WASHINGTON – Ronald Reagan returned to Washington yesterday, with Congress paying him a moving final farewell and tens of thousands of well-wishers bidding solemn a goodbye as his body lay in state.
Reagan’s casket was brought to the Capitol on a century-old caisson, past crowds of people 15 deep along Constitution Avenue, as drums rolled and 21 F-15 jets flew in tribute overhead.
Behind the caisson and honor guard came Sgt. York, the caparisoned horse, with an empty saddle and boots reversed in the stirrups to symbolize a warrior who will ride no more and who looks back a final time on his troops.
The boots were a favorite pair of Reagan’s, an avid horseman.
Along the 1 1/2-mile route, people called out, “We love you, Nancy!” and “God bless you, Nancy!” to former First Lady Nancy Reagan, who appeared frail as she waved from her limousine.
When the casket reached the landing of the Capitol, Mrs. Reagan reached out and touched it.
In the Rotunda, Vice President Dick Cheney, surrounded by dozens of congressional leaders, Supreme Court justices, Cabinet members, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and others, placed a wreath at the foot of Reagan’s flag-draped casket.
After brief remarks and a choir’s rendition of “America the Beautiful,” Cheney led Mrs. Reagan to the coffin mounted on a huge catafalque.
The former first lady patted the casket, smoothed out the flag and whispered briefly.
Moments later, Reagan’s eldest son, Michael, kissed the coffin and followed Nancy out of the rotunda.
The nationally televised ceremony marked the beginning of two days of Washington tributes to the 40th president, culminating in his funeral tomorrow.
Washington last staged these presidential rites in 1973, for Lyndon Johnson, less than a decade after John F. Kennedy’s assassination.
Public viewing of the casket began last night and was to continue for more than 30 straight hours.
Reagan, 93, died on Saturday in California.
Earlier yesterday, Mrs. Reagan escorted her husband’s body aboard a Boeing 747 sent by President Bush from California to Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland.
She walked slowly down the steps of the plane and watched silently as body bearers drawn from all branches of the armed forces carried her husband’s casket from the plane.
“Hail to the Chief” rang out, and a cannon fired, followed by “America (My Country ‘Tis of Thee).” Flags snapped in the stiff wind.
The first of an expected 150,000 mourners who were to view the casket at the Capitol had begun lining up before dawn yesterday.
First in the line was Carol Williams, who said she waited five hours to vote for Reagan in 1984, so she didn’t mind driving more than two hours yesterday from her Chesterfield, Va., home.
“President Reagan restored dignity and character to the White House. He never wavered in front of the American people,” Williams said.
“What less could I do than stand in line for a few hours?”
Others traveled hundreds of miles to pat their respects.
“He was a man of his word, had a great sense of humor and brought down the Berlin Wall,” said Barbara Huff, a school nurse from Hollidaysburg, Pa.
Congress, which fought bitter battles with Reagan during his two terms, heaped praise on him yesterday.
The Senate voted 98-0 to pass a resolution documenting Reagan’s achievements. A House resolution, passed 375-0, said Reagan “championed freedom and democracy throughout the world.”
“He brought a special grace to the White House and the country in everything he did,” said Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.).
“We often disagreed on specific issues, but he had an undeniably unique capacity to inspire and move the nation.”
President Bush, attending the G8 summit in Georgia, will arrive back in Washington tonight and pay his respects at the Capitol with First Lady Laura Bush.
Afterward, they will visit Mrs. Reagan at Blair House, the U.S. government’s foremost guest house.
Reagan’s casket will be brought by motorcade to the National Cathedral for the funeral service tomorrow. Then his body will be returned to California for a private burial at the Reagan Presidential Library.
Britain said Prince Charles would join the British delegation, which includes Prime Minister Tony Blair and former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, at the funeral.
Just hours before Reagan’s body lay in state, lawmakers, dignitaries and mourners preparing for the ceremony raced from the Capitol after police feared an airplane was headed for the building and warned: “You have one minute to impact.”
Within minutes, authorities determined the small plane was carrying Kentucky Gov. Ernie Fletcher to the funeral and had mistakenly entered restricted airspace around the capital. Two F-15 fighter jets were diverted from an air patrol to intercept the plane.
The building was reopened at around 4:30 p.m., about 1 ½ hours before the start of the procession bringing Reagan’s body to the Capitol Rotunda.
With Post Wire Services