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Lying in State

Benjamin Grimm Dec 04 2018 02:04 PM

I read that George Bush is the 32nd person to lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda. While 32 is a number that nicely lends itself to a competitive bracket, I think a Lying In State Derby would be more than a little weird. I also think it would be too much work to make a quiz out of this, so I'll just present the list here. I hate to say it, but I don't remember the two police officers from 1998. It looks like it has become a standard for Presidents to lie in state since Kennedy died. Prior to Kennedy, all of the Presidents listed died in office, except for Taft. Since Kennedy, the only exceptions have been Nixon and Truman. Only one woman has received this honor, assuming that the Unknown Soldiers are male. Seven Senators. Two Vice Presidents. (When was the last time a former Vice President, who didn't later become President, died? Did Agnew or Rockefeller outlive Humphrey? Am I forgetting someone?) Anyway, here's the list: Admiral George Dewey: January 20, 1917 Civil Rights Activist Rosa Parks: October 30-31, 2005 Congressman Everett McKinley Dirksen: September 9-10, 1969 Congressman Thaddeus Stevens: August 13-14, 1868 Director of the FBI J. Edgar Hoover: May 3-4, 1972 General Douglas MacArthur: April 8-9, 1964 General John Joseph Pershing: July 18-19, 1948 Pierre Charles L'Enfant, planner of the city of Washington D.C.: April 28, 1909 (a re-interment) Policemen Jacob Joseph Chestnut and John Michael Gibson: July 28, 1998 President Abraham Lincoln: April 19-21, 1865 President Dwight D. Eisenhower: March 30-31, 1969 President George Herbert Walker Bush: December 2018 President Gerald Ford: December 30, 2006 – January 2, 2007 President Herbert Clark Hoover: October 23-25, 1964 President James A. Garfield: September 21-23, 1881 President John F. Kennedy: November 24-25, 1963 President Lyndon Baines Johnson: January 24-25, 1973 President Ronald Reagan: June 9-11, 2004 President Warren G. Harding: August 8, 1923 President William Howard Taft: March 11, 1930 President William McKinley, Jr.: September 17, 1901 Reverend Billy Graham: February 28-March 1, 2018 Senator Charles Sumner: March 13, 1874 Senator Claude Denson Pepper: June 1-2, 1989 Senator Daniel K. Inouye: December 20, 2012 Senator Henry Clay: July 1, 1852 Senator John A. Logan: December 30-31, 1886 Senator John McCain: August 31, 2018 Senator Robert A. Taft: August 2-3, 1953 Unknown Soldier of World War I: November 9-11, 1921 Unknown Soldier of the Vietnam Conflict: May 25-28, 1984 Unknown Soldiers of World War II and the Korean War: May 28-30, 1958 Vice President Henry Wilson: November 25-26, 1875 Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey: January 14-15, 1978

seawolf17 Dec 05 2018 07:06 AM Re: Lying in State

Benjamin Grimm wrote: (When was the last time a former Vice President, who didn't later become President, died? Did Agnew or Rockefeller outlive Humphrey? Am I forgetting someone?) I just googled Dan Quayle. Not that I thought he was dead, but I don't think I've thought about him in decades. Turns out he's been mostly quiet, living in Arizona.

Mets Willets Point Dec 05 2018 10:22 AM Re: Lying in State

Spiro Agnew died in 1996. Nelson Rockefeller died in 1979.

Mets Willets Point Dec 05 2018 10:26 AM Re: Lying in State

Still alive: Walter Mondale (90) Dan Quayle (71) Al Gore (70) Dick Cheney (77) Joe Biden (76) Mike Pence (59)

41Forever Dec 05 2018 10:39 AM Re: Lying in State Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Dec 05 2018 02:30 PM

That’s interesting about the Presidents. I’m wondering about Truman, who even served in the Senate before he was vice president and president. (So did Nixon — both chambers, actually — but I know the circumstances there.) I learned while covering President Ford’s services that these things are planned in great detail years in advance, starting while they are still in office, if I recall. I’ll see if I can find the story. So there must have been great discussion about Truman and the Capitol. It must have been his preference.

Edgy MD Dec 05 2018 02:17 PM Re: Lying in State

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I hate to say it, but I don't remember the two police officers from 1998. Jacob Joseph Chestnut and John Michael Gibson were two Capitol Police detectives killed by a gunman who was trying to force his way into the Capitol and shoot the place up. Only one other person was hit but the gunman's strategy was to take out the cops first, so Chestnut never saw it coming, but Gibson was able to return fire. Chestnut was also the first African-American afforded the honor.

Frayed Knot Dec 05 2018 02:31 PM Re: Lying in State

I was semi-surprised to have seen Mondale on TV recently because I was half thinking he was dead already. But then I realized it was because I often conflate him with George McGovern. You know, all those liberal, upper-midwestern presidential wannabes with names starting with M start to run together after a while.

Lefty Specialist Dec 06 2018 10:45 AM Re: Lying in State

Bush may have been lying in state, but Trump is lying in multiple states and the District of Columbia.

Benjamin Grimm Dec 06 2018 10:59 AM Re: Lying in State

And all over the world, too! So true.

batmagadanleadoff Dec 06 2018 11:16 AM Re: Lying in State

I cant believe people still support this POS. I cant begin to tell you how much it bothers me that there's a good chance that in the end, the worst that'll happen to him is that he wont get reelected. . He wont go to jail and him and his family will get to keep everything they're stealing.