One of the few living former presidents will be skipping President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration.
Former President Jimmy Carter and his wife, former first lady Rosalynn Carter, will not attend the Jan. 20 ceremony, The Associated Press reported.
A spokesperson at The Carter Center in Atlanta said the couple sent Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris their “best wishes” and “look forward to a successful administration.”
Carter, 96, is the longest-lived American president. The former oldest surviving commander-in-chief was former President George H.W. Bush, who died in November 2018, the AP reported.
The former first family has stayed home in Plains, Georgia, as the coronavirus pandemic spread across the country.
Carter has had many health scares over recent years, serving melanoma that had spread to his brain in 2016, falls and a hip replacement surgery, the AP reported.
The Carters have not missed an inauguration since he took the oath of office in 1977. He sat next to former President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton and former President George W. Bush and Laura Bush when President Donald Trump was inaugurated.
While the tickets to the inauguration ceremony will be limited, The Wall Street Journal reported that former presidents, vice presidents, governors, Supreme Court justices and other government officials will be permitted to attend despite the coronavirus pandemic.
Cox Media Group
