Biden eulogizes Jimmy Carter as ‘good and faithful servant’ at funeral service

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jan 9, 2025 / 18:20 pm

U.S. President Joe Biden praised former President Jimmy Carter’s character and referred to him as a “good and faithful servant of God” in his eulogy of the country’s 39th president during a funeral service at Washington National Cathedral on Thursday, Jan. 9. 

“The man had character,” Biden said during the service, which was attended by every living former U.S. president, numerous lawmakers, six Supreme Court justices, several celebrities, and Carter’s family. 

“Jimmy held a deep Christian faith in God,” Biden said. “Faith founded on commandments of Scripture: Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and all thy mind and all thy soul and love thy neighbor as thyself. Easy to say, but very, very difficult to do.”

Biden, the nation’s second Catholic president, was one of several people to eulogize Carter, a lifelong Baptist. Various speakers referenced Carter’s legacy both in and out of public office, his peace and humanitarian efforts, and his faith in Christ.

Three of Carter’s grandchildren spoke at the service, as did Steven Ford, the son of former President Gerald Ford; and Ted Mondale, the son of former Vice President Walter Mondale, who both read eulogies drafted by their fathers, both of whom died before Carter.

Biden, who was one of the first elected officials outside of Georgia to endorse Carter’s 1976 presidential campaign, said that endorsement was based on “Jimmy Carter’s enduring attribute: character, character, character.”

“Through it all, he showed us how character and faith start with ourselves and then flow to others,” Biden said. “At our best, we share the better parts of ourselves: joy, solidarity, love, commitment. Not for reward, but in reverence to the incredible gift of life we’ve all been granted to make every minute of our time here on Earth count. That’s the definition of a good life — the life Jimmy Carter lived in his 100 years.”

The service included Christian hymns such as “Amazing Grace,” “Be Still My Soul,” and “Eternal Father, Strong to Save.” The service also included the song “Imagine” by John Lennon, which is not a Christian song but rather includes the lyrics “imagine there’s no heaven” and “no religion too.” 

Although Carter had spoken positively of the song during his lifetime, to many observers, such as Bishop Robert Barron, the selection struck a discordant note.

“Vested ministers sat patiently while a hymn to atheistic humanism was sung,” Barron said in a post on X. “This was not only an insult to the memory of a devoutly believing Christian but also an indicator of the spinelessness of too much of established religion in our country.”

Carter’s grandson, James Carter, offered the Gospel reading from Matthew 5:1-16, which includes the Beatitudes.

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted,” he read in part. “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. … Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.”

One of Carter’s other grandsons, Josh Carter, read verses from St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans, which he said was the bedrock of his grandfather’s faith. 

“There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus because through Christ Jesus the law has set me free from the law of sin and death,” he read from Romans 8:1-18. “For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin and sinful man in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature, but according to the spirit.”

As a national figure, President Carter was known for speaking often about his Christian faith and spent much of his life engaged in humanitarian work. However, he also supported legal abortion and later in life expressed his support for homosexual marriage.

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Family, friends remember Carter’s legacy and faith

In addition to reading from Romans, grandson Josh Carter spoke at length about his grandfather’s many decades of humanitarian work and teaching Sunday school, which he described as a central part of his life.

“My grandfather spent the entire time I’ve known him helping those in need,” Josh Carter said. “He built houses for people in need of homes. He eliminated diseases in forgotten places. He waged peace anywhere in the world, wherever he saw a chance. He loved people. And whenever he told these stories in Sunday school, he always said he did it for one simple reason: He worshipped the Prince of Peace.”

Steven Ford, the son of former President Gerald Ford, read the eulogy for Carter that his father wrote before his own death. Carter defeated Ford in the 1976 election and the eulogy noted the formerly fierce competition between the two but also “one of my deepest and most enduring friendships.”

“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,” the eulogy read. “… 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 caste. In America’s urban neighborhoods and in rural villages around the world, he reminded us that Christ had been a carpenter.” 

Ted Mondale, the son of former Vice President Walter Mondale who served under Carter, also read his father’s eulogy, which focused on the 39th president’s Christian faith and his support for human rights globally. 

“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,” the eulogy read. “I was also a small-town kid who grew up in a Methodist church where my dad was the 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.”