Members of the public gather to honor Jimmy Carter as he lies in state on Wednesday. Photograph by Evy Mages DC’s snowy sidewalks and chilly winds proved to be no match against former President Jimmy Carter’s legacy, as mourners traveled across neighborhoods, states, and even oceans to wait in outdoor lines to honor the statesman’s life. Lining the guardrails on First Street behind the US Capitol building, the grandson of peanut farmers, Baptist congregants, and former federal workers braved the elements to say a final thank you and goodbye. Lucas Peters, 24, works for the US Navy as an engineer and traveled from Rockville to pay his respects. Peters says his best friend is a naval submariner and his grandfather was a peanut farmer, two parallels that deepen his appreciation for the former President. “The first submarine I ever went on was the USS Jimmy Carter,” Peters said. “I just really feel this connection with him and I’m glad he’s at peace.” Willidean Wilkerson, 65, also came from Maryland with her friend Sheila Magruder to see Carter lie in state. Both women worked in Washington for the Internal Revenue Service before retiring. Wilkerson said that she was born and raised in DC, graduating from high school in 1977, the year Carter took his oath of office.  “He did so many different things to bring a lot of diversity to the administration,” she said. “I just remember his genuineness with Habitat for Humanity, and him being a down-home, good old Christian president. He never wavered from his beliefs, no matter the political environment.” Wilkerson also noted Carter’s work to create the contemporary Department of Education—which prominent Republicans like Donald Trump and Vivek Ramaswamy, co-head of the “Department of Government Efficiency,” have threatened to dismantle. “Talk about comparing and contrasting,” Wilkerson said.  Willidean Wilkerson (right) and Sheila Magruder (left) walk down East Capitol Street to join the many waiting in line to pay their respects to former president Jimmy Carter on Wednesday. Photograph by Molly Parks. Coming from across the Potomac, Jeremy Mucha of Falls Church took the snow-day opportunity to bring his two daughters, fourth-grader Maddie and first-grader Evie, to the viewing with his mother Jean.  “I really wanted to bring my girls here because it’s a once in a lifetime thing,” Mucha said. “Carter was a good president with a hard deck of cards that was dealt to him. His role in Habitat for Humanity, his humility, always volunteering and putting others first, is an example for everybody.”   Jeremy Mucha (left) brings his two daughters with his mother Jean to the Capitol Rotunda on Wednesday to pay their respects to Jimmy Carter. Photograph by Molly Parks. Jean, Mucha’s mother, met Carter and his late wife Rosalynn six years ago when she traveled to Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Georgia, to attend Carter’s Sunday school class in his hometown congregation. Jean also worked on a project with Habitat for Humanity in Mississippi. “I think it’s important closure for me,” Jean said about seeing Carter lie in state. “I thought he was a very good man with a good heart. I think his legacy will live on forever because Habitat for Humanity is something that will live on well beyond him.” Jeremy Mucha’s mother Jean (right), while visiting Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter in Plains, Georgia, at Maranatha Baptist Church, the place of Carter’s final state funeral service this week. Photograph courtesy of Jeremy Mucha. Other visitors came from abroad: Isabelle and Michael Grimler are from Paris and visiting family in DC, while New Zealand resident Richard MacKay is vacationing here with his family and wanted to see Carter lie in state. Gary Francis, of Virginia, empathizes with Carter as a self-described “southern boy,” and as someone whose father was a naval submariner like Carter. Francis came to the Capitol Rotunda in 2005 to see Rosa Parks lie in state, and said he wanted to pay the same respects to the former president.  “He’s the first person I voted for when I came of age,” Francis said. “He represents the best of America, as a president and as a human being.” Gary Francis speaks with the Washingtonian Wednesday afternoon before heading into the Capitol Rotunda to view former President Jimmy Carter as he lies in state. Photograph by Carmen Honker. Visitors have until 7 AM on Thursday to honor Carter as he lies in state in the Capitol Rotunda before he leaves the building for his 10 AM service at Washington National Cathedral.The post They Lined Up Outside the Capitol to Pay Respects to President Carter. Here’s Why. first appeared on Washingtonian.