Posted on 06/10/2004 7:49:33 AM PDT by NYer
WASHINGTON - Tens of thousands of Americans are streaming through the Capitol Rotunda, undeterred by sweltering heat, to pay their final respects to Ronald Reagan (news - web sites). The public viewing goes on continuously until Friday morning.
Capitol Police weren't giving out official crowd estimates. But visitors split into two columns as they entered the viewing area, filing around both sides of the casket in a process that roughly doubled the pace that enabled approximately 106,000 to view the president during a 33-hour period at the Reagan library in California.
Capitol Police Chief Terrance Gainer said at daybreak that "if we can manage the heat and supply people with water, then we'll be just fine."
They came in limousines and dark suits, attesting to their high station, then they came in shorts and T-shirts, after waiting hour upon hour, all through the night. The mighty and the average paid tribute to Ronald Reagan, the 40th president, lying in state under a soaring dome where Americans once said goodbye to Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy.
Boy scouts in khaki shorts and neckerchiefs, office workers, tourists with children in tow, an American Indian in feathered headdress, all came to pay their respects and slowly file past Reagan's casket, draped in the stars and stripes of the American flag.
"Getting them up this morning was hard, but I think they'll look back on it as something they'll remember," said Susan Frays, who roused her three sons at 4 a.m. Thursday to make the trip into Washington from nearby Waldorf, Md. The family waited in line 2 1/2 hours for their turn in the Capitol Rotunda.
"They'll say, 'I was there, I was there,'" said her husband, Parko.
Earlier, official Washington hailed Reagan on Wednesday as "a graceful and gallant man," in Vice President Dick Cheney (news - web sites)'s words.
House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., speaking at the state funeral ceremony opening the 34-hour period of Reagan's lying in state, said, "It is altogether fitting and proper that he has returned to this Capitol Rotunda, like another great son of Illinois, Abraham Lincoln, so the nation can say goodbye."
Donna Hand of Ashburn, Va., waited five hours to see the casket and spent about three minutes inside. "It was a very moving experience for me. It was very solemn," Hand said. "It made you feel patriotic."
"I thought he was a great leader" said George Ford of Cabin John, Md. "He was just a great guy. He told you like it was."
Reagan's casket lay in state in the center of the Rotunda, a room ringed with statues of some of his predecessors and paintings depicting the founding of the nation.
It rests beneath "that big white dome, bulging with new tax revenues," as Reagan would say in his frequent criticism of the Congress. But the scolding was forgotten Wednesday.
His body was flown in from California on one of President Bush (news - web sites)'s jets and brought to the Capitol on a century-old, horse-drawn caisson for an honor last accorded a president in 1973 when Lyndon Johnson died.
Crowds 15 deep watched the procession advance slowly up Constitution Avenue. A riderless horse with boots reversed in the stirrups followed the caisson, and drums sounded, marking the cadence of the marchers.
Cheers broke out briefly for Reagan's widow, Nancy, riding in a limousine at the head of the procession. She waved repeatedly, looking wan.
"God bless you, Nancy," a man cried out.
Most members of Congress, much of Bush's Cabinet, four Supreme Court justices and a large contingent of diplomats attended the service. Former Vice President Dan Quayle (news - web sites) was one of only a few former officials who crowded into the Rotunda.
Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., gazed at Reagan's casket when the funeral ended. Kennedy, of course, was present in 1963 when his brother, President Kennedy, was eulogized in the Capitol following his assassination.
After the building was opened to the public, some people left crying, but others got on their cell phones to ask if they had been seen on television.
Reagan, who died Saturday at 93 at his home in Los Angeles, will be buried Friday in a sunset ceremony on the grounds of his presidential library in Simi Valley, Calif.
Bush planned to come back from the Group of Eight meeting of leading industrial nations in Georgia on Thursday and, with his wife, Laura, call on Mrs. Reagan at Blair House, the official guest residence across the street from the White House.
Aides said Bush also would visit the casket Thursday evening. Bush and his father, who was Reagan's vice president and succeeded him in the White House, will be among the eulogists Friday.
The day was not without drama of a different kind as well. The Capitol was briefly emptied a few hours before the funeral was to begin after police feared an airplane was heading toward the building.
They quickly determined that the small plane, carrying Kentucky Gov. Ernie Fletcher to the funeral, had lost radio transmission and was not a threat.
When Fletcher entered the Rotunda later Wednesday, the roar of fighter jet engines that were part of the ceremony could be heard in the room.
At least 100 people on the National Mall were treated for heat-related illnesses, said Alan Etter of the D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department.
The family of former US president Ronald Reagan (news - web sites) sit in the Rotunda of the US Capitol in Washington, DC. (L to R) Ronald Prescott Reagan and his wife Doria and Nancy Reagan (R-seated). (Center rear) Lynn Cheney, wife of US Vice-President Dick Cheney (news - web sites).
People wait in lines ,which will last several hours, to go into the Capitol Building in Washington Thursday, June 10, 2004 to view President Reagan's flag-draped casket which lies in state in the Rotunda through Friday.
Oooh! Beautiful pic!
Former first lady Nancy Reagan pauses and places her hand on the casket of her husband, former President Ronald Reagan
What a great photo.
Mourners queue outside the US Capitol to view the casket of former US president Ronald Reagan (news - web sites). Reagan's body was brought to the Capitol for a state funeral and will lie in state there until 11 June
C-Span has a Republican panel on now discussing Reagan's accomplishments. The camera showed one of the mourners going past the casket wearing a smiley face tee shirt with the slogan, Imagine - No Liberals. Wonder if that young man was a Freeper!
Lol!! If not a freeper, than definitely a Rush fan.
Have there been any estimates of the size of the crowd that lined the streets?
Our Capitol building is truly a treasure for the American people.
I watched cspan until 1:30 last night and there were still people coming in.
Mrs. Reagan is holding up well, but the tough times will come when the ceremony is over and she realizes that she's truly alone. No more caregiving duties. That will be very hard.
I was watching about 3am EST.....and people were streaming in....and I couldn't figure out why no one was moving, then figured out, they all wanted to stay for the changing of the Guard.
The article states that four Supreme Court Justices were present. Why not the whole number? Is there a constitutional provision that prohibits all the Justices from being in one public location?
i'm waiting for some michaelmoore-pud to disrupt the viewing with some moronic action
Great photo!
It's a security and continuity issue, e.g., all the eggs in one basket. Same thing happens during SOU.
what a beautiful picture
She has such style and grace, and I wish I could see her without goosebumps covering me, and my eyes welling up.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.