ATLANTA (AP) — Former President Jimmy Carter and former first lady Rosalynn Carter will not attend President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration.
It marks the first time the couple, 96 and 93, will have missed the ceremonies since Carter was sworn in as the 39th president in 1977.
A spokeswoman at The Carter Center in Atlanta says the Carters have sent Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris their "best wishes" and "look forward to a successful administration."
Jimmy Carter, a Democrat, and his wife have spent the coronavirus pandemic mostly at their home in Plains, Georgia, where both were raised and where they returned after leaving the White House in 1981.
Carter became the longest living American president after former President George H.W. Bush died in November 2018, according to The Associated Press.
The AP reported that when President Donald Trump was elected, Carter was the first former president to confirm his plans to attend President Trump’s inauguration in 2017.
