Former first lady Michelle Obama didn't attend the state funeral for former President Jimmy Carter. Except for Michelle Obama, all of the living former presidents and their spouses were at the funeral Thursday.

But his state funeral, per tradition, was "replete with the exalted trappings of a presidential send-off." The image of the five living presidents, all wearing black suits and blue ties, offered a "rare image of presidential unity" that spoke of "preservation and strength" in a time of upheaval and polarization,