It is unusual for five current and former presidents to gather at the same event, but when it happens, it is often at a funeral.

Jimmy Carter, the 39th president, will be honored Thursday with the pageantry of a state funeral in the nation's capital, followed by a second service and burial in his tiny Georgia hometown that launched a Depression-era farm boy to the world stage.

Jimmy Carter’s public goodbye started in Plains, Ga., where the 39th U.S. president’s life began more than 100 years ago.