A horse-drawn caisson carrying President Jimmy Carter’s flag-draped casket was on its way Tuesday afternoon in a dramatic procession to the U.S. Capitol, where the 39th president will lie in state.

As it departed the U.S. Navy Memorial, the caisson passed by crowds of onlookers braving the bitter Washington, D.C., cold to pay their respects. It was followed by members of the Carter family on foot.
The funeral procession is “designed to mirror Carter’s inaugural parade where Carter and his family walked on foot from the U.S. Capitol to the White House on Jan. 20, 1977,” according to the Joint Task Force-National Capital Region and The U.S. Army Military District of Washington.

Carter’s remains were flown in an Air Force One jet from Georgia to Joint Base Andrews outside of Washington, D.C., earlier Tuesday after a solemn ceremony in Atlanta. Carter family members then accompanied his remains to Dobbins Air Reserve Base in nearby Marietta, Georgia, for a Special Air Mission 39 flight – a tribute to Carter − to Washington.
Military personnel will carry the casket into the Capitol Rotunda, where members of Congress will pay their respects at a service. The congressional service had been delayed to 4:30 p.m. because of inclement weather after a winter storm slammed the D.C. region Monday. Federal offices in Washington remained closed Tuesday because of the weather.

Carter will lie in state Tuesday for public viewing from 7 p.m. to midnight, then from 7 a.m. Wednesday until 7 a.m. Thursday.
Carter’s funeral is scheduled for Thursday at Washington National Cathedral, and President Joe Biden has declared Thursday a National Day of Mourning. After the funeral, Carter and his family will return to Georgia and Maranatha Baptist Church in Carter’s hometown of Plains for a private funeral service and interment.

The soft-spoken Southern Democrat died Dec. 29 at the age of 100.