Governor orders flags at half-staff to honor Jimmy Carter

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a key bill Monday.

Gov. Ron DeSantis is honoring former President Jimmy Carter, who died this week at 100, by having the United States and Florida flags flown at half-staff for nearly a month throughout the state.

The flags ordered to be lowered are at local and state buildings, installations and grounds.

They’ll remain at half-staff until sunset on Tuesday, Jan. 28.

DeSantis issued his order to Brian Fienemann, Florida’s Director of Real Estate Management and Development, on Monday, one day after Carter’s death.

The order also came one day after President Joe Biden issued a proclamation directing the flags at all public buildings, grounds, military posts, military vessels across the U.S., its territories and possessions, and at all embassies and consulates worldwide to be flown at half-staff for 30 days.

DeSantis noted in his memo to Fienemann that his order was “pursuant to the President’s orders and as a mark of respect.”

Unlike many other Florida politicians, the Governor did not issue an online statement about Carter’s passing.

Carter, the longest-lived American President, died on Sunday, more than a year after entering hospice care, at his home in the small town of Plains, Georgia, where he and his wife, Rosalynn, who died at 96 in November 2023, spent most of their lives, The Carter Center said.

As a businessman, Navy officer, evangelist, politician, negotiator, author, woodworker, and citizen of the world, Carter forged a path that still challenges political assumptions and stands out among the 45 men who reached the nation’s highest office.

The 39th President leveraged his ambition with a keen intellect, deep religious faith, and prodigious work ethic, conducting diplomatic missions into his 80s and building houses for the poor well into his 90s.

“My faith demands — this is not optional — my faith demands that I do whatever I can, wherever I am, whenever I can, for as long as I can, with whatever I have to try to make a difference,” Carter once said.

___

Material from The Associated Press was used in this report. Republished with permission.