*Event date: 2025-01-09*

All five living U.S. presidents gathered at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., for Jimmy Carter’s funeral, marking a rare public appearance by leaders who have often been political opponents. President Joe Biden, President-elect Donald Trump, and former presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton all attended the service for the 39th president.

The event carried both ceremonial and historical weight. CBS News reported that it was the first time the five living presidents had appeared together publicly since 2018. With Carter’s death on Dec. 29 at the age of 100, the funeral became a national moment of remembrance as well as a reminder of how unusual it is for the country’s current and former leaders to share a stage.

Biden delivered the eulogy. That placed the sitting president at the center of the ceremony, giving the service an explicitly official tone while also honoring Carter’s place in American political history. The seating arrangement underscored the significance of the occasion: Biden and first lady Jill Biden sat next to Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff in the first row, followed by former and current presidents and first ladies behind them.

CBS News said Obama and Trump were seen talking and smiling before the service began, a striking image given their political differences and the broader divisions in American politics. Former first lady Michelle Obama did not attend. Former vice presidents Al Gore and Mike Pence were also present, and Pence shook hands with Trump on arrival.

The gathering echoed an earlier state funeral for George H.W. Bush in December 2018, when the same group of living presidents last came together. But Carter’s funeral had its own significance because he was both a former president and a deeply symbolic figure associated with public service, human rights and post-presidential humanitarian work.

The ceremony also reflected the traditions of state funerals, which typically include military honors, lying in state in the Capitol Rotunda and a memorial service at the cathedral. CBS News noted that 11 presidents have been honored with a state funeral, placing Carter within a small and select group.

One of the most memorable details came from a tribute read by Steven Ford, son of former President Gerald Ford. He quoted his father’s quip that having two presidents in one room was already too many, a line that landed differently with five living presidents in attendance. That mix of formality and lightness is part of what made the service unusual.

For all the political symbolism, the day was also straightforwardly about mourning a long-serving former president who lived to 100. The presence of leaders across party lines gave the funeral the feel of a national closing of ranks around Carter’s legacy, even if the divisions among them remain very much alive outside the cathedral.

In that sense, the service was both a personal farewell and a rare institutional tableau: five living presidents, one cathedral, and a historical moment that Americans will remember as much for who was in the room as for what was said there.