VOA News | Wednesday, January 8, 2025 
Former President Jimmy Carter lies in state at US Capitol

Thousands of people braved freezing temperatures to come to the U.S. Capitol to pay their respects to former President Jimmy Carter, who lay in state Wednesday in the heart of American democracy ahead of his pomp-filled state funeral. Mourners, who included numerous elected officials and Vice President Kamala Harris, highlighted the achievements and the humanity of the100-year-old, who died last month. David Smith, a professor at the Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution at George Mason University, said that the former president obviously impacted his career. He told VOA that he came to the Capitol to honor the man but also to honor Carter’s causes. “He had such an impact on so many people,” he said. “His work on advancing minorities, appointments of women to the judiciary, protecting our environment, advocating for human rights – all those things are very important things to me.” The former president’s flag-draped coffin arrived in the Capitol rotunda Tuesday, ahead of Thursday’s national funeral. In that soaring space – where only about 50 Americans have been recognized with this distinct honor since 1852 – Senate Majority Leader Jon Thune, in a service late Tuesday, described Carter as: “Navy veteran, peanut farmer, governor of Georgia. And president of the United States. Sunday school teacher. Nobel Prize winner. Advocate for peace and human rights. And first and foremost, a faithful servant of his creator and his fellow man.” And Vice President Harris – who a day earlier, in this building, certified the victory of the next president…Read more