# You Know What's Gonna Be Awkward? Jimmy Carter's Funeral. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 20, 2020, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-whats-gonna-be-awkward-jimmy-carters-funeral/854176 "2020-05-20T12:59:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2020, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-whats-gonna-be-awkward-jimmy-carters-funeral/854176/61 "2020-05-23T21:25:54Z")
Just a side question. If Carter’s family did not want a big state funeral, but say a regular funeral in their home congregation, like regular people, could they do this? Is an ex-bigshot like a President _obligated_ to have a big televised splash? I ask this because of something that occured here in my city. Two police officers were killed in the line of duty, and they had big memorials, one following the other, with a long procession to the cemeteries where they would be buried. I heard a rumor, just a rumor mind you, that the widow of one of the guys didn’t want all that, but was pressured into it. In cases like these, who really has the say so? ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2020, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-whats-gonna-be-awkward-jimmy-carters-funeral/854176/62 "2020-05-23T22:17:58Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > Just a side question. If Carter’s family did not want a big state funeral, but say a regular funeral in their home congregation, like regular people, could they do this? Is an ex-bigshot like a President _obligated_ to have a big televised splash? > > I ask this because of something that occured here in my city. Two police officers were killed in the line of duty, and they had big memorials, one following the other, with a long procession to the cemeteries where they would be buried. I heard a rumor, just a rumor mind you, that the widow of one of the guys didn’t want all that, but was pressured into it. > > In cases like these, who really has the say so? See post #57. By what authority could the US tell the Carter family what sort of funeral they must have? How can a city tell a widow what type of funeral a fallen officer must have? I see you said “pressured” in your next to last sentence and that word means different things to different people, but just like the Carter family is free to have whatever funeral it wants, Obama or Clinton, for example, aree free to call up the family and ask them to please have a state funeral. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2020, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-whats-gonna-be-awkward-jimmy-carters-funeral/854176/63 "2020-05-24T05:38:29Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > Yeah, I agree. I was just referencing the particular event that is typically identified by people wanting to argue that “Carter was a blood-thirsty maniac like all the rest, see!” which is what happens when you listen to Noam Chomsky and don’t thoroughly fact-check his claims. > > Stranger You’re forgetting that Carter also was having the CIA send aid to the Afghan mujaheddin even before the Soviets invaded, and Carter sending a lot of aid to the Saudi’s when they started to do their internal purges. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2020, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-whats-gonna-be-awkward-jimmy-carters-funeral/854176/64 "2020-05-24T10:55:36Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Carter and Ruth Bader Ginsburg just need to hang on until the next Democratic president. Period. Agreed. Less than eight months to go, good Lord willing and the [del]creek don’t rise[/del] Electoral College don’t screw things up again. ---
**Author:** ![DrForrester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8edcca/32.png) [@DrForrester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrForrester)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2020, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-whats-gonna-be-awkward-jimmy-carters-funeral/854176/65 "2020-05-24T11:22:12Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > Two police officers were killed in the line of duty, and they had big memorials, one following the other, with a long procession to the cemeteries where they would be buried. I heard a rumor, just a rumor mind you, that the widow of one of the guys didn’t want all that, but was pressured into it. This strikes at the heart of a sociological question. Just what, exactly, is the function of a funeral? Why do they happen? Whom do they serve? The more that a person is a public figure, the more the peer pressure on the family to hold a big affair so that the public can also mourn. It’s a similar sort of situation with weddings, of course. Could a famous couple just sign the forms at the courthouse & be legally married? Sure. They don’t often happen that way, though, especially for first weddings. Weddings celebrate the new couple. Funerals celebrate the deceased. Really, though, when you look at these events with the eyes of a sociologist, we see that these are as much about the larger community of attendees as anyone. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2020, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-whats-gonna-be-awkward-jimmy-carters-funeral/854176/66 "2020-05-24T11:59:15Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > Just a side question. If Carter’s family did not want a big state funeral, but say a regular funeral in their home congregation, like regular people, could they do this? Is an ex-bigshot like a President _obligated_ to have a big televised splash? > > I ask this because of something that occured here in my city. Two police officers were killed in the line of duty, and they had big memorials, one following the other, with a long procession to the cemeteries where they would be buried. I heard a rumor, just a rumor mind you, that the widow of one of the guys didn’t want all that, but was pressured into it. > > In cases like these, who really has the say so? Nobody is forced to have any type of funeral. They do what the family and the late president wants. Nixon did not have a big DC funeral. He said he did not want to go back to DC even when he was dead. Also his wife Pat died a year before he did but I assume his kids knew what he wanted for a funeral. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2020, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-whats-gonna-be-awkward-jimmy-carters-funeral/854176/67 "2020-05-24T18:07:40Z")
Yeah, really, you cannot command a State Funeral, and the choice of speakers and ceremonies would be the family’s. And if Rosalynn is still up and going at that time I’d expect her to come right out if anyone were “pressuring” and publicly decline with a classic old-school Bless Their Heart. (Were the Carter family to forego anything in DC, but still want some tribute at a place alluding to his service to the nation, there’s always the Naval Academy; for a larger public laying-in-state there could be the Georgia Statehouse or MLK Center.) ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2020, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-whats-gonna-be-awkward-jimmy-carters-funeral/854176/68 "2020-05-24T18:27:09Z")
His presidential library is in Atlanta, so perhaps the services would be there? ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2020, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-whats-gonna-be-awkward-jimmy-carters-funeral/854176/69 "2020-05-24T19:04:26Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > I would fully expect Obama to deliver the eulogy. It would be a surprise if Trump even showed up. That’s assuming that Trump outlives Carter. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2020, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-whats-gonna-be-awkward-jimmy-carters-funeral/854176/70 "2020-05-24T19:06:28Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > Just a side question. If Carter’s family did not want a big state funeral, but say a regular funeral in their home congregation, like regular people, could they do this? Is an ex-bigshot like a President _obligated_ to have a big televised splash? FDR got a state funeral, and some papers were discovered a few weeks later where he expressed his wishes, but apparently hadn’t told Eleanor or his kids. He had only wanted a small service and a simple burial, and that’s not what happened. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2020, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-whats-gonna-be-awkward-jimmy-carters-funeral/854176/71 "2020-05-24T19:32:26Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > FDR got a state funeral, and some papers were discovered a few weeks later where he expressed his wishes, but apparently hadn’t told Eleanor or his kids. He had only wanted a small service and a simple burial, and that’s not what happened. You know it’s ironic that this is posted now, earlier this morning I surfed past a show in the History Channel “WWII in HD” that showed the funeral procession of FDR. ---
**Author:** ![Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mundane_super_hero/32/6304_2.png) [@Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mundane_Super_Hero)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2020, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-whats-gonna-be-awkward-jimmy-carters-funeral/854176/72 "2020-05-25T02:00:18Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > That’s assuming that Trump outlives Carter. With his healthy eating habits and regular exercise, there’s little chance of that. Besides, our nation would mourn. Entertainers would have song tributes to try to soothe our wounded nation[.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhHVbeT7isk) ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2020, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-whats-gonna-be-awkward-jimmy-carters-funeral/854176/73 "2020-05-25T03:09:05Z")
> [@DrForrester](#): > > This strikes at the heart of a sociological question. Just what, exactly, is the function of a funeral? Why do they happen? Whom do they serve? Who remembers the funeral of Ronald Reagan, in June of 2004? Geez, what an over-the-top flamboyant week-long extensively scripted and rehearsed cross-country pageant that was, occupying an entire week. I watched the whole thing on TV, that being a time in my life when I really had nothing else to do. Who was supposed to be the beneficiary of all that? ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2020, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-whats-gonna-be-awkward-jimmy-carters-funeral/854176/74 "2020-05-25T04:15:36Z")
> [@Mundane\_Super\_Hero](#): > > With his healthy eating habits and regular exercise, there’s little chance of that. > Besides, our nation would mourn. Entertainers would have song tributes to try to soothe our wounded nation[.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhHVbeT7isk) Are you talking about Chump or about Carter? If Chump, I’m not sure too many entertainers would line up for that. They could probably pull Fred Savage out of mothballs again. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2020, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-whats-gonna-be-awkward-jimmy-carters-funeral/854176/75 "2020-05-25T15:37:16Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > FDR got a state funeral, and some papers were discovered a few weeks later where he expressed his wishes, but apparently hadn’t told Eleanor or his kids. He had only wanted a small service and a simple burial, and that’s not what happened. Further more, he _did_ express a desire to have any memorial to him be [small and simple](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_Delano_Roosevelt_Memorial#Original_Franklin_Delano_Roosevelt_Memorial). > [@wiki](#): > > If any memorial is erected to me, I know exactly what I should like it to be. I should like it to consist of a block about the size of this (putting his hand on his desk) and placed in the center of that green plot in front of the Archives Building. I don’t care what it is made of, whether limestone or granite or whatnot, but I want it plain without any ornamentation, with the simple carving, “In Memory of \_\_\_\_”. Twenty years after his death, he [got it](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_Delano_Roosevelt_Memorial#/media/File:Original_FDR_memorial_Oct_09.JPG), but then thirty years later some other people horned in and the new one sprawls some 7.5 acres. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2020, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-whats-gonna-be-awkward-jimmy-carters-funeral/854176/76 "2020-05-25T20:13:40Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Who remembers the funeral of Ronald Reagan, in June of 2004? > > Geez, what an over-the-top flamboyant week-long extensively scripted and rehearsed cross-country pageant that was, occupying an entire week. I watched the whole thing on TV, that being a time in my life when I really had nothing else to do. > > Who was supposed to be the beneficiary of all that? I saw a Reddit thread “Photo developers: What’s the strangest thing you saw” and one person said that a woman brought in 15 rolls of film of Reagan’s funeral. No, she wasn’t there. She took pictures of the TV as it progressed. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2020, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-whats-gonna-be-awkward-jimmy-carters-funeral/854176/77 "2020-05-25T21:09:50Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > I saw a Reddit thread “Photo developers: What’s the strangest thing you saw” and one person said that a woman brought in 15 rolls of film of Reagan’s funeral. > > No, she wasn’t there. She took pictures of the TV as it progressed. :smack: That’s not _that_ dumb. Now if it were pictures of her _radio_… ---
**Author:** ![Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mundane_super_hero/32/6304_2.png) [@Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mundane_Super_Hero)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2020, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-whats-gonna-be-awkward-jimmy-carters-funeral/854176/78 "2020-05-26T12:36:28Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Are you talking about Chump or about Carter? If Chump, I’m not sure too many entertainers would line up for that. They could probably pull Fred Savage out of mothballs again. \< joke fail \> It was Resident Trump, and it was supposed to be sarcasm. I didn’t want to say out loud how happy everyone would be if tRump passed, as I think there is some rule about it (and this isn’t the Pit). There was a song link in the period. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2020, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-whats-gonna-be-awkward-jimmy-carters-funeral/854176/79 "2020-05-28T01:42:45Z")
People lined the railroad tracks to pay respect as RFK’s body went to DC by train from NYC . His funeral was in NYC. I was 8 and the train went through my town in NJ. The train trip was way longer than normal due to crowds along the tracks. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2020, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-whats-gonna-be-awkward-jimmy-carters-funeral/854176/80 "2020-05-28T01:59:15Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > > [@Velocity](#): > > > > I would fully expect Obama to deliver the eulogy. It would be a surprise if Trump even showed up. > > That’s assuming that Trump outlives Carter. No, I think it’d still be a surprise even if we assume the reverse. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-whats-gonna-be-awkward-jimmy-carters-funeral/854176.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-whats-gonna-be-awkward-jimmy-carters-funeral/854176.md?page=5)