Visit our website:
http://www.france24.com
Like us on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/FRANCE24.English
Follow us on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/France24_en
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00It's an emotional day, of course, and Jimmy Carter died last Sunday, aged 100, the longest
00:05lived president in U.S. history. This morning, the motorcade set off from a medical center where
00:12he'd been kept, and that involved some current and former Secret Service agents who worked with him.
00:19It went through his hometown of Plains, Georgia, where he lived for so many decades. There were
00:24many people lining the streets, waving flags, holding signs, shouting things like,
00:30thank you, Jimmy, and we love you, Jimmy. The motorcade stopped at the farm just near Plains,
00:38where Jimmy Carter grew up, tending potato crops for his father, raising chickens. He had a very
00:45humble childhood without running water or electricity. Then the motorcade made its way
00:52to the state capital, Atlanta. That's about two and a half, three hours. It stopped at the state
00:58capital building itself, and now, as you mentioned, reaching the Carter Presidential Center,
01:05where there'll be a private service, and Jimmy Carter will lie in repose. I'm sure many people
01:11will go to pass his casket. He'll be there until Tuesday when he goes to Washington,
01:17D.C. He'll lie in the state capital there, and then on to the Washington National Cathedral
01:25for a funeral service on Thursday with every living president expected to attend, including
01:33President-elect Donald Trump and the eulogy to be delivered by Joe Biden. Then later on Thursday,
01:40Carter returns to Georgia, and he'll be buried just at the grounds of his home there next to
01:46his wife of 77 years, Rosalind. Now, it's hard to overstate the importance of Jimmy Carter to
01:54Georgia, isn't it? I mean, he leaves behind quite a legacy for the state and also, obviously, for
01:58the country as well. Yeah, I think Georgians take great pride in having produced Jimmy Carter. He's
02:06the only U.S. president to come from Georgia. Previously, he was the governor of that state,
02:14and when he was inaugurated, he gave a speech in which he declared the time for racial
02:21discrimination is over. That certainly took some people in Georgia by surprise, given its history
02:27in the Deep South, a long history of segregation and so on. I think he was viewed as a pretty
02:34successful governor. Of course, that was a springboard for him to go on and become president.
02:40He had only four years in Washington, and once that was over, Georgia was very much his home
02:47base. You can just look at some of the affectionate reactions today. In the town of Plains,
02:53almost everyone seemed to know him or be a family member. They have very fond memories. He did
03:00pioneering work at the Carter Center for decades. That remains a big hub in Atlanta. You really see
03:09a state in mourning today and saying thank you to Jimmy Carter for a long life of service.