In photos: Historic guest list as five presidents gather for Carter's funeral
2025-01-10
Category: news

Current and former presidents and vice-presidents gathered at Washington National Cathedral on Thursday for the funeral service of former US President Jimmy Carter, who died at the age of 100 last week. Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Barack Obama, George W Bush and Bill Clinton were seated together in the first rows of pews. Vice-President Kamala Harris, who lost the presidential election to Trump in November, and her predecessors Mike Pence and Al Gore were also among the select group of politicians and members of the public paying their respects to Carter. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton – who lost to Trump in the 2016 presidential election – was also seated with her husband.
In his eulogy, Joe Biden repeatedly praised Carter's "character" and lauded his establishment of a "model post-presidency, by making a powerful difference as a private citizen in America". "To make every minute of our time on earth count, that's the very definition of a good life," Biden says, encouraging people to study the power of Carter's example.The two men had known each other for decades. In his comments, Biden recalled how he was the first senator to endorse Carter's presidential bid. 
Photographers captured Trump and Obama - who have politically clashed for the better part of a decade - smiling and chatting before the service began.Former and incoming first lady Melania Trump joined her husband for the service but Michelle Obama was not in attendance. Sources close to former first lady told US media that she had a "scheduling conflict" and was still in Hawaii, where Barack Obama spent much of his childhood and where the Obama family usually spends their Christmas holidays.
Trump and his former vice-president, Mike Pence, shook hands as guests took their seats. The two men fell out at the end of Trump's presidency, when Pence presided over the certification of Biden's presidential win despite pressure from Trump not to do so.A riotous mob stormed the US Capitol on 6 January 2021 to try and stop the certification, with some calling for Pence's hanging.He then ran against Trump for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination and declined to endorse him when he won.
Vice-President-elect JD Vance was also there, as were lawmakers including Georgia Democrats Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff and Vermont Independent Bernie Sanders.
The event was also attended by several current and former world leaders and prominent international officials, including Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, the Netherlands' Princess Mabel of Orange-Nassau and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. At one point, Trudeau appeared to glare at Trump - who was repeatedly referred to him as "Governor Trudeau" in recent weeks and vowed to use "economic force" against Canada. 
There was no formality between Trump and Harris, whom he defeated in the 2024 election. Though seated near each other, the two politicians did not shake hands after entering the church. Trump was spotted staring at Harris as she took her seat. Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, Harris's husband, later shook hands with Trump as Harris spoke to Bush.
From the pulpit, speaker after speaker praised Carter's commitment to public service before and after his time in office.Steve Ford, son of former president Gerald Ford, read aloud a eulogy his late father wrote about Carter.The two men had made a pact to speak at each other's funerals – an oath Carter himself upheld when Ford died in 2007."By fate, for a brief season, Jimmy Carter and I were rivals," President Ford's eulogy read. But later, "it led to the most enduring of friendships".