Coast-To-Coast Tributes For Gerald Ford

Funeral Ceremonies For 38th President In D.C., Michigan & California

(CBS/AP)  In a state funeral for the president who only wanted to be speaker of the House, Gerald R. Ford's casket will return to the Congress he served on his historic journey to an unelected presidency.

Ford will lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda, where 10 other presidents have been honored. But he also will lie in repose outside the chambers of the House — where he honed his leadership skills — and the Senate, where — as vice president — he served in his constitutional role as the chamber's president.

Ceremonies begin Friday in a California church, followed by a flight across the country Ford sought to heal after the trauma of Watergate and the resignation of his disgraced predecessor, Richard Nixon.

The mourning ends five days later with Ford's entombment on a hillside near his Grand Rapids, Mich., presidential museum.

Funeral details for the nation's 38th president were made public Wednesday. He will lie in state in the Rotunda, where the public and dignitaries will pay their respects.

But the short stops outside each congressional chamber will set tradition aside.

"I know personally how much those two tributes themselves meant to President Ford," said family representative Gregory D. Willard, who detailed arrangements in a news conference in Palm Desert, Calif.

Willard said this "unprecedented historic tribute" was designed to honor Ford's 25 years of service in the House, where he rose to minority leader, and his term as president of the Senate while he was Nixon's vice president.

Ford's goal was to be the House speaker, a position unattainable during his time as Republican leader because Democrats had solid control of the chamber.

Ford, who died Tuesday at age 93, participated in his own funeral planning, as former presidents typically do.

His widow, Betty, said the outpouring of appreciation for the former president's contributions is "more than we could ever have anticipated.

"These kindnesses have made this difficult time more bearable."

The Capitol will intensify its preparations by closing for tours at noon Thursday.

Funeral plans for former presidents are drawn up far in advance and are periodically updated with input from family members and officials, reported CBS News correspondent Tom Foty. The major coordination is by the Army's Military District of Washington.

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Watch: Bill Whitaker reports from California

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Watch: Betty Ford's 'Great Trip'

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Read: The Nation Remembers

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Events begin at St. Margaret's Church in Palm Desert, which Ford and his wife, Betty, frequently attended. A family prayer service will be followed by visitation by friends and a period of public repose.

On Saturday, Ford's body will be flown to Washington in late afternoon, where another special stop is planned. The hearse will pause at the World War II memorial in joint tribute to the wartime Navy reserve veteran and America's armed forces.

The state funeral will be conducted in the Capitol Rotunda that evening. The public will be admitted to pay respects — sometime after a 6:30 p.m. EST arrival ceremony — and from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. EST Sunday and Monday.

Ford will lie in state until Tuesday morning, in a closed casket. Then, his casket will be moved to the National Cathedral for a funeral service. Interment will follow the next day in Michigan.

The nation has witnessed just two presidential state funerals in over three decades — those of Ronald Reagan in 2004 and Lyndon Johnson in 1973. Nixon's family, acting on his wishes, opted out of the Washington traditions when he died in 1994, his presidency shortened and forever tainted by the Watergate scandal.

Ford served his Michigan district in the House for 25 years, rising to the vice presidency when scandal drove Spiro Agnew from office and then to the presidency when Watergate consumed Nixon.

One open question was how involved the funeral procession to the Capitol, often the most stirring of Washington's rituals of mourning, would be for a man whose modest ways and brief presidency set him apart from those honored with elaborate parades.

In contrast to Reagan's funeral, Ford will not have a horse-drawn caisson but will travel by motorcade. Ford, historian Douglas Brinkley said on CBS' The Early Show, was a simpler man and that the heart of the funeral ceremonies will likely occur at the National Cathedral.

The Military District of Washington turned to the task quietly but with increasing urgency as Ford went through several bouts of ill health in recent years.

Two presidents are buried at Arlington National Cemetery, John F. Kennedy and William H. Taft. Reagan was buried on the hilltop grounds of his presidential library in Simi Valley, Calif., in a dramatic sunset ceremony capping a week of official public mourning.

[boydgood]

Yes, God has blessed Mr. Gerald Ford, since he was a conscientious and dutiful man. No one can ask for more than that.

[sjc_1]

He served his country when we needed him most. We will miss him greatly.

[vlietzke]

We as Americans should be proud to have had Gerald R. Ford as a great leader of our country. We, the citizens of the State of Michigan, are proud to call him our favorite son. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Ford family at this time of sorrow and we morn with them the loss of this great man.

[dsloan1906]

Though President Ford was the only President not elected by the people, no President represented the people of the US and of his beloved Michigan than Gerald R. Ford. Probably because of some of his human characteristics were more like the average man he was loved more by the average man. And will forever be remembered as a people's Pesident.

[deedee37-2009]

will miss you a lot and and i was in jh in school when we took a fild trip to mi to the ford museum and my prays are with you and yuor family at this time of need

[beta123g-2009]

i think government offices should close for one day in respect for a man who restored dignity to the Office of President of the United States. Although he was never voted in by the electorate, i think many people respected him as a honest man who served his country in its highest office. j.w.

[Shimmers411]

When duty called, Gerald Ford responded.

[ladyfox71]

i think that pres. ford had done a wonderful job when he was in white house while he was trying to do things for us back in 1974. my grandparents loved him very much and i believe that anyone who can do things like pres. ford had done can be a successful person like him in future. may god bless his soul and be at peace as well. i do hope that the people would look up to pres. ford as his successfullness influences other people as well as he had done with me. i thank pres. ford for everything what he had done back then.

[snowy49855]

Jerry Ford - you were a genuinely nice man of unquestioned integrity, and the only Republican presidential candidate I've ever voted for. I wonder how history might have turned out had you not lost the election to Carter. Michigan and the USA will miss you!! Thank you for your dedicated service.

[frb01]

In his short time in office, he had to deal with the issue of a disgraced President, the remaining fallout from Watergate, the defacto end of the Vietnam War with the fall of Siagon, an economy in a mess, the list goes on. This was a common man with a heart of gold. We should all be thankful that he was the right guy at the right time, or we as a country would have never moved on, or at least contained the scandal.

[canaima]

dogbird, you've got your dates all screwed up. Pres. Ford had nothing at all to do with the current influence of China in the world today.

[genesauto]

Did y'all know that Ford was the only former forest ranger that ever became president? He was one in the mid 20's in Yellowstone. Can you imagine someone seeing a goof ball peon as a door greeter (which he was at one time) saying "I'll be the President of the United States one day", and it actually came true?

[gladys_over]

I would hope Bush is planning to attend James Brown's funeral as well.

He was the Godfather of Soul.

[johnwaudby]

How the Hell can you even begin to compare a Former President to James Brown? That's like comparing Jorge Posado to a 10yr old just learning catch a baseball.

James Brown surely did things in his life for which I am sure he will be honored, however, he did not run a Country and can not be compared to someone like President Ford.

[gladys_over]

RE: "How the Hell can you even begin to compare a Former President to James Brown?" - johnwaudby

It all has to do with living in America.

I live in America - hey I know what it means.

[tunman-2009]

I was stationed in Okinawa when Mr. Ford took office. He did a great job of bringing the nation around. Thank you President Ford!

[wayfedup]

Gerald Ford PARDONED the SECOND biggest crook in the ENTIRE HISTORY of American Politics... I'm not glad he's dead, but facts are facts people; Let's just hope no one does the same for "DUBYA"

[mh4cbs1]

Our nation will spend $550 Billion this year on WAR.

Republican president Eisenhower warned as he left office in 1960: %u201CWe should take nothing for granted, only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together. ... We want democracy to survive for all generations to come, not to become the insolvent phantom of tomorrow.%u201D

Folks, now at the close of 2006, it is clear that the American sheeple have allowed the fear mongers and war profiteers to take control of our nation. We MUST take our country back. Instead of NeoCon Oil and "Defense" industry puppets, we need leaders who work for PEACE not WAR. We should be spending hundreds of billions to alleviate the causes for WAR, such as economic justice, alterntive energy soruces.

Our "defense" budget is OBSENCE, SINFUL and WASTEFUL and leads to more WAR not PEACE.

[gladys_over]

Former President Gerald R. Ford said in a July 2004 interview that the Iraq war was not justified, the Washington Post reported Wednesday night.

"Well, I can understand the theory of wanting to free people," Ford said, referring to Bush's assertion that the United States has a "duty to free people." But the former president said he was skeptical "whether you can detach that from the obligation number one, of what's in our national interest." He added: "And I just don't think we should go hellfire damnation around the globe freeing people, unless it is directly related to our own national security."

[gladys_over]

"Rumsfeld and Cheney and the president made a big mistake in justifying going into the war in Iraq. They put the emphasis on weapons of mass destruction," Ford said. "And now, I've never publicly said I thought they made a mistake, but I felt very strongly it was an error in how they should justify what they were going to do."

[sapperinwire]

Gerald Ford + Warren Comission Pardoning Nixion =??????????????????????????????????

[gladys_over]

Many people (including many if not most Democrats) felt that Ford did the right thing when he pardoned Nixon.

[sapperinwire]

You mean my whole fallcy's wrong?

[sapperinwire]

You mean my whole fallacy's wrong?

[alamo81]

I find it ironic that one of the(in my opinion)
best presidents of our time and the most honest that I know of was givin the office, not elected to it. rest in peace Mr. President

[gladys_over]

RE: "You mean my whole fallacy's wrong?" - sapperinwire

I think one should start posting correct and accurate fallacies.

Wrong fallacies are of little worth.

[skyk-2009]

Jerry Ford reminds us all that ONCE the Republican Party had HONOR and wasn't made up of Radical Right Wing Extremist. We must ask, as we say goodbye to a leader who could actually lead, what happened to the Republican Party? How did they allow themselves to be taken over by the Religious Reich and by Southern Fascist?