Scores wait in bitter DC cold to pay respects to Jimmy Carter: 'An honorable man'
WASHINGTON — Scores of people braved the harsh winds and bitter cold Wednesday to pay their respects to former President Jimmy Carter as his flag-draped casket lay in state in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda.
Multiple people who stood in the long line that snaked its way through the barricades told The Christian Post what moved them to come to the nation's capital days after a snowstorm to commemorate the 39th president, who died Dec. 29 at 100.
Irene Townsend, who came from Charlottesville, Virginia, said she voted for Carter decades ago and admired him for his character.
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"I think he was an honorable man, a peaceful man, and I think he did in his heart what was best for the country," said Townsend, who said she also got to meet Carter in the late 1990s when she and her husband attended a Sunday school class he was teaching at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Georgia.
"It was wonderful," she said. "He was a biblical scholar and had a great class. And afterward, he said he would be glad to take pictures with anyone who wanted to do that, as long as we stayed for the service afterward, which we did."
Townsend said Carter's legacy can teach Americans today that "we all are in this together, and we need to talk with each other about our differences and find some common ground to do some common good."
"He fought for peace, he got the [Camp David Accords] done," she continued. "And I think the fact that he was an outsider in Washington probably hurt him. He couldn't get as much done as he wanted to."
She acknowledged that some remain critical of Carter's presidency, but urged detractors "to look at his integrity, which is something that's sorely lacking, I think, in the upcoming administration."
Others in line who spoke to CP also brought up President-elect Donald Trump when asked about their thoughts on Carter.
Trump and his wife, Melania, were among those who entered the Rotunda on Wednesday to pay their respects, and will be among the dignitaries to attend Carter's state funeral at Washington National Cathedral on Thursday.
"How about integrity, humanity, hard work, humility? Everything that Trump is not," a man named Phil said regarding what he admired about Carter, whom he traveled from Leesburg, Virginia, to commemorate.
Phil's sister, Victoria, who traveled from New Jersey, echoed Phil's sentiment about Carter's integrity.
"What you heard from Carter was what he really believed and really intended to do," Victoria said as her eyes teared up from the cold wind. "You call that integrity? I believe he had an intellectual and moral integrity, and something motivated me to get on a train for three hours and come here in the freezing cold."
Terry Cauthen, a Washington, D.C., resident originally from North Carolina, said he appreciated Carter's legacy of supporting civil rights and what he did for black Americans like himself.
"I was born in the South, from North Carolina," he said. "And with desegregation, when they started integrating schools, Jimmy Carter was leading that charge."
"What he did was a blessing to the blacks, to all people of all walks of life; what he did for humanity, building houses, and what he believed," he added. "He was a peaceful, honorable, just straight-up good guy, and I wouldn't miss this for anything."
The crowd also included young people to whom Carter proved an inspiration despite leaving office decades before they were born.
A college student named John, a senior at the University of Richmond studying political science and French, said he made the trip from Virginia by himself because "President Carter was a great man."
"He took office in some challenging times, with a lot of stuff going on internationally and domestically. And I'm here to pay my respects," John said, adding that Carter's legacy could have something to say to a divided nation.
"He grew up in some very challenging times. He grew up in a segregated South, and he fought his whole life for civil rights," John continued. "He was really the product of a region that was so divided and very polarized among themselves, and he will be known as one of the last Southern Democrats."
Jon Brown is a reporter for The Christian Post. Send news tips to jon.brown@christianpost.com
