Joe Biden Shares the Moment Jimmy Carter Asked Him to Deliver a Eulogy: 'He Was in Tough Shape'
The president revealed in a recent interview that Carter made the request years ago, while the 39th president was planning his funeral
Joe Biden will deliver Jimmy Carter's eulogy at the national funeral service on Thursday, Jan. 9, the president confirmed.
In an interview with USA Today published on Wednesday morning, Biden shared details about his last conversation with Carter in 2021, when the then-96-year-old former president was making plans for his funeral. It was on Biden's 100th day in office.
"I bent down — he was in tough shape — to kiss him goodbye, and he asked me to do his eulogy," said Biden, who was credited as the first national politician to endorse Carter's 1976 presidential campaign.
Biden is now set to deliver the long-planned speech at the Washington National Cathedral on Thursday, in one of the biggest moments of Carter's six-day state funeral. The event is expected to reunite all five living U.S. presidents after a tense election year.
Biden previously let slip at a fundraiser in March 2023 that Carter had asked him to deliver his eulogy, telling attendees: "I spent time with Jimmy Carter, and it's finally caught up with him," likely referring to Carter's previous bout with cancer.
"But they found a way to keep him going for a lot longer than they anticipated because they found a breakthrough," Biden added, according to a White House pool report.
"He asked me to do his eulogy," Biden then said to the group, before he added, "excuse me, I shouldn't say that."
Related: Jimmy Carter, 99, Makes Rare Appearance at Late Wife Rosalynn Carter’s Memorial Service
The Carter Center announced in a statement in February 2023 that the former U.S. president would be moved to hospice care following "a series of short hospital stays."
"Former US President Jimmy Carter today decided to spend his remaining time at home with his family and receive hospice care instead of additional medical intervention," the statement said. "He has the full support of his family and his medical team."
"The Carter family asks for privacy during this time and is grateful for the concern shown by his many admirers," the statement concluded.
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Even after months in hospice care, however, Carter made public appearances in November, at his late wife Rosalynn Carter's memorial service in Atlanta and a private funeral for her in their hometown of Plains, Ga.
He died 13 months after that final public outing, on Sunday, Dec. 29, at the record-breaking age of 100.
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