--- title: Jimmy Carter Will Go to Inauguration: Bush, Clinton Not Sure description: Both the Bushes and the Clintons have been procrastinating about whether to attend the inauguration of a man who has insulted both families canonical: https://time.com/4617405/jimmy-carter-donald-trump-inauguration/ author: Charlotte Alter article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-12-23T15:55:09.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:54:49.091Z article:section: Politics og:title: Jimmy Carter Will Go to Inauguration: Bush, Clinton Not Sure og:description: Both the Bushes and the Clintons have been procrastinating about whether to attend the inauguration of a man who has insulted both families og:url: https://time.com/4617405/jimmy-carter-donald-trump-inauguration/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltba39c50b17a37a43/6988b3eda988caaef06ba84a/jimmy-carter-inaguration-president.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: US-POLITICS-MUSEUM-HISTORY og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Jimmy Carter Will Go to Inauguration: Bush, Clinton Not Sure twitter:description: Both the Bushes and the Clintons have been procrastinating about whether to attend the inauguration of a man who has insulted both families twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltba39c50b17a37a43/6988b3eda988caaef06ba84a/jimmy-carter-inaguration-president.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Jimmy Carter Is the Only Former President Coming to Trump's Inauguration So Far > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: TIME 2016 Person of the Year: Donald Trump [Watch (HLS stream): TIME 2016 Person of the Year: Donald Trump](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Q0tBuF3M.m3u8) (4:12)  _Published 2016-12-07. The 2016 Person of the Year is Donald Trump, the President of the divided states of America._  by [Charlotte Alter](https://time.com/author/charlotte-alter/)  ## Charlotte Alter Senior Correspondent Dec 23, 2016 3:55 PM UTC  Michelle Obama, Barack Obama former First Lady Barbara Bush, former US President George W. Bush and former US First Lady Laura Bush listen as former President George H.W. Bush speaks during the George W. Bush Presidential Center dedication ceremony in Dallas, Texas, on April 25, 2013. Michelle Obama, Barack Obama former First Lady Barbara Bush, former US President George W. Bush and former US First Lady Laura Bush listen as former President George H.W. Bush speaks during the George W. Bush Presidential Center dedication ceremony in Dallas, Texas, on April 25, 2013. Jewel Samad—AFP/Getty Images  by [Charlotte Alter](https://time.com/author/charlotte-alter/)  ## Charlotte Alter Senior Correspondent Dec 23, 2016 3:55 PM UTC Former [President Jimmy Carter ](http://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/trump-inauguration-presidents-232937)is currently the only former president who has agreed to attend Trump’s inauguration, an event which is typically attended by all living former presidents. President Obama will almost certainly be there. It would be a huge break from precedent for the most recent President to skip the inauguration (although [it’s happened before](https://books.google.com/books?id=mMsuZWkuTNMC&printsec=frontcover&dq=inaugurations&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj2xcbF1oPRAhVLLSYKHdjeC8oQ6AEIGjAA#v=snippet&q=washington&f=false),) and would be at odds with the Obamas’ stated intention to help the incoming administration. [Since 1889,](http://www.inaugural.senate.gov/about/past-inaugural-ceremonies/34th-inaugural-ceremonies) the outgoing President has hosted the incoming President on inauguration day. But the Bushes and the Clintons have been putting off a decision on whether to attend the inauguration of a man who has publicly mocked Jeb Bush and ran a highly personal campaign against opponent Hillary Clinton. Trump [mocked](http://www.politico.com/story/2016/01/donald-trump-mocks-jeb-bush-barbara-ad-218136) primary opponent Jeb Bush for running an ad featuring his mother, Barbara Bush, saying Jeb “needed mommy to help him.” He[ flatly accused ](http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/20/politics/donald-trump-south-carolina-military/)former president George W. Bush of lying about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. He repeatedly bullied Jeb Bush as “low energy” during the primary campaign, and [suggested that Bush](http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/donald-trump-bush-wife) had a soft spot for Mexican immigrants because his wife Columba is Mexican. Jeb Bush’s father, former President George H.W. Bush, has said he will not attend Trump’s inauguration, citing his health and his age (he is 92.) Former President George W. Bush has [not said whether he will go. ](http://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/trump-inauguration-presidents-232937) The Clintons have also not decided whether they will attend the inauguration of a President who repeatedly belittled Hillary Clinton and dredged up scandals from Bill Clinton’s past on the trail. While the inaugural invitation is typically only extended to the former President, former First Ladies often attend with their husbands. Bill Clinton choosing not to accept the invitation could be a way to spare Hillary the indignity of having to sit and watch Donald Trump take the Oath of Office after an election where she won nearly 3 million more votes. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4617405/jimmy-carter-donald-trump-inauguration/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4617405/jimmy-carter-donald-trump-inauguration/"},"headline":"Jimmy Carter Is the Only Former President Coming to Trump's Inauguration So Far","datePublished":"2016-12-23T15:55:09.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:54:49.091Z","description":"The Bushes and Clintons are waffling about whether to go","url":"https://time.com/4617405/jimmy-carter-donald-trump-inauguration/","keywords":["inauguration","Hillary Clinton","Bill Clinton","Donald Trump","Jimmy Carter","George Bush"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltba39c50b17a37a43/6988b3eda988caaef06ba84a/jimmy-carter-inaguration-president.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Charlotte Alter","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/charlotte-alter/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltba39c50b17a37a43/6988b3eda988caaef06ba84a/jimmy-carter-inaguration-president.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US-POLITICS-MUSEUM-HISTORY","caption":"US-POLITICS-MUSEUM-HISTORY","creditText":"Jewel Samad—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/inauguration/","name":"inauguration"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4617405/jimmy-carter-donald-trump-inauguration/","name":"Jimmy Carter Is the Only Former President Coming to Trump's Inauguration So Far"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"TIME 2016 Person of the Year: Donald Trump","description":"The 2016 Person of the Year is Donald Trump, the President of the divided states of America.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/Q0tBuF3M/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-12-07T12:09:51.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Q0tBuF3M.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4617405/jimmy-carter-donald-trump-inauguration/","duration":"PT4M12S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4617405/jimmy-carter-donald-trump-inauguration/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```