Jimmy Carter unites US as presidents attend state funeral

WASHINGTON: Jimmy Carter brought a brief moment of national unity to a divided America on Thursday as five US presidents gathered for the solemn state funeral of the 39th commander-in-chief in Washington´s National Cathedral.

In historic scenes just 11 days before the inauguration of Donald Trump for what promises to be a turbulent second term, the incoming president and outgoing President Joe Biden set aside their bitter rivalry to mourn Carter together.

Former presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton also sat with them for the somber ceremony to honor Carter, who died on December 29 at the age of 100 in his home state of Georgia.

Democrat Carter was widely perceived as naive and weak during his single term from 1977 to 1981, but a more nuanced view has emerged as the years passed, focusing on his decency and foreign policy achievements.

Carter´s flag-draped coffin was transported from the US Capitol, where it had been lying in state, and brought into the immense cathedral by an honor guard of service members in ceremonial uniforms. His grandson Joshua Carter gave the first homily to the last president of the “Greatest Generation.”

President Joe Biden will deliver the eulogy for his fellow Democrat at the neo-Gothic cathedral, a traditional venue for send-offs of US presidents, from Dwight Eisenhower and Ronald Reagan to George H.W. Bush.

Biden, who leaves the White House on January 20 after his own single term in office, has said that Carter asked him to do so when the pair -- long-standing friends -- met for the last time four years ago.