President Joe Biden has scheduled a state funeral in Washington for former President Jimmy Carter on Jan. 9.
Biden also declared Jan. 9 as a National Day of Mourning across the U.S. Carter, the longest-lived former president, died Sunday at his home in Plains, Georgia. He was 100.
Biden also ordered U.S. flags to fly at half-staff for 30 days from Sunday.
Biden broke from his family vacation in the U.S. Virgin Islands to remember Carter, recalling his predecessor as a role model and friend.
America and the world lost a "remarkable leader" with Carter's death, Biden said, adding that he had spoken to several of the former president's children and was working with them to formalize memorial arrangements in Washington. Speaking for roughly 10 minutes, Biden remembered Carter as a humanitarian and statesman, someone he couldn't imagine walking past a person in need without trying to help them. He represented “the most fundamental human values we can never let slip away," Biden said.
The president repeatedly praised Carter's "simple decency" and his values, saying some will see him as a man of honesty and humility from a bygone era.
"I don't believe it's a bygone era. I see a man not only of our time, but for all times," Biden said. "To know his core, you need to know he never stopped being a Sunday school teacher at that Baptist church in Plains, Georgia."
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