America's Westminster Abbey, sort of

"Early promoters of the cathedral, such as Bishop James E. Freeman, envisioned the cathedral as 'America’s Westminster Abbey,' the final resting place of the nation’s great and good. The interment of President Wilson within its walls in 1924 and the reinterment of Admiral George Dewey from Arlington National Cemetery to the cathedral in 1925 suggested that this vision might become a reality. But the burial of President Warren Harding in Ohio and President Franklin Roosevelt’s rejection of Bishop Freeman’s offer of a final resting place scuttled Freeman’s ambition for the cathedral . . . Just as Westminster Abbey transitioned after the death of King George II from the final resting place of British monarchs to the theatre for their funeral, so has the cathedral transitioned from would-be mausoleum to funeral church. It is now the accepted place for presidential funerals, even of those who, like President Carter, have deep ties to other Washington houses of worship." Chasing Churches website

Although there have been several memorial services commemorating the lives of past US Presidents at Washington National Cathedral, there have only been four State Funerals (Eisenhower, Ford, Reagan, and GHW Bush) so far. Woodrow Wilson's service and internment, originally in Bethlehem Chapel, was officially a funeral service in 1924 but not a State Funeral. President Carter's State Funeral on January 9, 2025, will mark the fifth State Funeral service. John F. Kennedy's service took place at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in DC, and Lyndon Johnson's was at National City Christian Church on Thomas Circle. The Cathedral did ring a "muffled peal" of its bells as LBJ's motorcade left the city for Andrews Air Force Base.

Unlike the Ford and GHW Bush funerals, Eisenhower's happened during a School break (between Winter and Spring sessions) as did Reagan's (June 11, 2004). School was closed for the Bush funeral on December 5, 2018, but if my memory is correct, we were in session for Ford's on January 2, 2007 (the first day back from Winter break). Everyone had to be on-campus and inside by 8:30 am or so, and we were allowed free access after the service concluded and the motorcade cleared the Close, sometime around 1 pm.

Delving way back into possible services for other Presidents, a combination of no official decree that one's State Funeral had to happen at the Cathedral and other factors (such as where and how the President died) kept many official observances out of town and not at the Cathedral. The first possible ones would have been for Benjamin Harrison and William McKinley in 1901. Grover Cleveland was next in 1908 followed by Teddy Roosevelt in 1919. William H. Taft had a simple burial service at Arlington National Cemetery, March 11, 1930 (the first President buried there), and the Cathedral's memorial service was nationally broadcast, as was Calvin Coolidge's January 15, 1933, and Harry Truman's forty years later on January 15, 1973. And although Richard Nixon did not attend the Truman memorial service, he was afforded a Service of Thanksgiving on April 27, 1994, at the Cathedral, the same day as his funeral in California.

Before Jimmy Carter's long, post-presidency life, Herbert Hoover held the record (31 years and 320 days) but was 5th in oldest President ranking behind John Adams, Ford, Reagan, and GHW Bush. Hoover died in 1964 and had services in New York, DC, and Iowa (his final resting place) but not at the Cathedral. Franklin Roosevelt's service was at the White House in April 1945, and the Cathedral had four days of continuous prayers from April 12-15 in his honor. Similarly, for John F. Kennedy, the Cathedral has a prayer service on November 22, 1963, and it remained open all night to accomodate a stunned and grieving populace.

On August 6 and 10, 1923, the Cathedral held commemoration services in Bethlehem Chapel and at the Peace Cross in honor of President Harding. He had died on August 2, in San Francisco, and his memorials comprised a carefully choreographed series of events from one coast to another before the final one in Ohio.

According to https://www.whitehousehistory.org/warren-g-harding-funeral, "Floral tributes—bouquets, crosses, wreaths, anchors of hope and many other traditional symbols of mourning—began to arrive as soon as the florists opened on August 3. The funeral train pulled into Union Station at 10:30 p.m. on a hot, still August 7. An honor guard transported the coffin without notice from the presidential car to an automobile and then onto the White House. Harding's body was placed in the East Room and was viewed by Mrs. Harding, close friends, and relatives. At ten o'clock the following morning, the coffin was again mounted on the caisson and taken in a long and somber procession to the Capitol where the funeral service was held before the Congress, the Cabinet, and a group of invited dignitaries. At the conclusion of the service the public was admitted to the rotunda to view the silvery metal coffin resting on the same catafalque used for President Lincoln. It was adorned with a flag and a spread eagle made with red, white, and blue flowers that had been designed by Florence Harding. Later that afternoon the funeral train departed for Marion, Ohio, where a final funeral service was held on August 10, 1923."

President Carter's services will be a similar process, made even more intricate by the added security measures incorporated into events of this magnitude with a multitude of high profile attendees, likely including three former Presidents, the current President, and one former President who is the President-elect! Thankfully, the process of holding a President's State Funeral is well delineated, especially thanks to folks like former St. Albans/Cathedral employee Susie Spaulding. She was part of the team that revamped the process debuted for Reagan's funeral in 2004.

By Executive Order, President Biden has called for federal agencies to be closed on January 9, 2025, "as a mark of respect for James Earl Carter, Jr., the thirty-ninth President of the United States." No announcement has been made yet on the status of School that day, but it is certain that the celebrations, prayers, and honors due to such a man, who gave his life in service to this nation and many worthy causes will be well and fully acknowledged.