In the United States, state funerals are the official funeral rites conducted by the federal government in the nation's capital, Washington, D.C., that are offered to a sitting or former president, a president-elect, high government officials and other civilians who have rendered distinguished service to the nation. Administered by the Military District of Washington (MDW), a command unit of the Joint Force Headquarters National Capital Region, state funerals are greatly influenced by protocol, steeped in tradition, and rich in history. However, the overall planning as well as the decision to hold a state funeral, is largely determined by the family of the honoree, upon invitation by the government.
History and development Funerals of Founding Fathers
Benjamin Franklin
The first general mourning was proclaimed in the United States in 1790, upon the death of Benjamin Franklin, and in 1799, following the death of George Washington. Preparations for Franklin's funeral after his death on April 17, 1790, included a funeral procession to the Pennsylvania State House (now known as Independence Hall) in Philadelphia and burial at Christ Church Burial Ground on April 21. It is estimated that 20,000 mourners gathered for Franklin's funeral. The cortege was composed of Philadelphia society, ranging from Mayor Samuel Powel to American astronomer David Rittenhouse. Muffled bells rang and flags on the mast of ships as well as atop all government buildings flew at half-staff. The United States Congress convened in New York City, which at the time served as the nation's capital, and passed a concurrent resolution observing an official period of mourning for one month. The French National Assembly, at the suggestion of Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau, was so moved by the death of Franklin that the legislature observed a three-day period of mourning.
George Washington When Washington died at his Mount Vernon plantation on December 14, 1799, Congress, then meeting in Philadelphia, selected Henry Lee III to give a eulogy. Mock funerals were held all over the United States. An elaborate mock funeral was held in Philadelphia on December 26. At dawn, sixteen cannons were fired and volleys were shot on a half-hour basis. An empty casket was carried in a procession which consisted of two marines wearing black scarves escorting a riderless horse festooned with black and white feathers, and a bald eagle depicted on the horse's breast. A religious service was held at the German Lutheran Church officiated by the Reverend William White, an Episcopal Church in the United States bishop. Washington's death was mourned not just in his own country; the news of his death had a profound effect in Europe. In France, Napoleon Bonaparte as First Consul, asked Louis-Marcelin de Fontanes to give a eulogy and ordered a ten-day requiem. All Royal Navy ships were ordered to lower their ensigns at half-mast.
Washington's actual funeral was a simple ceremony, organized by the local Masonic lodge and held on December 18. In his will, Washington stated, "[I]t is my express desire that my Corpse may be Interred in a private manner, without parade, or funeral Oration." The funeral procession consisted of the president's casket mounted on and using a caisson, foot soldiers, clergy, and a caparisoned, riderless horse. Upon arrival at a red brick tomb on a hillside in the environs of Mount Vernon, the casket was placed on a wood bier for grieving mourners to gather around for a final viewing and clergy to conduct funeral rites. Reverend Thomas Davis, rector of Christ Church, Alexandria, read the Episcopal Order of Burial. Next, the Reverend James Muir, minister of the Alexandria Presbyterian Church, and Dr. Elisha Dick, conducted the traditional Masonic funeral rites.
Thomas Jefferson Two former presidents, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, died within hours of each other on July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson's funeral, held in Charlottesville, Virginia, at 5:00 p.m. on July 5, 1826, was simple. No invitations were sent out for the religious service officiated by Reverend Frederick Hatch at the Episcopal Church in Charlottesville. Only friends and family members gathered at his gravesite on the grounds of Monticello. It is likely that Jefferson's casket was wooden, built by Monticello slave John Hemings.
John Adams The funeral of John Adams at the First Congregational Church (now known as the United First Parish Church) in Quincy, Massachusetts, was held on July 7 and was attended by an estimated crowd of 4,000 people. Pastor Peter Whitney officiated the service. Although many people in Boston wanted Adams's funeral to be held at the State House using taxpayer money, this idea was rejected by the Adams family. Nevertheless, cannons were fired from Mount Wollaston, bells were rung, and the procession that took the president's casket from the Adams' home to the church was followed by Massachusetts Governor Levi Lincoln Jr., Harvard University President John Thornton Kirkland, members of the state legislature, and United States Congressman Daniel Webster.
History of presidential state funerals in Washington Early days
William Henry Harrison The first state funeral was for William Henry Harrison, who died on April 4, 1841, after only one month in office. As he was the first U.S. president to die in office, there was no established way of mourning a deceased incumbent president. Alexander Hunter, a Washington merchant, was commissioned to plan the ceremony. Hunter had the White House draped in black ribbon and ordered a curtained, upholstered black and white carriage to carry Harrison's casket. An invitation-only religious service was held in the East Room. Dirges were played by the United States Marine Band during the funeral procession to the Congressional Cemetery where interment occurred.
Zachary Taylor When Zachary Taylor died on July 9, 1850, into his term of office, he was given a state funeral similar in its details to Harrison's. Behind Taylor's black-and-white caisson, his horse "Old Whitey" followed riderless, with a pair of riding boots reversed in the stirrups.
First presidents to lie in state
Abraham Lincoln
It was not until the assassination of Abraham Lincoln on April 14, 1865, that the United States experienced a period of true national mourning, made possible by innovations like the railroad and telegraph. Inconsolable, Mary Todd Lincoln did not attend Lincoln's religious service in the East Room of the White House, which was conducted by Reverend Phineas D. Gurley. On the Easter Sunday after Lincoln's death, clergymen around the nation praised the president in their sermons. Millions of people witnessed Lincoln's funeral procession from Washington, D.C., on April 19, 1865, as his casket was transported by train through New York City to Springfield, Illinois. Lincoln was the first president to lie in state in the United States Capitol Rotunda.
James Garfield The remains of James A. Garfield arrived in the nation's capital on September 21, two days after his death. A floral arrangement was mounted on his casket, complemented with ornate "stuffed doves of peace". A large crowd of mourners numbering over 100,000 people viewed his casket as he lay in state in the Capitol rotunda.
State funerals in the 20th century
William McKinley
When the funeral train of William McKinley arrived in Washington, D.C., on September 16, 1901, two days after his death, the casket was taken to the East Room in the White House where a lavish display of palms, fruit trees, and floral arrangements transversed into the Cross Hall. The following day, McKinley's casket was transported to the Capitol rotunda to lie in state.
Warren G. Harding
Warren G. Harding died unexpectedly in San Francisco on August 2, 1923. When Harding's funeral train arrived at Washington Union Station on August 7, the casket was taken to the East Room in the White House. The following morning, the casket was mounted on a caisson and taken to the Capitol to lie in state. A funeral service was held in the presence of members of Congress, the Cabinet, and dignitaries inside the Capitol rotunda. The silver casket was covered with a flag, a spread eagle, and topped off with red, white, and blue flowers personally designed by Harding's widow Florence.
William Howard Taft
Former president William Howard Taft, also retired Chief Justice of the United States, was given a state funeral in Washington, D.C., on March 11, 1930, three days after his death. He lay in state in the Capitol rotunda and a funeral service was held at All Souls' Unitarian Church. Herbert Hoover had offered the East Room in the White House for the service. However, the president's widow, Helen Taft, decided that it would be more appropriate at the church of which the president was a member. Justices of the United States Supreme Court acted as honorary pallbearers.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt died on April 12, 1945, in Warm Springs, Georgia, early into his fourth term. Due to ongoing participation of the United States in World War II, it was decided that he would not be accorded a state funeral, as any public display of ceremonial pomp during a time of war was deemed inappropriate while American G.I.s were dying overseas.
However, many Americans flocked to the train tracks to witness the funeral train from Warm Springs to Washington. His body lay in repose in the East Room of the White House. A private funeral service was conducted there; only family members, close friends, high government officials, members of both chambers of the Congress, and heads of foreign missions attended. Though there was no lying in state in the Capitol rotunda, flags were lowered to half-staff at the White House and the Capitol.
After private funeral services were held in Washington, D.C., Roosevelt's remains were transported on a funeral train to his Hyde Park, New York residence, Springwood Estate, for interment.
John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas. The state funeral was the first in the television age, covered live from start to finish, nonstop for 70 hours.
Kennedy's body was brought back to Washington after his assassination. Early on November 23, six military pallbearers carried the flag-draped coffin into the East Room of the White House, where he lay in repose for 24 hours. Then, the coffin was carried on a horse-drawn caisson to the Capitol to lie in state. Throughout the day and night, hundreds of thousands lined up to view the guarded casket, with a quarter million passing through the rotunda during the 18 hours of lying in state.
Kennedy's funeral service was held on November 25 at St. Matthew's Cathedral. The Requiem Mass was led by Cardinal Richard Cushing. About 1,200 guests, including representatives from over 90 countries, attended. After the service, Kennedy was buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.
Herbert Hoover Dying in his suite at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City on October 20, 1964, Herbert Hoover had made plans in 1958 for a state funeral. Accorded with full military honors, over 70 soldiers from the First Army at Fort Jay on Governors Island in the city as guards of honor during the funeral service held at St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church on October 22. When Hoover's casket arrived in Washington, D.C., on October 23, his remains lay in state in the Capitol rotunda for two days before they were flown to West Branch, Iowa, for interment.
Dwight D. Eisenhower