WASHINGTON ― The current and former living U.S. presidents said goodbye to Jimmy Carter on Thursday, and in the process once again highlighted the contrast between former and soon-to-be President Donald Trump and all the others.

The former president and once-again-future president, who are historically something less than besties, chatted it up before the service began. (Michelle Obama was not in attendance.)

Trump is obviously no fan of Biden, but Obama and his veep also have a famously complex relationship, only made more so after Obama helped nudge Biden to quit the presidential race last summer. Surely Obama feels some frustration that Biden fumbled a possibly winnable race; maybe he couldn’t help spill to his sworn enemy?

One of the first calls Obama made after U.S. forces killed Osama bin Laden in 2011 was to George W. Bush to spread the word that the mission had been accomplished, said Kate Andersen Brower, author of “Team of Five: The Presidents Club in the Age of Trump.”

Three days after the Jan. 6 anniversary, with its indelible images of costumed rioters running amok in the Capitol, former President Jimmy Carter’s funeral service in the National Cathedral presented a historical picture of a different kind, one that spoke not of upended norms, but of preservation and strength.

Donald Trump and Mike Pence briefly greeted each other and shook hands at Jimmy Carter’s funeral service on Thursday.

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.

The handshake happened almost four years to the day when Trump supporters called for Pence's execution during the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack.