Announcing the Death of James Earl Carter, Jr., 185-186 [2024-31762]

Agencies

• Executive Office of the President

[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 2 (Friday, January 3, 2025)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 185-186]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-31762]




                        Presidential Documents 



Federal Register / Vol. 90, No. 2 / Friday, January 3, 2025 / 
Presidential Documents

___________________________________________________________________

Title 3--
The President

[[Page 185]]

                Proclamation 10876 of December 29, 2024

                
Announcing the Death of James Earl Carter, Jr.

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                TO THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES:

                It is my solemn duty to announce officially the death 
                of James Earl Carter, Jr., the thirty-ninth President 
                of the United States, on December 29, 2024.

                President Carter was a man of character, courage, and 
                compassion, whose lifetime of service defined him as 
                one of the most influential statesmen in our history. 
                He embodied the very best of America: A humble servant 
                of God and the people. A heroic champion of global 
                peace and human rights, and an honorable leader whose 
                moral clarity and hopeful vision lifted our Nation and 
                changed our world.

                The son of a farmer and a nurse, President Carter's 
                remarkable career in public service began in 1943 as a 
                cadet at the United States Naval Academy. He later 
                served in both the Atlantic and Pacific fleets before 
                becoming a decorated lieutenant and being selected to 
                join the elite nuclear submarine program.

                After his father died, he shifted from active duty to 
                the Navy Reserve and returned home to Plains, Georgia, 
                to help manage his family's peanut farm. He worked hard 
                stewarding the land while leading his community as a 
                church deacon, Sunday school teacher, and board member 
                of a hospital and library. His deep faith inspired a 
                passion for public service that led him to be elected 
                State Senator, Georgia's 76th Governor, and ultimately 
                President of the United States.

                As President, he understood that Government must be as 
                good as its people--and his faith in the people was 
                boundless just as his belief in America was limitless 
                and his hope for our common future was perennial.

                With President Carter's leadership, the modern 
                Department of Education and the Department of Energy 
                were created. He championed conservation, and his 
                commitment to a more just world was at the heart of his 
                foreign policy, leading on nuclear nonproliferation, 
                signing the Panama Canal treaties, and mediating the 
                historic 1978 Camp David Accords. His partnership with 
                Vice President Walter Mondale is one that future 
                administrations strived to achieve.

                Following his Presidency, President Carter advanced an 
                agenda that elevated the least among us. Guided by an 
                unwavering belief in the power of human goodness and 
                the God-given dignity of every human being, he worked 
                tirelessly around the globe to broker peace; eradicate 
                disease; house the homeless; and protect human rights, 
                freedom, and democracy.

                Through his extraordinary moral leadership, President 
                Carter lived a noble life full of meaning and purpose. 
                And as a trusted spiritual leader, he shepherded people 
                through seasons of pain and joy, inspiring them through 
                the power of his example and healing them through the 
                power of his guidance.

                As we mourn the loss of President Carter, we hold the 
                memory of his beloved Rosalynn, his wife of over 77 
                years, close in our hearts. Exemplifying hope, warmth, 
                and service, she and her husband inspired the Nation. 
                The

[[Page 186]]

                love Rosalynn and President Carter shared is the 
                definition of partnership, and their devotion to public 
                service is the definition of patriotism.

                May President Carter's memory continue to be a light 
                pointing us forward. May we continue to be guided by 
                his spirit in our Nation and in our world.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of 
                the United States of America, by the authority vested 
                in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United 
                States, in honor and tribute to the memory of President 
                James Earl Carter, Jr., and as an expression of public 
                sorrow, do hereby direct that the flag of the United 
                States be displayed at half-staff at the White House 
                and on all public buildings and grounds, at all 
                military posts and naval stations, and on all naval 
                vessels of the Federal Government in the District of 
                Columbia and throughout the United States and its 
                Territories and possessions for a period of 30 days 
                from the day of his death. I also direct that, for the 
                same length of time, the representatives of the United 
                States in foreign countries shall make similar 
                arrangements for the display of the flag at half-staff 
                over their embassies, legations, consular offices, and 
                other facilities abroad, including all military 
                facilities and naval vessels and stations.

                I hereby order that suitable honors be rendered by 
                units of the Armed Forces under orders of the Secretary 
                of Defense.

                I do further appoint January 9, 2025, as a National Day 
                of Mourning throughout the United States. I call on the 
                American people to assemble on that day in their 
                respective places of worship, there to pay homage to 
                the memory of President James Earl Carter, Jr. I invite 
                the people of the world who share our grief to join us 
                in this solemn observance.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                twenty-ninth day of December, in the year of our Lord 
                two thousand twenty-four, and of the Independence of 
                the United States of America the two hundred and forty-
                ninth.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 2024-31762
Filed 1-2-25; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3395-F4-P