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 home in Bel-Air, Los Angeles, California, 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.

The body was displayed at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, and 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 34 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 had led Johnson's funeral, declined to have a state funeral in 1994. The state funeral was the first time that Washington, D.C., 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, Jordanian 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, who was also president of the European Union, and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi also paid their respects to Reagan.

## 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