Do we know it’s polite? It wouldn’t surprise me a bit to find out there is some less than civilized conversation being had while maintaining a false front. Actually kind of amusing to imagine the dialogue. 
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I agree.
It was wonderful to see.
And I’m pleased Melania was there, too, and Pence and Gore, etc.
It’s meaningful to have them all gather. I like seeing it.
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Front row Joe, Jill, Kamala, Doug
Second row Bill, Hillary, George, Laura, Barack (Michelle would have been next), Donald, Melania (who I don’t think talked to or looked at anyone)
Third row I don’t know them all but definitely Al, Mike, and Karen
Notice which former President does not have his hand over his heart.
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Dan and Marilyn Quayle were to the left of Al Gore, though not shown in the picture above. It was a lovely service. I loved all of the eulogies, but particularly the one by Jason Carter. Garth Brooks & Trisha Yearwood were great, but the woman who sang Amazing Grace was like an angel sent by God.
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only see a bit at the beginning as i was having lunch with a former cc’er, but what little i saw of BO and tfg talking, don’t recall seeing any eye contact.
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If you want “no eye contact” that would be Kamala and Jill.
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Were they talking to each other? If not, might expect less eye contact.
No talking. More like trying to inch away from each other on the pew.
Waiting for the memes. Especially imagined conversations between O and T.
Interesting column on Washington Post’s online paper by Robin Givhan on the interactions of the ex-presidents at the funeral.
Here is the Givhan piece: https://wapo.st/4a8KryN
H and I watched the entire funeral. Carter was a true public servant. He did what was right, not what was politically expedient. I felt enormous sadness, realizing there will never be a president of such tremendous character again. He was truly a good and faithful servant to the world.
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Surely someone could read lips and tell us! 
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My thoughts based on what I saw:
I see absolutely no reason for any political spouse to have to do anything other than show up (if they so choose - I give a pass to Michelle Obama because she is a spouse). Karen Pence, Melania Trump, Laura Bush, Doug Emhoff - they can do or not do whatever they want, because they weren’t/aren’t the politicians.
I give Pence props for being a man of honor, shaking the hand that the incoming president offered him - I don’t know that Trump would have done so had he been the one in Pence’s shoes.
I think Bush, who doesn’t need to pretend about anything at this stage of his life, gave the equivalent of the bird to Trump by so clearly ignoring him.
I think Obama is happy to be out of politics.
I think Jill Biden is a fiercely loyal spouse to the point of perhaps overprotecting her H.
I think Harris will have a difficult time going further in her quest to be president if she is unable to play the game (and she should have shaken hands as the men did).
The Clintons seemed very distant, and I would expect them to seem more relaxed about things now that they aren’t actively involved as politicians. See Obama and Bush for how ex-politicians can actually put it in the rear view mirror and get on with life.
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Spot on for much of this I think.
Obama acknowledging and making small talk with Trump is what I’d expect. What I’m surprised about is that Trump seemed to initiate conversation with Obama!
Did Harris not shake hands with….anyone??? She just had that incident this week where the husband of a Republican (female) who was being sworn into Congress refused to shake her hand. 
Wasn’t Bill Clinton ill recently? Was he in the hospital? Maybe it was a stretch for them to make the ceremony.
And I think you’re spot on about Jill.
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I can’t remember for sure whether Harris shook any hands - I don’t think so. (And the Congresswoman’s H who ignored her owes no one anything by virtue of not being the politician … but as a person, who ignores an extended hand like that? He’s not a nice person.)
As far as the Clintons are concerned, they were the last of that group to arrive, and they were seated from the side, allowing them to just sit right away & not interact. It just seemed like they were uncomfortable, but if Bill has been sick, they may not have had the bandwidth for interaction. It just struck me as unusual for them.
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I heard the congressperson whose husband didn’t shake the vice president’s hand had a cane in one hand and a bible in another. His hands were full and maybe not able to pivot
Things are sometimes not what they seem
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While I agree that “things are sometimes not what they seem”, I’ve watched the CSPAN video. He may not have meant to be rude, but he had passed the Bible to his wife and briefly glanced at her while her hand was in the air. He seemed to reject her extended hand by not at least acknowledging her congratulations with a smile, a nod of the head or a mea culpa of “my hand is occupied”. I do believe he said thanks.
One can watch the CSPAN clip and interpret the encounter for oneself…not sure why I did but I guess I was curious. The H may have some age-related issues but it was odd that he kept his gaze averted for almost all of his interaction with the VP. It was when he finally glanced at her with her hand in the air, his response was to move his left hand into his pants pocket.
The NYT has an article where it showed his much different demeanor on prior swearing-in ceremonies with Pence and Biden.
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I actually wondered about Bill Clinton and his hand tremors. Glad to see he can still get out, but I could see why he might not shake as many hands these days.
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Bill Clinton was recently hospitalized for the flu. I can understand why he didn’t want to shake a lot of hands and socialize much – there is a lot of stuff going around.
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