page_title: Edmund Muskie
section_title: Death and funeral
hierarchical_section_title: Edmund Muskie / Death and funeral
caption_attribution_description: English: Maine State Rep. Joseph L. Tibbetts places a wreath and salutes the grave of Edmund Muskie, former Maine senator and secretary of state, during an annual event to honor and remember veterans at Arlington National Cemetery Dec. 15, 2007.
context_page_description: Edmund Sixtus Muskie was an American statesman and political leader who served as the 58th United States Secretary of State under President Jimmy Carter, a United States Senator from Maine from 1959 to 1980, the 64th Governor of Maine from 1955 to 1959, and a member of the Maine House of Representatives from 1946 to 1951. He was the Democratic Party's candidate for Vice President of the United States in the 1968 presidential election, alongside Hubert Humphrey.
  Born in Rumford, Maine to Polish parents, Muskie graduated from Bates College in Lewiston, and Cornell University in Ithaca. He worked as a lawyer for two years before serving in the United States Naval Reserve from 1942 to 1945 during World War II. Upon his return, Muskie served in the Maine State Legislature from 1946 to 1951 against heavy Republican opposition. Despite an unsuccessful bid for the mayoralty of Waterville, he was elected the 64th Governor of Maine in an upset victory as its first Roman Catholic in 1954.
context_section_description: Muskie died at 4:06 AM EST on the morning of March 26, 1996 at the Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington, D.C., after seeking treatment for bouts of congestive heart failure. He died two days shy of his 82nd birthday. Eight days prior he underwent a carotid endarterectomy in his right neck. His assistant reported that he had suffered a myocardial infarction. Some historians believe that his blood clots were brought on from frequent 8,421 mile (13,552 km) flights to Cambodia; he was asked to assist in stabilizing its government on behalf of President Bill Clinton.
  Due to his service in the United States Naval Reserve during World War II, he was eligible to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia. His ultimate rank of lieutenant had him placed in Section 25 of the cemetery. Although he died on March 26, his grave stone initially noted that he died on the 25th. His wife, Jane, died on December 25, 2004, due to health complications brought on by Alzheimer's disease. She was buried next to Muskie and his grave stone was corrected to read "March 26, 1996".
  Muskie was memorialized in Washington D.C., Lewiston, Maine, and Bethesda, Maryland. At his Washington memorial, he was paid tribute to by a variety of U.S. senators and house representatives. His alma mater–Bates College–held a memorial presided over by its president, Donald Harward. On March 30, 1996, a publicly broadcast, Roman Catholic funeral was held in Bethesda at the Church of the Little Flower. He was eulogized by U.S. president Jimmy Carter; U.S. Senator, George J. Mitchell; 20th United States Ambassador to the United Nations, Madeleine Albright; a political aide, Leon G. Billings; and one of Muskie's sons, Stephen.
caption: Muskie's gravestone at the Arlington National Cemetery, 2007
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