WASHINGTON – President Bush yesterday hailed Ronald Reagan as “a national treasure” and paid his respects before the flag-draped casket of the 40th president on a day of mourning in America.
Bush and wife Laura walked hand-in-hand into the soaring Rotunda of the Capitol, bowed their heads and closed their eyes in prayer in front of Reagan’s casket as it lay in state.
Bush reached out with both hands and smoothed the flag over the casket as Nancy Reagan had done the night before, as if reaching out to touch Reagan.
Then the first couple quietly walked out of the room and went to pay a call on Mrs. Reagan – staying at the Blair House presidential guest house across from the White House – and let others continue to pay their respects at the Capitol.
“Ronald Reagan was a great man, a historic leader and a national treasure,” Bush said earlier in the day as he headed home from a Georgia summit with world leaders.
The Rotunda remained full of other visitors when Bush came. His staff gave orders early in the day that he didn’t want his visit to interrupt the chain of public mourners who’d waited for hours, a congressional staff told The Post.
Today, Bush will deliver the eulogy and his father – once Reagan’s vice president – will also speak at a funeral service at the National Cathedral before Reagan’s body is flown home to California for the last time.
He’ll be buried at sunset at the Reagan Presidential Library, where one day wife Nancy will be laid to rest beside him.
Reagan died Saturday at age 93 after the long goodbye of Alzheimer’s disease and an outpouring of affection for him – and his wife – has swept America with the whole nation seeming to pause to say goodbye.
In life, Reagan was often controversial – but now 65 percent of Americans say they supported his policies, according to a Fox News poll.
His elder son, Michael, yesterday emotionally told how hugs were the way to reach his father when Alzheimer’s had blurred his mind.
“As the years went by and he could no longer recognize me, I began a process of hugging him whenever I would see him. I would hug him hello and hug him goodbye,” recounted Michael Reagan, 57.
Once, when he forgot the hug, his father followed him out the front door and stood with his arms open, Michael added during a tribute by former Reagan aides at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, part of the White House complex.
“I ran back and gave him a hug,” Michael Reagan said, his voice breaking with emotion.
“I know where he is. I know he’s in heaven. Someday I want to be there with him, and I know I will be. My father and I, and all of us will be dancing before the great Father in heaven, Alzheimer’s-free.”
Reagan family spokeswoman Joanne Drake said Nancy Reagan was moved by the outpouring of love and admiration for her husband and had recounted the former president’s final moments before his death.
“She told me that as he neared death and it became evident it was close, he opened his eyes and he gazed at her,” she recounted.
“His eyes were as blue as ever and he closed them and died. She told me it was the greatest gift ever.”
Today’s funeral program calls for verses from the Bible that echo some of Reagan’s favorite images like the words from Isaiah: “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings as eagles.”
Reagan often spoke of America as a shining city on a hill and so the program calls for the lines from Matthew about “the light of the world” and “a city that is set on a hill.”
To the regret of some Democrats who would have liked to share in the national farewell, those chosen by Nancy Reagan to pay honor to her husband at today’s funeral are all conservatives just like him.
Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney will pay tribute along with both Bushes. Lady Thatcher’s tribute was taped months ago in case her health had prevented her coming, but she will speak live.
Yesterday was a day when tens of thousands of ordinary folks and world leaders alike lined up to honor Reagan and celebrate his life, waiting three to five hours on line to spend just a minute walking past his casket.
They walked in hushed silence past his casket – mostly in shorts and flip-flops or running shoes, families pushing strollers or lifting their kids to see history. One old veteran, leaning heavily on his cane, stopped to give the casket a formal salute. So did a young soldier who saluted with his prosthetic right arm.
Most of the mourners were solemn but composed, though one young woman burst into tears, then made the sign of the cross. Many carried books or posters, and some sported old Reagan campaign buttons.
“This is the liberals’ worst nightmare,” said a bemused former Sen. Bob Dole (R-Kan.), whose first presidential bid came in 1980 against Reagan in the Republican primaries.
“These are Reagan people. Look at how they’re dressed. They’re middle class. It doesn’t matter what party they’re from,” added Dole, who summed up his own memories of Reagan this way: “He was a nice man.” Jim Meece got up early at his apartment on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, spent $65 for Greyhound tickets and caught a packed 7 a.m. bus on the way down and planned to head right back home.
“It was a long wait but it was worth it,” he said. “I have always admired President Reagan for his economic policies, his foreign policies and the way he helped take down the Berlin Wall.” Amid a push for new ways to honor Reagan – like renaming the Pentagon or putting his face on the $10 bill – Bush yesterday said he’s not sure, adding that after today’s funeral “I will reflect on further ways to honor a great president.”
Some others, like Dole, said the better tribute would be for Congress to approve more funding for Alzheimer’s research in Reagan’s honor.
TODAY’S SCHEDULE FOR PRESIDENT REAGAN’S FUNERAL AND BURIAL
* 7 a.m.: Public viewing ends.
* 10:30 a.m.: Departure ceremony at the Capitol.
* 10:45 a.m.: Motorcade departs Capitol for Washington National Cathedral.
* 11:15 a.m.: Motorcade arrives at cathedral.
* 11:30 a.m.: National funeral service at cathedral. Irish tenor Ronan Tynan will perform Franz Schubert’s “Ave Maria.” Former Sen. John C. Danforth, R-Mo., is officiating. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor will read from a John Winthrop sermon. Eulogies planned by President Bush, former President George H. W. Bush, former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney.
* 1:15 p.m.: Departure ceremony from cathedral.
* 1:45 p.m.: Motorcade departs cathedral for Andrews Air Force Base.
* 2:45 p.m.: Aircraft departs Andrews.
* 7:45 p.m.: Aircraft arrives at Point Mugu Naval Air Station in California.
* 9 p.m.: Motorcade arrives at Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.
* 9:15 p.m.: Private interment service at library.
* 10:30 p.m.: Interment ceremony concludes.