Reagan to Receive State Funeral, America Mourns

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - America mourned former President Ronald Reagan on Sunday as preparations began in Washington for a presidential state funeral for the man who won the Cold War and the hearts of countless Americans with his skills as the "Great Communicator."

Reagan died with his family by his bedside at his Los Angeles residence on Saturday at the age of 93 after a decade-long battle with Alzheimer's disease.

The 40th president's body lay overnight at a mortuary near his Bel Air home. It is expected to be taken to his presidential library in the Simi Valley on Monday to lie in state before being flown to Washington on Wednesday.

On Wednesday and Thursday, Reagan will lie in state in the U.S. Capitol before a funeral at the National Cathedral on Friday followed by a private sunset burial at the presidential library in California, House of Representatives Speaker Dennis Hastert said on CNN.

Leaders of the G8 group of the world's major industrialized nations are meeting in the U.S. state of Georgia this week, which would allow them to travel to Washington for the funeral. It will pose a major security challenge for a city already on high alert against terror threats following the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

President Bush, visiting France to mark the 60th anniversary of the D-Day landings, hailed Reagan as a "gallant leader in the cause of freedom."

The father of Soviet Perestroika reform Mikhail Gorbachev praised Reagan, his partner on the world stage, as a great leader who dared to change the tide in relations between the Cold War superpowers. Gorbachev said his dialogue with Reagan "kick-started the process, which ultimately put an end to the Cold War."

Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher -- the "Iron Lady" to Reagan's warm "Great Communicator" -- called him a "truly great American hero."

"Ronald Reagan had a higher claim than any other leader to have won the Cold War for liberty. To have achieved so much, against such odds, and with such humor and humanity, made Ronald Reagan a truly great American hero," Thatcher said.

French president Jacques Chirac called him "a great statesman who through the strength of his convictions and his commitment to democracy will leave a deep mark in history."

A dissenting note came from Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, who said he regretted that Reagan died without being tried for the 1986 air strikes that killed dozens of people including Gaddafi's daughter.

Reagan became the first right-wing U.S. president in 50 years; the first in 30 years to serve two terms; and the first to spend a trillion dollars on peacetime defense and witness a doubling of the national debt.

He called the Soviet Union an evil empire and helped defeat it in the Cold War by presiding over a massive U.S. defense build-up that the Russians could not afford to keep up with.

The former president's death ended a long, painful last chapter in a close, 52-year marriage. Just last month, Nancy Reagan made a rare speech in which she described her husband's last days suffering from Alzheimer's.

"Ronnie's long journey has finally taken him to a distant place, where I can no longer reach him," she said, urging support for stem cell research to help cure Alzheimer's.

Hundreds of people gathered outside the mortuary in Santa Monica to pay their respects to the former president, after his body was brought there in a flag draped coffin.

Soldiers with binoculars stood watch on the balcony of a building across the street.

Bystanders set up a small shrine popped at a fountain in front of the mortuary, as people came by with flags, flowers and notes of remembrance. One man placed a large flag over the edge of the fountain, then he snapped to attention and offered a crisp military salute.

Among those who came to visit with their families was Hanno Basse, an engineer who was raised in East Germany and came to the United States seven years ago. Basse said he remembered well the speech in which Reagan exhorted Soviet leaders to tear down the Berlin Wall.

"I was on the wrong side of that wall," Basse said. He added that at the time, he and his neighbors did not know what exactly to make of Reagan's plea. "I think the picture of the United States at that time was fairly ambivalent."

Though Santa Monica has a reputation among southern Californians as a liberal bastion, some of the mourners said that politics did not matter when it came to people's warmth of feelings for Reagan.

"He made you feel safe and secure, regardless of whether you voted for him or not," said John Circenis.

Reagan's presidential state funeral will be the first since Lyndon Johnson's in 1973.

Flags across the country were lowered to half staff in a sign of respect for the man who effected a late 20th Century revolution in American politics, helping make Republicans the ruling party and conservatism a mainstream political philosophy.

John Kerry, who is challenging Bush for the White House in November elections, said he was suspending "overtly political" campaigning for the next few days as a tribute to Reagan.

Friday will be a National Day of Mourning; the funeral will be at 11:30 A.M. EDT at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.
Reagan's body will lie in state from 9 P.M. EDT Wednesday night until around 9 A.M. EDT Friday.
I wish I could be there.
Reagan to Receive State Funeral,
America Mourns
Excerpt:

A UNIQUE MAN
The former president's death ended a long, painful last chapter in a close, 52-year marriage. Just last month, Nancy Reagan made a rare speech in which she described her husband's last days suffering from Alzheimer's.
"Ronnie's long journey has finally taken him to a distant place, where I can no longer reach him," she said, urging support for stem cell research to help cure Alzheimer's.
Hundreds of people gathered outside the mortuary in Santa Monica to pay their respects to the former president, after his body was brought there in a flag draped coffin.
Soldiers with binoculars stood watch on the balcony of a building across the street.
Bystanders set up a small shrine popped at a fountain in front of the mortuary, as people came by with flags, flowers and notes of remembrance. One man placed a large flag over the edge of the fountain, then he snapped to attention and offered a crisp military salute.
Among those who came to visit with their families was Hanno Basse, an engineer who was raised in East Germany and came to the United States seven years ago. Basse said he remembered well the speech in which Reagan exhorted Soviet leaders to tear down the Berlin Wall.
"I was on the wrong side of that wall," Basse said. He added that at the time, he and his neighbors did not know what exactly to make of Reagan's plea. "I think the picture of the United States at that time was fairly ambivalent."
Though Santa Monica has a reputation among southern Californians as a liberal bastion, some of the mourners said that politics did not matter when it came to people's warmth of feelings for Reagan.
"He made you feel safe and secure, regardless of whether you voted for him or not," said John Circenis.
Reagan's presidential state funeral will be the first since Lyndon Johnson's in 1973.
Flags across the country were lowered to half staff in a sign of respect for the man who effected a late 20th Century revolution in American politics, helping make Republicans the ruling party and conservatism a mainstream political philosophy.

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