Draft:Death and state funeral of Jimmy Carter

Planning is underway for the expected death and state funeral of Jimmy Carter, the 39th President of the United States, age 99.

Carter had spent over an year in hospice care.

Background
After several years dealing with various health issues and declining physical ability, including several falls in his home, the Carter Center announced on February 18, 2023, that Carter was staying at home to "receive hospice care instead of additional medical intervention". Sources noted that hospice care medically means that the patient is expected to have not more than six months to live, though patients in hospice care typically die within several weeks. The following week after the announcement, it was reported that Carter's close family members had come to his home in Georgia to spend his final days with him, although local news reported four months later that Carter remained "in great spirits, visiting with family and still enjoying ice cream", speculating that Carter might still be alive for his 99th birthday in October. In late August 2023, Carter's grandson Jason Carter provided an update of Carter's health, noting that his grandfather was "in the final chapter" of his life, and in mid-September, Jason further reported that both Carter and former first lady Rosalynn Carter were "coming to the end", though both were well enough to be taken for a drive through the Plains Peanut Festival on September 23. When Carter reached his 99th birthday on October 1, 2023, the Associated Press noted that Carter had "defied all odds again". On November 17, 2023, it was announced that his wife Rosalynn would also be entering hospice care; she died two days later, at the age of 96, and Carter attended her funeral. In March 2024, he made his final vote in the 2024 Georgia Democratic presidential primary.

Carter had been the earliest-serving living former president for seventeen years, since the death of Gerald Ford in 2006. In September 2012 he surpassed Herbert Hoover as the President with the longest retirement. Two years later, on March 22, 2019, he became the nation's longest-lived president, when he surpassed the lifespan of George H.W. Bush, who was 94 years, 193 days of age when Bush died in November 2018; both men were born in 1924. He noted how difficult it felt to reach his 90s, the former president saying in a 2019 interview with People that he never expected to live as long as he has, claiming his secret to a long life is a good marriage. With Carter's death, the distinction of earliest living former president passes to Bill Clinton, and that of oldest living president passes to incumbent president Joe Biden, with the oldest living former president being Donald Trump.

In accordance with federal law and precedent, it is expected that upon Carter's death, President Biden will declare a national day of mourning and order all flags "throughout the United States and its Territories and possessions" lowered to half staff for 30 days after his death. Carter had previously made arrangements to be buried on the grounds of the home he and Rosalynn shared in Plains, Georgia. He noted in 2006 that a funeral in Washington, D.C., with visitation at the Carter Center was planned as well. The official funeral rites to conducted by the government of the United States are planned to occur over a period of five days, with part of the funeral rites including a lying in state at the Capitol rotunda.

Eulogy
While on a California trip in March 2023, President Biden stated that Carter had asked him to deliver his eulogy following his death.

Attending guests
It is expected that most of the living former presidents and vice presidents will attend. However, sources have questioned if Donald Trump would attend.