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CNN Live Event/Special

The State Funeral of President Jimmy Carter. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired January 09, 2025 - 10:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[10:30:00]

JOSHUA CARTER, JIMMY CARTER'S GRANDSON: Now, if we are children, then we are heirs. Heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings, in order that we may also share in his glory. I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing to the glory that will be revealed in us, for I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, either the present or the future, nor any powers, either height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

The word of the Lord.

CROWD: Thanks be to God.

STEVEN FORD, FORMER PRESIDENT GERALD FORD'S SON: For our story, the Carter children, my wife and I were sitting several rows behind you and we were praying for you and I was humbly reminded that it was 18 years ago, almost to the day that there are families sat in that very row and supporting my mom, and it was your dad and his great faith that supported my mom and gave her hope that week. He traveled with us for several days and we were blessed. So, thank you.

God did a good thing when he made your dad. Jack, Chip, Jeff, Amy, Mr. President, Madam Vice President, Former Presidents, First Ladies, Members of the House of Representatives and the Senate, Justices of the Supreme Court, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen. In the twilight of my dad's life, dad and President Carter spoke by phone and dad asked President Carter if he would do a eulogy at dad's funeral. President Carter graciously agreed. And then he also asked if dad would deliver a eulogy at President Carter's funeral.

Now, dad was thrilled to agree. After that call, as you can imagine, both of them got off the phone and had a pretty good chuckle, considering which one of them would return in person to deliver that second eulogy.

As you know, dad died in 2006 and President Carter's eulogy continues to bring comfort, smile, laughter, joy, pride to our family. And thus, on behalf of my dad, it's an honor to share dad's eulogy to his old friend.

[10:35:00] I can just see my dad getting his yellow legal pad out with his pen and writing this for his beloved friend. By fate of a brief season, Jimmy Carter and I were rivals. But for the many wonderful years that followed, friendship bonded us as no two presidents since John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. It has said that President Adam's last words were, Thomas Jefferson still survives.

Now, since Jimmy has a good decade on me, I'm hedging my bets by entrusting my remembrances of Jimmy to my son, Steve. According to a map, it's a long way between Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Plains, Georgia. But distances have a way of vanishing when measured in values rather than miles. And it was because of our shared values that Jimmy and I respected each other as adversaries, even before we cherished one another as dear friends.

Now, this is not to say that Jimmy never got under my skin, but has there ever been a group of politicians that didn't do that to one another? During our 1976 contest, Jimmy knew my political vulnerabilities, and he successfully pointed them out. Now, I didn't like it, but little could I know that the outcome of that 1976 election would bring about one of my deepest and most enduring friendships.

In the summer of 1981, the two of us found ourselves together again, this time aboard Air Force One bound for the funeral of the great peacemaker Anwar Sadat. There's an old line to the effect that two presidents in a room is one too many.

Frankly, I wondered how awkward that long flight might be to Cairo, and it was a long flight, but the return trip was not nearly long enough for it was somewhere over the Atlantic that Jimmy and I forged a friendship that transcends politics. We immediately decided to exercise one of the privileges of a former president, forgetting that either one of us had ever said any harsh words about the other one in the heat of battle. Then we got onto much more enjoyable subjects, discussing our families, our faith, and sharing our experiences in discovering that there is indeed life after the White House.

We commiserate over the high cost of building presidential libraries and the even more regrettable fact that most of that fundraising for these otherwise admirable institutions fell to us personally. On the spot, we agreed to participate. in programs at each other's library, beginning with a series of conferences on arms control. And if that wasn't newsworthy enough, we told reporters on the plane that a lasting Middle East peace would require the United States to make tough decisions, like confronting the Palestinian issue directly. Thereby, building on the work to which President Sadat had literally given his life.

It was the first time, but by no means the last time, that our unlikely partnership ruffled feathers in the Washington establishment.

Now, honesty -- Jimmy Carter. Yes. Those traits were instilled (INAUDIBLE) his loving parents, Lillian and Earl Carter. And the strength of his honesty was reinforced by his upbringing in the Rural South, poised on the brink of social transformation. [10:40:00]

He displayed that honesty throughout his life as a naval officer, state legislator, governor, president, and world leader. For Jimmy Carter, honesty was not an aspirational goal, it was part of his very soul.

Now, I think Jimmy wrote more books than any former president. Once asked if he really enjoyed writing, he replied with that familiar twinkle in his eye at Beats Pickin' Cotton. But I think he enjoyed writing for another reason. As an author, he was under no pressure to tailor his opinions to some political constituency or potential contributor.

Now, both of us had experienced the harsh reality that defeat at the polls can be painful, but we also came to know a more important consequence, political defeat and writing can also be liberating. If it frees you to discuss topics that aren't necessarily consistent with short-term political popularity.

Now, Jimmy learned early on that it was not enough merely to bear witness in a pew on a Sunday morning inspired by his faith. He pursued brotherhood across boundaries of nationhood, across boundaries of tradition, across boundaries of cash. In America's urban neighborhoods and in rural villages around the world he reminded us that Christ had been a carpenter. And in third world villages, he successfully campaigned not for votes, but for the eradication of diseases that shame the developed world as a ravage the undeveloped one.

Now, of course, not all of Jimmy's time was spent building houses, eradicating disease, brokering ceasefires, monitoring elections. While Jimmy is probably the only former president to conduct a weekly bible class I know for certain he's the only former president to perform a duet of "On the Road Again" with Willie Nelson.

Georgia wasn't just on Jimmy's mind, it was in his blood. However far he traveled, he never forgot where he came home to, or where now, in the end, he would finally come home to.

Of the many things Jimmy and I had in common, the most important is this, we both married way above ourselves, way above. With Jimmy, every step of the way was his first lady from Plains in a life rich with blessings, none was greater for Jimmy than the love he shared with Rosalynn and the love the two of them shared with their children, grandchildren, great grandchildren.

Like Jimmy, Rosalynn was and is a symbol of American compassion. Like no other first lady in our history, Rosalynn Carter is indeed a true citizen of the world. And she became a beloved friend to my wife, Betty and me and to all the Ford family. While the Carter and Ford men were decidedly mixed record when it came to lobby in Congress, Rosalynn and Betty were unbeatable in their advocacy for millions of people whom they brought out of the shadows of despair and shame.

Now, is a time to say goodbye. Our grief comforted with the joy and the thanksgiving of knowing this man, this beloved man, this very special man. He was given the gift of years and the American people and the people of the world will be forever blessed by his decades of good works.

[10:45:00]

Jimmy Carter's legacy of peace and compassion will remain unique as it is timeless. The entire Ford family, we extend our love to you, and we add our prayers to the prayers of tens of millions of people around the world. May God bless and watch over this good man. May he grant peace to the Carter family. As they say goodbye to a man whose life was lived to the fullest, with a faith demonstrated in countless good works, with a mission richly fulfilled, and a soul rewarded, with everlasting life.

As for myself, Jimmy, I'm looking forward to our reunion. We have much to catch up on. Thank you, Mr. President. Welcome home, old friend.

TED MONDALE, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT WALTER MONDALE'S SON: My father wrote this in 2015. And clearly, he edited it a couple times since then. But here we go.

Today, we join in sadness to honor our dear friend President Carter for his extraordinary years of principled and decent leadership and his courageous commitment to civil rights and human rights.

I remember the emergence of Jimmy Carter on the national stage in particular his 1971 inaugural address. For the first time, a Georgia governor called for a commitment to the traditions of Martin Luther King Jr. and for the decency that his leadership stood for over his lifetime.

I was surprised when then-Candidate Carter asked me to join him as his running mate in 1976. He amazed me then, as he has every year since. He, of course, was brilliant. He also had a great sense of humor. And while we had only four years in the White House, he achieved so much in that time. It stood as a marker for Americans dedicated to justice and decency.

Carter was a man of his word. I remember when he talked about the concept of the vice presidency. I told him I'd like to do it, and had only two requests. I wanted to make a real contribution, and I didn't want to be embarrassed, as many of my predecessors have. He agreed, welcomed my full participation, and directed his staff to treat me as they would him. He was very careful to protect me from the frustration and too often humiliation that had cursed the lives of many vice presidents.

[10:50:00]

I want to thank the president for the good choices he made with his key personnel. We don't have time to mention many of them, but Stu Eizenstat comes as close as possible to rivaling President Carter's formidable work ethic. Hamilton Jordan and Jody Powell were blessings every day, to me, to the president and to the nation.

One of the things that dawned on me during the course of our time together is how well we work together and how we understood each other. I think one of the realities was that Carter was a devout Christian who grew up in a small town and was active in his faith for almost every moment of his life.

I was also a small-town kid who grew up in a Methodist church where my dad was a preacher, and our faith was core to me, as Carter's faith was core to him. That common commitment to our faith created a bond between us that allowed us to understand each other and find ways to work together. He allowed me to take a leadership role on issues that never would have happened before. For instance, he directed and trusted me to take a central role and trying to bring decency to the Vietnamese and Southeast Asian boat people who were fleeing their country.

With President Carter's orders, the boat people were picked up by our great Navy from their flimsy boats which were capsizing and taken to safety. Most became good American citizens working for a healthy and prosperous nation.

Joan loved her time as a second lady. And we have Jimmy and Rosalynn to thank for helping her champion the public arts, and for just being so kind to her. These were good years for Joan and I.

President Carter and I became very close friends. We often spent hours together throughout the day. We were working on real problems, not wasting time. The personal relationship we established while in office continued throughout our life.

Carter was farsighted. He put aside his short-term political interests to tackle challenges that demanded sacrifice, to protect our kids and grandkids from future harm. Very few people in the 1970s had heard the term climate change. Yet, Carter put his presidency on the line to pass laws to conserve energy, deregulate new oil and gas prices, and invest in clean, renewable alternatives to fossil fuels. It wasn't a perfect program, but thanks to President Carter, U.S. energy consumption declined by 10 percent between 1979 and 1983.

In many ways, he laid the foundation for future presidents to come to grips with climate change. Some thought he was crazy to fight so hard to pass these laws, but he was dead right, and we know that now.

We also know that President Carter elevated human rights to the top of his agenda. Sometimes we forget how seriously he pursued, he pushed to advance the rights of women. He proposed and signed the law extending the period for states to approve the Equal Rights Amendment. He appointed women to head the Departments of Commerce, education, HUD, and what is now HEW.

Women on his White House staff played crucial roles in developing his highest priority energy and environmental proposals. And he dramatically increased the ranks of female circuit and district court judges, including Ruth Bader Ginsburg. In all, he appointed five times as many women to the federal bench. As all of the previous presidents had from the beginning of our country.

Two decades ago, President Carter said he believed income inequality was the biggest global issue. More recently in a 2018 commencement address at Liberty University he said, I think now the largest global issue is the discrimination against women and girls in this world.

[10:55:00]

He concluded that until stubborn attitudes that foster discrimination against women change, the world cannot advance and poverty and income equality cannot be solved.

Towards the end of our time in the White House, the president and I were talking about how we might describe what we tried to accomplish in office. We came up with a sentence, which remains an important summary of our work. We told the truth, we obeyed the law, and we kept the peace. That we did, Mr. President.

I will always be proud and grateful to have had the chance to work with you towards noble ends. It was then and will always be the most rewarding experience of my public career. Thank you.

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