Death and state funeral of Ronald Reagan
The Death and State funeral of Ronald Reagan took place in June 2004. Ronald Reagan was the 40th President of the United States, from 1981–1989. He had been battling Alzheimer's Disease since 1994, and died on June 5, 2004, at his home in Bel-Air, Los Angeles, California. He was 93 years old.
After Reagan's death his casket was displayed briefly at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, then flown to Washington, D.C. on June 9, 2004, for a public viewing and tributes at the U.S. Capitol Building. A state funeral service was conducted at the Washington National Cathedral on June 11, 2004 (which President George W. Bush declared a national day of mourning by proclamation). Later that day, after the service, Reagan's casket was transported back to California for interment at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.[1]
The state funeral was executed by the Military District of Washington (MDW) and was the first since that of LBJ, in 1973.
Death and tributes
Reagan had been suffering from Alzheimer's Disease for at least a decade. The morning of his death, there were reports indicating that his health had significantly deteriorated. Reagan died of pneumonia at his home at 13:00 PDT (20:00 UTC, or 16:00 EDT). At his side were his wife Nancy, and two of his children, Ron and Patti. His eldest surviving child, Michael, was with his father the day before. Following his death, Nancy Reagan released a statement, saying:
My family and I would like the world to know that President Ronald Reagan has passed away after 10 years of Alzheimer's disease at 93 years of age. We appreciate everyone's prayers.
President George W. Bush was in Paris when Reagan died. Some of the early international tributes included those of Queen Elizabeth II, former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin, and French President Jacques Chirac. Martin ordered all flags across Canada and at all Canadian diplomatic missions in the United States flown to half-staff from sunrise to sunset on June 11, 2004, in sympathy with the USA's national day of mourning. [2]
Presidential declarations
American flags at the White House, across the United States, and around the world over offical U.S. installations, and operating locations, were ordered flown at half-staff for 30 days by President Bush.[3] The President said this on June 5, 2004:
This is a sad hour in the life of America. A great American life has come to an end. I have just spoken to Nancy Reagan. On behalf of our whole nation, Laura and I offered her and the Reagan family our prayers and our condolences.
Ronald Reagan won America's respect with his greatness, and won its love with his goodness. He had the confidence that comes with conviction, the strength that comes with character, the grace that comes with humility, and the humor that comes with wisdom. He leaves behind a nation he restored and a world he helped save. During the years of President Reagan, America laid to rest an era of division and self-doubt. And because of his leadership, the world laid to rest an era of fear and tyranny. Now, in laying our leader to rest, we say thank you.
He always told us that for America, the best was yet to come. We comfort ourselves in the knowledge that this is true for him, too. His work is done, and now a shining city awaits him. May God bless Ronald Reagan. [2]
In the announcement of Reagan's death, Bush also declared June 11 a National Day of Mourning.
Music
Music played during the week-long events included four ruffles and flourishes, "Hail to the Chief," "My Country 'Tis of Thee," "The Battle Hymn of the Republic," "Eternal Father, Strong to Save" (also known as "The Navy Hymn"), "God of Our Fathers," "Mansions of the Lord," "God Bless America," "America the Beautiful," and Going Home.
Security measures
The state funeral marked the first time that Washington hosted a major event since September 11, 2001.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) designated the state funeral a National Special Security Event (NSSE). However, DHS was handling another NSSE at the same time: the G-8 summit in Sea Island, Georgia.
Memorials
People marked Reagan's passing by leaving tributes and condolences at locales around the country significant to Reagan's life, including his presidential library, his birth home in Tampico, Illinois, the funeral home where Reagan's body was taken to hours after he died, and U.S. embassies and consulates overseas.
Service at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library
On June 7, Reagan's body was removed from the funeral home and driven in a motorcade, by hearse, to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley.[4]
Reagan's casket was carried by a military honor guard representing all branches of the United States Armed Forces into the lobby of the library to lie in repose. There, a brief family service was conducted by Rev. Dr. Michael H. Wenning, former pastor of Bel Air Presbyterian Church, and a close friend of the Reagans. When the prayer service concluded, Nancy Reagan and her children walked up to the President's casket, where Mrs. Reagan bent down and kissed it. After the family left, the doors of the Reagan Presidential Library opened, and people began filing in at the rate of 2,000 an hour throughout the night. In all, about 108,000 visited the Reagan Presidential Library to see the casket.
Departure to Washington
On June 9, Reagan's casket was removed from the presidential library and driven in a motorcade, by hearse, to Naval Base Ventura County, in Point Mugu, California. It's the same airfield Reagan flew into and out of when president. SAM 28000, one of the two 747-200s, which serves usually as Air Force One, came to transport the casket to Washington. Thousands of people gathered to witness the plane's departure. Just before she boarded the VC-25A Presidential Aircraft, Nancy Reagan waved to the crowd with her military escort at her side.
Events in Washington
In Washington, D.C., members of Congress, and much of the public, paid tribute to Reagan immediately after his death and throughout his funeral.
Funeral procession
Events in the capital began when Reagan's casket arrived at Andrews Air Force Base. It was removed from the plane, driven by hearse in a simple procession through the Maryland and Virginia suburbs and the nation's capital, and onto Constitution Avenue. However, just before the plane arrived at Andrews, the Capitol was evacuated. A plane carrying Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher was off course and entered restricted airspace.
Near the Ellipse, and within sight of the White House, Reagan's body was transferred to a horse-drawn caisson, for the procession to Capitol Hill. Former First Lady Nancy Reagan was on hand to witness the body's transfer. She stepped out of her limosine to thunderous applause and whistling. Someone with a megaphone shouted, "God Bless You Nancy!" The crowd responded by even louder clapping and screaming. Mrs. Reagan humbly waved to the bystanders. She followed her husband's casket down Constitution Avenue, but in a limo, driving at a very slow pace.
People continued to applaud as the cortege began the journey. Military units escorted the caisson as it made its way to the sounds of muffled drums. Behind the caisson came the riderless horse, named Sgt. York, with Reagan's boots reversed in the stirrups. The caisson paused at 4th and Constitution, where 21 Air Force F-15's flew over in missing man formation.
Capitol Hill events
When the caisson arrived on Capitol Hill, Reagan's casket was removed from it, and carried up the west front steps, mainly because Reagan was first inaugurated there and he wanted to face west, toward California. Additionally, construction work was being done on the Capitol Visitors Center on the East side.
Two teams of military body bearers carried the coffin up the steps of the Capitol, straining at the weight of the coffin and the steepness of the steps. They would do the same thing when the coffin was brought out two days later.
When the casket made it to the top of the steps, Nancy Reagan and her military escort were there to meet it. As the casket passed them, Mrs. Reagan momentarily pulled away from her escort, and reached out to touch her husband's casket. They quickly followed it inside, and into the rotunda.
The casket was placed under the rotunda, where it lay in state on Abraham Lincoln's catafalque. The Rev. Daniel Coughlin, the House of Representatives' chaplain, gave the invocation. Eulogies were delivered by Senate President pro tempore Ted Stevens, House Speaker Dennis Hastert, and Vice President Dick Cheney.[5] Normally, the service would have been presided over by the President, but Bush was hosting the G-8 Summit in Sea Island, Georgia.
After the eulogies, Sen. Stevens, Rep. Hastert, and Vice President Cheney each laid a wreath at the casket, and Senate Chaplain , Rev. Barry Black, gave the benediction.
Vice President Cheney escorted Mrs. Reagan to the casket, where she kissed it, and walked away. The dignitaries in the room, which included members of Congress, the United States Supreme Court, diplomatic corps and others, paid their respects during the next half hour. In a rare instance, the doors of the Capitol were then opened to the public.
Public viewing
The general public stood in long lines waiting for a turn to pay their respects to President Reagan. People passed by the casket at a rate of about 5,000 an hour and the wait time was about 3 hours. In all, 104,684 paid their respects when Reagan lay in state.[6][7]
After returning to Washington following the G-8 Summit, President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush visited the rotunda to pay their respects. Many world leaders did the same, including interim Iraqi President Ghazi al-Yawer, former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, and former Polish president Lech Wałęsa.
State funeral
After the doors were closed to the public, Nancy Reagan had a moment alone with the casket, gently patting and kissing it. A military honor guard came to carry it down the steps of the Capitol. After it was placed in a hearse, the Reagan family departed for the funeral service. Crowds lined the route of the cortege as the hearse made its way to the Washington National Cathedral, where the funeral service would be held. As they had done during the previous few days, people waved American flags and applauded as Reagan made one final journey through Washington.
Dignitaries
About 4,000 people gathered at the cathedral for the service, including President Bush and Laura Bush, his parents, former president George H.W. and Barbara Bush, and the other former presidents and their wives—Gerald and Betty Ford, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, Bill and New York Democratic Senator Hillary Clinton, members of Congress, and past and present governors.[8]
Foreign dignitaries also attended and came from 165 nations. The dignitaries included 36 past and present heads of state and government, and U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan. Leading the dignitaries were Mikhail Gorbachev, Margaret Thatcher, Brian Mulroney, and his wife, and Prince Charles (representing Queen Elizabeth II). Many of the world leaders attending the service, including interim Afghan President Hamid Karzai, and al-Yawer, had been at the G-8 Summit. Among them were U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair and his wife Cherie, German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, and Jordan's King Abdullah.
Readings and eulogies
Before the funeral, an interfaith service officiated by former Missouri Senator Rev. John Danforth, Irish tenor Dr. Ronan Tynan, a close friend of the Bushes, sang "Ave Maria." (He sang "Amazing Grace" later, during the service.)
Rabbi Harold Kushner and Supreme Court Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor (the first female Supreme Court justice, whom Reagan appointed), each gave a reading, which preceded the eulogies. Delivering eulogies were Thatcher, Mulroney, and both Bushes.[9] Thatcher gave hers via video because doctors had advised her not to speak in public after having a series of strokes; her remarks had been pretaped some years prior on the belief that Reagan would precede her in death and the two are intertwined in Cold War history.
Interment at the Reagan Presidential Library
Return to California
After the service, the casket was removed from the cathedral and driven by hearse to Andrews Air Force Base for the final journey home, passing crowds along its route. The family and close friends, including former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, boarded the VC 25-A Presidential Aircraft back to California. Nancy Reagan waved farewell to the crowds just before she boarded the plane.
During the flight from Andrews Air Force Base to Naval Base Ventura County, the aircraft descended to a low altitude over Ronald Reagan's birth place of Tampico, Illinois, and during that time sent out flares in commemoration. In addition, the plane dipped its wing over Dixon, Illinois, the boyhood home of the former President.
About five hours after the plane left Andrews Air Force Base, it touched down for the last time at Naval Base Ventura County, Point Mugu, CA. The public was there to witness the plane's arrival, as well as sailors from the USS Ronald Reagan.
Reagan's body was driven in a large motorcade, by hearse, on one final trip though the streets of southern California. As they had done throughout the week, crowds gathered along the motorcade route on its 25-mile journey to Reagan's final resting place, his presidential library in Simi Valley.
Burial service
The service drew 700 people, mostly former Reagan Administration officials like George Shultz, but also Hollywood actors and other celebrities like Kirk Douglas, Charlton Heston, Mickey Rooney, Mrs. Bob Hope, Merv Griffin, Tommy Lasorda, Wayne Gretzky, Bo Derek, Tom Selleck, Pat Sajak, Wayne Newton, and the Sinatra family. [10] There were also dignitaries as well: Thatcher, who traveled on the plane from Washington, sat next to California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and his wife Maria Shriver, and former California Governor Pete Wilson, as well as former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan.[11] The three surviving Reagan children gave final eulogies at the interment ceremony.[12]
Eulogies finished, and the service over, the Air Force Band of the Golden West played four "ruffles and flourishes," and the U.S. Army Chorus sang the National Anthem. Bagpiper Eric Rigler played "Amazing Grace" as the casket was moved to its grave site. There, burial rites were given, followed by a last 21-gun salute. Then came the benediction, the firing of three volleys, and a bugeler played Taps. Four Navy F/A-18 fighter jets flew over in missing man formation, before the flag, that flew over the Capitol during President Reagan's inaguration, was folded and presented to Nancy Reagan by the commanding officer of the USS Ronald Reagan. At that time, it was Navy Captain James Symonds.
After Nancy Reagan accepted the flag, she spent several minutes hugging, and gently patting, her husband's coffin. She laid her head down on the casket, before breaking down and crying for the first time in public. While she cried, she kissed the casket and mouthed "I love you" a few times. Her children quickly surrounded her, to add some comfort. Mrs. Reagan then took one last look at her husband' casket, and somnley walked away, clutching the folded flag. The military band began to play, as Michael Reagan bent down and kissed his father's casket. After the Reagan family had departed, funeral attendees filed past the coffin, which was directly in front of the grave inscription quoting Ronald Reagan: "I know in my heart that man is good, that what is right will always eventually triumph, and there is purpose and worth to each and every life." When she dies, Nancy Reagan will be interred beside her husband.
Media comments on funeral coverage
Although the majority of media coverage of the event was deferential, Reagan's obituaries also included a few criticisms. Some criticized Reagan's funeral for the extensive media coverage it received and its careful orchestration. Richard Goldstein wrote in The Village Voice: "Because the networks had so long to plan for this production, and because Nancy Reagan is a master dramaturge, this was the most precisely mounted news event in modern times. Each gesture was minutely choreographed, every tear strategically placed."[13]
Others complained that the television coverage of the funeral was excessive and preempted coverage of other events. CBS News anchor Dan Rather was quoted as saying: "Even though everybody is respectful and wants to pay homage to the president, life does go on. There is other news, like the reality of Iraq. It got very short shrift this weekend."[14]
Additionally, media outlets were criticized for lionizing Reagan during his funeral without any attention to policy decisions made during his administration that were highly criticized and unpopular with his political opponents and many in the general public. Thomas Kunkel, dean of the University of Maryland, College Park's journalism college, wrote in American Journalism Review magazine that the coverage "would have you believe that Reagan was a cross between Abe Lincoln and Mother Teresa, with an overlay of Mister Rogers."[15] Howard Kurtz, The Washington Post's media columnist, said Reagan was "a far more controversial figure in his time than the largely gushing obits on television would suggest."[16] The Nation ran a series of articles about the many controversies of his presidency, such as the exploding federal debt, the growing gap between the rich and the poor, and the Iran-Contra scandal.
References
- ^ "Reagan observances to span five days". CNN Inside Politics, June 6, 2004.
- ^ "Half-Masting of the Flag. Ministry of Canadian Heritage
- ^ George W. Bush, "Announcing the death of Ronald Reagan". Press release, Office of the Press Secretary, June 6, 2004.
- ^ "Thousands pay respect to Reagan in California". CTV News, June 8, 2004.
- ^ "Reagan's Casket Arrives in Washington". CNN Live Event/Special. June 9, 2004.
- ^ Daniel Lak, "Reagan lies in state at Capitol". BBC, June 11, 2004.
- ^ "United States Capitol Police Press Releases: Lying In State for former President Reagan". United States Capitol Police
- ^ "Slideshow: Funeral service". CNN.com.
- ^ "THE STATE FUNERAL OF RONALD REAGAN". CNN Live Event/Special, June 11, 2004
- ^ "The State Funeral of Ronald Reagan" CNN Live Coverage Transcripts, June 11, 2004.
- ^ David Willis, "Private burial for Ronald Reagan". BBC, June 12, 2004.
- ^ "Reagan's children's eulogy remarks". USA Today, June 12, 2004.
- ^ Richard Goldstein, "Das Rongold: Reagan's funeral as a Wagnerian opera. Plus: Eminem as censor". The Village Voice, June 15, 2004. Retrieved May 10, 2005.
- ^ Gail Shister, "Network anchors see excess in Reagan funeral coverage." The Philadelphia Inquirer, June 8, 2004, page E01. Retrieved May 11, 2005.
- ^ Thomas Kunkel, "Fade-out". American Journalism Review, August/September 2004. Retrieved August 25, 2005.
- ^ Howard Kurtz, "Reagan: The Retake". The Washington Post, June 7, 2004. Retrieved August 25, 2005.
External links
- State Funeral of Ronald Reagan-Military District of Washington
- State Funeral of Ronald Reagan-Washington National Cathedral
- CNN Coverage of the Passing of Ronald Reagan
- Coverage in The Washington Post
- MSNBC Coverage of the Passing of Ronald Reagan
- Coverage in USA Today
- Coverage on C-SPAN
- BBC Reagan's Mixed White House Legacy
- CBC In Depth-Ronald Reagan
- CTV Ronald Reagan-A Look Back
- The Burial of a President