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Former President Jimmy Carter will attend Tuesday’s memorial events for his late wife, Rosalynn Carter, who died earlier this month.
Jimmy Carter, who has been in hospice care since February, left his home in Plains, Georgia Tuesday morning en route to the service for the former first lady at a church at Emory University in Atlanta. He is being accompanied by his physician. He had a new suit made Monday for the occasion.
President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and several former first ladies will gather in Georgia Tuesday to honor the late Rosalynn Carter, who died on Nov. 19 at the age of 96. She is being celebrated this week with several memorial events in her home state before her funeral Wednesday at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains.
A military team carries the casket of former U.S. First Lady Rosalynn Carter upon arrival at the Carter Presidential Library and Museum, Nov. 27, 2023, in Atlanta.
Mike Stewart/Pool/AFP via Getty Images
Members of the public pay respects to former first lady Rosalynn Carter at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta, Nov. 27, 2023, during the public repose.
Brynn Anderson/AP
A dozen political leaders are set to attend Tuesday’s tribute service for the former first lady. The Bidens, Vice President Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff, former President Bill Clinton and former first lady Hillary Clinton and local leaders will be there, as well as former first ladies Laura Bush, Michelle Obama and Melania Trump.
The Clintons and Obama traveled to Georgia on Air Force One with the Bidens, according to the White House.
Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter were married for 77 years, the longest marriage of any first couple in U.S. history, and both built a lasting legacy outside the White House through their humanitarian work — Rosalynn especially for her advocacy for mental health.
U.S. President Joe Biden and US First Lady Jill Biden walk to their vehicle after disembarking Air Force One at Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Nov. 28, 2023, in Marietta, Ga.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images
The service will begin at 1 p.m., according to the Carter Center, and will feature music from members of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearword. Remarks will be given by Carter’s personal pastor and readings will be done by some Carter’s children and grandchildren.
President Biden is not slated to speak, the White House said Monday, but press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters he and first lady Jill Biden look forward to “offering their condolences and participating in the event by attending.”
A woman holds a photo of former U.S. First Lady Rosalynn Carter as her body lays in repose at the Carter Presidential Library, Nov. 27, 2023, in Atlanta.
Christian Monterrosa/AFP via Getty Images
Biden’s relationship with the Carters spans decades, back to when he endorsed Carter for the presidency while serving as a first-term senator in 1976. Biden said earlier this year that former President Carter, who is now 99 years old, has asked him to deliver his eulogy.
After Rosalynn Carter’s passing earlier this month, Biden said the former first couple shared great integrity.
“First Lady Rosalynn Carter walked her own path, inspiring a nation and the world along the way,” the Bidens said in a statement.
-ABC News’ Joshua Hoyos contributed to this report.
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