What You May Not Know About U.S. Presidential Funerals

According to the White House Historical Association, one of the first things asked of new U.S. presidents is to provide directions for their funerals. “Traditionally five days in length, U.S. presidential state funerals are meticulously choreographed,’ says the Association. “Coordination for the events is conducted by the army’s Military District of Washington and begins early in each presidential term, when a new president is asked to attend to the strange task of imagining his own funeral service. It is a cold realization that greets a new president at the White House door.”

So it was that when former President Jimmy Carter died on December 20, the funeral service was already planned. You can read the full schedule of all funeral events, here. As I write this, on January 7, his body is lying in state in the Capitol rotunda. The casket rests on the catafalque that was built for Abraham Lincoln’s funeral in 1865. On Thursday, January 9, there will be service for Carter in the National Cathedral. After this the body will be flown back to Plains, Georgia. There will be a private service in the Maranatha Baptist Church, where the former President taught Sunday school for many years. And then Jimmy Carter will be taken to his family home and buried next to his wife, Rosalynn.

U.S. Presidential Funerals in History

Not all U.S. presidents get a state funeral. They are all entitled to one, but sometimes they or their family choose to skip it. President Richard Nixon skipped it, for example.

Another president who wished to avoid a state funeral was George Washington, who was president from 1789 to 1797. When Washington died in 1799 he left instructions for a small military funeral at his Virginia estate, Mount Vernon, to be attended only by family and close associates. He wanted no processions or hours of oratory. Many people had other ideas, however. Around the nation for several weeks — as news of Washington’s death slowly spread — people held their own services and processions and gave long and copious speeches.

The first presidential state funeral was held for the first president to die in office, William Henry Harrison. Harrison appears to have caught pneumonia or something like it at his inauguration in 1841, and he died 31 days later. The funeral of President Harrison was held in the White House, followed by a formal procession to Congressional Cemetery. The coffin was temporarily placed in a public vault before being taken to Ohio for burial. On top of this there were thirty days of ceremonies for Harrison, many modeled after European royal funerals. This established a number of precedents that would adapted for subsequent funerals.

Presidential State Funeral Traditions

Abraham Lincoln was the first president to lay in state in the U.S. Capitol rotunda, after his assassination in 1865. This tradition has been widely followed ever since. Indeed, presidential state funerals ever since have borrowed at least some elements from the Lincoln funeral. John F. Kennedy’s funeral in 1963 followed the protocols and details of Lincoln’s funeral down to many fine details.

Yet there are variations. James Garfield, assassinated in office in 1881, did not have a service in the White House. Franklin Roosevelt, who died in office in 1945, did not lie in state in the rotunda. All presidents are eligible for burial at Arlington National Cemetery, but only two — John F. Kennedy and Robert Taft — are interred there.

The Washington National Cathedral

Jimmy Carter will be the fifth U.S. president to have a state funeral in the National Cathedral in Washington, DC. The National Cathedral is an Episcopal church, and exactly how it is a “national” church has always been a tad confusing to me. Apparently it’s a long-standing and somewhat loose association. According to the Cathedral’s website, the original plan for the U.S. capital included a “great church for national purposes.” But such a great church was not built until a congressional charter authorized a cathedral dedicated to religion, education and charity, in 1893. Construction began in 1907 and was completed in 1990.

The original hope was that the National Cathedral would be something like the U.S. Westminster Abbey. I don’t believe that it is, exactly. However, the Cathedral does serve as the site of many funerals and memorial services for people who were important to the nation — not just presidents. And as a “national” church it sees itself as holding  “a unique place at the intersection of sacred and civic life.” Again, from the website: “[W]e strive to serve God and our neighbors as agents of reconciliation, a trusted voice of moral leadership and a sacred space where the country gathers during moments of national significance.”

And, it’s a gorgeous church.

The funeral of President Gerald Ford in the National Cathedral, January 2, 2007. U.S. Department of Defense photo by Senior Airman Daniel R. DeCook, U.S. Air Force.