Gerald Ford’s son reads dad’s touching eulogy for Jimmy Carter

Though Gerald Ford passed away in 2006, his memories of his rival-turned-friend echoed through Washington National Cathedral on Thursday.

Ford’s son Steve Ford read that eulogy at Jimmy Carter’s funeral service, drawing a few smiles, laughs, and tears.

MORE: Jimmy Carter funeral: Watch live

Carter-Ford relationship

Gerald Ford took office following the Watergate scandal. Ford had been appointed vice president when Spiro Agnew resigned, then ascended to the presidency when Richard Nixon stepped down, making him the only president who was not elected on a ticket.

Ford, a Republican, ran for the presidency in 1976 but was defeated by Jimmy Carter, a Democrat. Carter went on to be defeated by Ronald Reagan in 1980, putting Carter and Ford both in the very exclusive club of one-term presidents.

Gerald Ford’s eulogy for Jimmy Carter

Steven Ford spoke at Carter’s funeral on Thursday, first talking about how much the Ford family appreciated the Carter family’s friendship when Ford died in 2006.

"In the twilight of my dad's life, Dad and President Carter spoke by phone, and Dad asked President Carter if he would do a eulogy at Dad's funeral. President Carter graciously agreed, and then he also asked if Dad would deliver a eulogy at President Carter's funeral," Steven recalled. "Now, Dad was thrilled to agree. After that call, as you can imagine, both of them got off the phone and had a pretty good chuckle, considering which one of them would return in person to deliver that second eulogy."

Steven went on to read that eulogy, which helped explain how the former presidents’ friendship developed in the years after their terms.

"In the summer of 1981, the two of us found ourselves together again, this time aboard Air Force One, bound for the funeral of the great peacemaker Anwar Sadat," Steven said, reading the words of his father. "There's an old line to the effect that two presidents in a room is one too many. Frankly, I wondered how awkward that long flight might be to Cairo. And it was a long flight. But the return trip was not nearly long enough, for it was somewhere over the Atlantic that Jimmy and I forged a friendship that transcends politics. We immediately decided to exercise one of the privileges of a former president, forgetting that either one of us had ever said any harsh words about the other one in the heat of battle."

Steve Ford, son of the late former US President Gerald Ford, speaks at the State Funeral Service for former US President Jimmy Carter at the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, DC, on January 9, 2025. (Photo by ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty

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Ford wrote about how he admired Carter’s famed faith and service, which continued in the decades after Carter’s presidency.

"Now, of course, not all Jimmy's time was spent building houses, eradicating disease, brokering ceasefires, and monitoring elections," Ford continued. "While Jimmy is probably the only former president to conduct a weekly Bible class, I know for certain he is the only former president to perform a duet of On the Road Again with Willie Nelson. Georgia wasn't just on Jimmy's mind. It was in his blood.

"Jimmy. I'm looking forward to our reunion. We have much to catch up on."

Walter Mondale’s eulogy

Walter Mondale, Carter’s vice president, had also prepared a eulogy for Carter before his own death in 2021.

Ted Mondale, Walter’s son, read those words on Thursday as well.

"Towards the end of our time in the White House, the president and I were talking about how we might describe what we tried to accomplish in office. We came up with a sentence which remains an important summary of our work: We told the truth. We obeyed the law, and we kept the peace," Mondale said. "Mr. President, I will always be proud and grateful to have had the chance to work with you towards noble ends. It was then, and will always be, the most rewarding experience of my public career."