Former US President Jimmy Carter will be honored with a state funeral at the National Cathedral in Washington, amid a flood of tributes to the 39th US president and the last representative of the so-called “Greatest Generation”.

The service caps a week of mourning in which Americans quietly marched past the flag-draped coffin at the U.S. Capitol to pay their respects to Mr. Carter, who died Dec. 29 at the age of 100 in his home state of Georgia make.

US President Joe Biden will deliver the eulogy for his fellow Democrat at the Episcopal Church, which is traditionally a place for the farewells of US presidents, from Dwight Eisenhower and Ronald Reagan to George HW Bush.

Mr Biden revealed in an interview with USA Today that Mr Carter had asked him to do the honors when the two – long-time friends – last met four years ago.

“Carter was a decent man. I think Carter saw the world not from here, but from here, where everyone else lives,” Mr. Biden said, pointing to his heart from above.

Mr Biden’s living predecessors – Bill Clinton, George W Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump – are expected to join around 3,000 mourners for the service. Today is a national day of mourning on which federal offices are closed.

Mr. Carter, who served a single term before losing an election to Ronald Reagan in 1980, was considered naive and weak in Washington politics.

Over the years, a more nuanced image of him has emerged, reassessing achievements such as brokering a peace deal between Israel and Egypt.

The Democrat also received widespread praise for his humanitarian efforts post-presidency and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.

The first president to reach triple digits, he had been in hospice care since February 2023 in his hometown of Plains, Georgia, where he died and is buried next to his late wife, former first lady Rosalynn Carter.

Mourners began paying their respects on Saturday as the carefully choreographed six-day farewell began, with U.S. flags flying at half-mast across the country.

A black hearse carrying Mr. Carter’s remains pulled up to his family’s peanut farm in Plains, where a bell rang 39 times and employees stood in silent tribute.

Crowds gathered along the side of the road to say goodbye, take photos or salute as the motorcade slowly passed.

Mr Carter’s coffin arrived at the snow-covered US Capitol in Washington on Tuesday.

It was accompanied by hundreds of military personnel, including military pallbearers, who carried Mr. Carter to the Rotunda to lay him in state before the ceremony – the first presidential funeral since the death of Mr. HW Bush in 2018.

US President-elect Donald Trump paid tribute to the late Jimmy Carter as he lay in state in Washington.

Chuck Schumer, the Senate Democratic leader, described Mr. Carter as “one of the most decent and humble public servants we have ever seen.”

“President Carter was a living embodiment of leadership through service, compassion and the pursuit of justice for all,” he said.