Day of mourning: What happens when a former president dies

Since February of last year, 99-year-old former President Jimmy Carter has been in hospice care living in his small hometown of Plains, Georgia. 

Speaking at a forum last weekend, grandson Jason Carter said his grandfather is doing OK but recognized that the former president’s time is coming to an end. When Jimmy Carter dies, his funeral will be the first for a Democratic president in half a century. 

What’s happened before

There have only been four state funerals for former presidents since 1973, including Lyndon B. Johnson’s funeral in 1973, Ronald Reagan’s in 2004, Gerald R. Ford’s in 2007, and George H.W. Bush’s in 2018. 

Richard Nixon died in 1994 after suffering a stroke. His wife opted to hold a smaller funeral at his presidential library, adhering to his wishes. 

Day of mourning  

After a former president passes away, the current president is expected to announce the former president’s death and issue an executive order closing the federal government for a National Day of Mourning for the deceased president. The sitting president will also mandate that all flags remain at half-staff for 30 days.

State presidential funerals last five days and are broken up into three stages. The first stage consists of ceremonies in the state where the former president lived, and the second stage includes ceremonies within Washington, D.C.

To begin the ceremonies in Washington, D.C., the deceased president’s body will lie in state, meaning it will sit in the Capitol rotunda so the public can pay their respects. Some presidents, such as Gerald Ford, have opted to place their bodies not in the rotunda but instead in the chambers of the House and Senate. 

The long road to the funeral

Prior to the funeral, a procession typically travels down Pennsylvania Avenue. However there have been variations to the procession, for example when Ford requested no horse and a procession that instead went through Alexandria.

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Following the procession, the state funeral occurs at the Washington National Cathedral. All surviving presidents and the first ladies sit together, regardless of political party.

State celebrations

The third stage consists of ceremonies in the state where the president is buried. A memorial will be held for the president, followed by a burial. Regarding final resting spots, the former president will typically choose to rest in their home state. However, John F. Kennedy and William Howard Taft were buried at Arlington National Cemetery.