The President of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, traveled to Washington on a private visit to attend the funeral ceremonies of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, on January 9, at the National Cathedral.
The current U.S. President, Joe Biden, declared the date a Day of National Mourning. Former President Carter passed away on December 29 at the age of 100.
An official schedule for the President of Portugal’s trip to the United States was not immediately available to the public.
President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa in attendance
In a statement published on the Presidency website, President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa expressed his condolences to President Joe Biden, stating that he had sent “a message of heartfelt condolences” on the passing of Jimmy Carter.
He also praised Carter’s “tireless efforts to promote human rights and peace on the international stage,” highlighting Carter’s “symbolic support, and that of his administration, for the consolidation of democracy in Portugal.”
All five living U.S. presidents, Biden, Trump, Obama, Clinton, and Bush, were in attendance. Vice President Kamala Harris, Vice President-elect JD Vance, and former Vice Presidents Dan Quayle, Al Gore and Mike Pence were also present. President-elect Donald Trump and his wife paid their respects on Wednesday.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres in attendance
In addition to U.S. political leaders, several foreign dignitaries were in attendance, including Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Prince Edward, the Duke of Edinburgh, Gordon Brown the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Yoshihide Suga, the former Prime Minister of Japan, and United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, a former Portuguese Prime Minister.
A Nobel Peace Prize laureate (2002), Jimmy Carter was elected as the 39th President of the United States in 1976, defeating then-President Gerald Ford by a narrow margin in a nation still reeling from the Watergate scandal that had led to President Richard Nixon’s resignation. Carter served a single four-year term, during which he laid the groundwork for his later reputation as a global advocate for peace and human rights.
In his later years, Carter retired from public life and focused on humanitarian causes. His last public appearance was in November 2023, at the funeral of his wife, Rosalynn Carter.
The oldest living former U.S. President at the time of his passing, despite his health challenges, including an aggressive form of melanoma that had spread to his liver and brain, he remained active throughout his later years, voting in the most recent U.S. presidential election on November 5, 2024.
A friend of Portugal, President Carter visited Lisbon briefly, on June 26, 1980, at the invitation of President António Ramalho Eanes. The visit, lasting about six hours, was very productive with meetings between the two presidents and Prime Minister Francisco Sá Carneiro.
His legacy, both as a statesman and humanitarian, continues to inspire, underscoring his lifelong commitment to peace, democracy, and the betterment of humanity.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa was first elected President of the Portuguese Republic in the first round on January 24, 2016, earning 52% of the votes cast, replacing Aníbal Cavaco Silva, who served the limit of two five-year terms. A former Law professor, journalist, and political TV commentator, he is the leader of the opposition Social Democratic Party (PSD), governing in cohabitation with the leader of the Socialist Party (PS) Prime Minister António Costa. A former member of the European Parliament, he has been a career politician in and out of government since the 1970s. According to Portugal’s Constitution, the head of state has limited authority, beyond veto power and dissolving the Parliament if a crisis occurs.
PAJ/Staff
