Death and state funeral of Ronald Reagan

On June 5, 2004, Ronald Reagan, the 40th President of the United States, died after having suffered from Alzheimer's disease for almost 10 years. A seven-day state funeral for Reagan was held shortly after his death.

Post-death
After Reagan's death his body was taken from his Bel Air, Los Angeles, California home to the Gates, Kingsley and Gates Funeral Home in Santa Monica, California to prepare the body for burial. On June 7, Reagan's casket was taken by a hearse. The funeral was performed by the Reagan's Presbyterian minister Michael Wenning.

Funeral at Washington, D.C.
It was displayed at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, then flown to Washington, D.C. on June 9 for a service, public viewing and tributes at the U.S. Capitol.

After lying in state for thirty-four hours in the Capitol Rotunda, a state funeral service was held at the Washington National Cathedral on June 11.

George W. Bush's reaction
On the same day, President George W. Bush declared a national day of mourning. Bush was in Paris when Reagan died. Later that day, after the service, Reagan's casket was taken back to California for burial at the Reagan Presidential Library. Bush later said the following during his press-conference in Paris:

History

The state funeral was the first since the funeral of Lyndon B. Johnson in 1973. Richard Nixon, who lead over Johnson's funeral, declined to have a state funeral in 1994. The state funeral was the first time that Washington hosted a major event since the September 11 attacks.

Guests
About 4,000 people gathered at the cathedral for the service, including President and Mrs. Bush, former president George H. W. and Barbara Bush, Gerald and Betty Ford, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, and Bill and Hillary Clinton. Members of Congress, such as Dick Cheney, Howard Baker, Sandra Day O'Connor, and Dennis Hastert, and past and present governors were also present. Foreign leaders also attended Mikhail Gorbachev, Margaret Thatcher, Brian Mulroney, and Prince Charles (representing Queen Elizabeth II). 

Other world leaders included UK Prime Minister Tony Blair and his wife Cherie, Prince Charles, German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone, California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, close friends Donald Rumsfeld, Ed Meese, Howard Baker, and Colin Powell, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, former President of Poland Lech Wałęsa, fomer Vice president Al Gore, Jordan's King Abdullah, New York City mayors Michael Bloomberg, Rudy Giuliani, and Ed Koch, as well as interim presidents Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan and Ghazi Mashal Ajil al-Yawer of Iraq, and Irish President Mary McAleese.

Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin, French President Jacques Chirac, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, also president of the European Union, and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi also paid their respects to Reagan.

References

Other websites

 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
 BBC Reagan's Mixed White House Legacy
 CBC In Depth-Ronald Reagan
 CTV Ronald Reagan-A Look Back 

Ronald Reagan
2004 in the United States
Reagan