Former first lady Rosalynn Carter honored in private tribute service

Former first lady Rosalynn Carter is being remembered Tuesday at a tribute service attended by her husband, former President Jimmy Carter, as well as by President Joe Biden and numerous current and former politicians and first ladies.

The service is being held at Glenn Memorial Church on the campus of Emory University in Atlanta. Rosalynn Carter died Nov. 19 at age 96 in Plains, Georgia.

Just before the service began, former President Carter was wheeled into the church in a wheelchair and positioned in the front pews. The Carters' four older children sat on each side of their father. The others in the front row included Biden, first lady Jill Biden, former President Bill Clinton, and other former first ladies: Hillary Clinton, Michelle Obama, Laura Bush and Melania Trump. Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, sat behind them in the second row.

They all joined the Bidens in their motorcade except Melania Trump.

Other attendees who joined the Biden motorcade included Sens. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., and Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens as well as Lynda Bird Johnson Robb, daughter of the late President Lyndon Johnson, and her husband, former Sen. Chuck Robb, D-Va.

The Carters' second eldest son, James Earl "Chip" Carter, spoke in his eulogy about how his mother cared deeply for people who needed help.

"She told me that her adventures had led her to more than 120 countries. She had been fly fishing all over the world. She had met kings and queens, presidents, others of authority, powerful corporate leaders and celebrities," he said during the service. "She said the people that she felt the most comfortable with and the people she enjoyed being with the most were those that lived in absolute abject poverty, the ones without adequate housing, without a proper diet."

He credited his mother with saving his life, and getting him into rehab for drug and alcohol addiction. Her son kissed the casket after he finished his eulogy.

Longtime journalist Judy Woodruff delivered another eulogy during which she spoke about covering the Carters as a young reporter. She noted how Rosalynn Carter decided to participate in White House Cabinet meetings as first lady and that she was integral to the decision to host the negotiations for the Camp David Accords at Camp David.

"Without Rosalynn Carter, I don't believe there would have been a President Carter," Woodruff said.

The president, first lady, vice president and her husband participated in a private meet-and-greet with members of the Carter family before the service at Glenn School for Young Children, the White House said.

On Monday, the first day of services, the former first lady lay in repose at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta. A private funeral service is scheduled for Wednesday in Plains.

"The president and the first lady certainly look forward to being there and to ... offering their condolences," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at Monday's briefing. She said the president would not be delivering remarks at the service.

The service will include musical performances by Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood and members of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, according to the Carter Center. Rosalynn Carter's family members and friends will also have a hand throughout the service, with her children James Earl “Chip” Carter III welcoming guests and Amy Carter presenting a reading, the center said.

A grandson and great-grandchildren will read Scripture passages. A grandson will also deliver a tribute, along with Kathryn Cade, a friend and longtime aide and the vice chair at the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregivers, and PBS journalist Judy Woodruff.

"Time and time again, during the more than four decades of our friendship — through rigors of campaigns, through the darkness of deep and profound loss — we always felt the hope, warmth, and optimism of Rosalynn Carter," Biden said in a statement Nov. 19 about the death of the former first lady. "She will always be in our hearts."

Rosalynn Carter spent much of her life advocating for mental health care. In 1987, she founded the caregivers institute, building on her "belief that everyone is a caregiver now, has been a caregiver, or will either be or need a caregiver in the future," according to the organization's website.

“Rosalynn was my equal partner in everything I ever accomplished,” Jimmy Carter said in a statement Nov. 19. “She gave me wise guidance and encouragement when I needed it. As long as Rosalynn was in the world, I always knew somebody loved and supported me.”