Death and state funeral of Ronald Reagan

Death and state funeral of Ronald Reagan

The casket bearing the body of former President Ronald Reagan lies in the United States Capitol rotunda
Date	June 5–11, 2004
Location	Capitol Rotunda, U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C.
Participants	Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Margaret Thatcher, Mikhail Gorbachev, Brian Mulroney, other foreign dignitaries, and members of the 108th United States Congress

On June 5, 2004, Ronald Reagan, the 40th President of the United States, died after having suffered from Alzheimer's disease for nearly a decade. His seven-day state funeral followed. After Reagan's death, his body was taken from his Bel Air, Los Angeles 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 transported by hearse and 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. His death occurred on the 36th anniversary of the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy.

After lying in state for thirty-four hours in the Capitol rotunda, a state funeral service was conducted at the Washington National Cathedral on June 11, the day when President George W. Bush declared a national day of mourning. Later that day, after the service, Reagan's casket was transported back to California for interment at the Reagan Presidential Library. The state funeral was executed by the Military District of Washington (MDW) and was the first since that of Lyndon B. Johnson in 1973. Richard Nixon, who presided over Johnson's funeral, declined to have a state funeral in 1994. Reagan was the first U.S. former president to die in the 21st century.