Jimmy Carter’s six-day farewell to the nation culminates Thursday when the 39th president receives a state funeral at the Washington National Cathedral before returning to his hometown of Plains, Georgia, to be buried next to his wife Rosalynn.

The service marks the end of Carter’s state in state at the U.S. Capitol, where Vice President Kamala Harris yesterday delivered a tribute to a president whose legacy of humanitarian work and diplomatic achievements extended far beyond his single term.

“He lived his faith, he served the people and he left the world better than he found it,” Harris said in a eulogy in which he praised Carter’s creation of key federal agencies and diplomatic initiatives, including the Camp David Agreement, highlighted.

The procession for America’s longest-living president will include all five living presidents, including President-elect Donald Trump.

After the service at the cathedral, Carter’s remains will begin their final journey back to Plains, the small Georgia town where his centuries-long life began and ended. An invitation-only funeral at Maranatha Baptist Church, where Carter taught Sunday school into his 90s, will precede his funeral alongside Rosalynn, his wife of 77 years.

In life, Carter eschewed the traditional role of elder statesman and instead devoted himself to practical humanitarian work, including through Habitat for Humanity and his campaign to eradicate Guinea worm disease. He wrote over 30 books on politics, faith and poetry, helped negotiate a nuclear standoff with North Korea through H4H in 1994, and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.

Praise for Carter’s character and service came from both sides of the aisle. House Speaker Mike Johnson described him Wednesday as “a role model of the virtues of service and citizenship like any other American.”

Carter will return to Plains, his hometown, on Thursday, where former Secret Service agents will serve as pallbearers and the National Park Service plans to ring the old farm bell 39 times in honor.

The former president died at his home on December 29 at the age of 100, after spending his final months in hospice with his family. His death came just over a year after that of Rosalynn, who died in November 2023 at the age of 96.