Today, Jimmy Carter, the 39th President of the United States, will be honored with a funeral service at Washington National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. before he is laid to rest in Plains, Georgia beside his wife, Rosalynn. Carter died on December 29, 2024 at the age of 100.
All five living presidents gathered in Washington to honor Carter, most of whom were joined by the first ladies (notably absent was Michelle Obama). President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden were joined in the front row by Vice President Kamla Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff. In the second row, President-elect Donald Trump and Melania Trump sat with former presidents and first ladies Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, George W. Bush, Laura Bush, and Barack Obama. Justin Trudeau, who recently resigned from his position as Prime Minister of Canada was also in attendance, as were former Vice Presidents Mike Pence, Al Gore, and Dan Quayle.
For the most part, the attendees stuck with traditional funeral attire. The former presidents all wore suits with ties ranging from blue to black. Vice President Harris wore a below-the-knee black skirt suit. She swapped her usual strand of pearls for a black pearl necklace. The former first ladies also wore black and pearls. Clinton affixed a large gold brooch to a black blazer, which she accessorized with two necklaces—one gold, one with large baroque pearls—while Bush wore a more traditional strand with her black dress.
Incoming First Lady Trump, for her part, wore the most unorthodox clothing in a black Valentino coatdress from fall 2019 complete with an exaggerated white collar printed with what appeared to be kissing statues. From her spot in the front pew, Biden looked a portrait of a first lady in a black skirt suit with gold triangular buttons and small pearl buttons.
