while most of our neighbors were Black people whose grandparents were released from the same war,” wrote Mr. Carter in “An Hour Before Daylight,” a memoir of his childhood that won the Pulitzer Prize in 2002. “Our two races, though inseparable in our daily lives, were separated by social culture, misinterpretation of the Holy Scriptures and the indisputable law of the land as approved by the Supreme Court of the United States.”
The journey began around 10 a.m. in Americus, Ga., after his remains were placed in a hearse by current and former Secret Service agents who protect Mr. Carter.
In addition to stopping at his childhood home, now maintained by the National Park Service, the hearse passed through the Plains, a town of about 500 people that had been his home for most of his life.
As the hearse and hearses stopped at the top of the driveway near the farmhouse outside the Plains, the bells tolled 39 times, marking his place in the list of American presidents.
It was a cool morning and people were coming from near and far to sit by the road. Heather Baade, 54, had driven from Austin, Texas, and shared the sentiments of many others: “I love Jimmy Carter.” He praised his ability to balance his deep Christian faith with secular leadership. He also believed that he “tried to win the heart of the whole country,” he said, “which we don't see much these days.”
Robert Garland, a retired Miami-Dade County sheriff's deputy, was assigned Mr. Carter in 1991 when the former president visited Miami for his home building project with Habitat for Humanity. “He might have been our greatest president,” said Mr. Garland, 64. “He led with dignity, respect and honor.”
The car race will meander from the Plains through country lanes lined with farms and forest to the wide open spaces on the outskirts of Atlanta.
There, city and state leaders, including Gov. Brian Kemp, the Republican governor of Georgia, and Andre Dickens, the Democratic Mayor of Atlanta, were scheduled to stand outside the gold-plated Capitol. Those gathered had to be silent for a while.
A tour through the streets of Atlanta will begin there, with a hearse carrying the former president through the city where he lived for a long time. He focused on Braves games. He was going in by Manuel's Tavern, a bar that was a regular hangout for Georgia Democrats. He also worked long hours at the Carter Center, a nonprofit he founded with his wife after leaving the White House.
The day's journey is expected to end there, at the center in a wooded area on the northeast side of Atlanta. A private service will be held in the afternoon, and he will be in repose from Saturday evening and remain there until Tuesday morning.
On Tuesday morning, the trip will continue to Washington, where he will stay at the US Capitol for a day and a half. The funeral is scheduled for Thursday morning at the Washington National Cathedral, where President Biden is expected to deliver a sermon. President-elect Donald J. Trump has indicated he will attend.
From there, Mr. Carter will be carried back to the Plain. He will be buried on Thursday next to his wife of 77 years, Rosalynn, just outside the home they built together in 1961.
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