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Trump to Attend Bush Funeral, but Won’t Deliver Eulogy Bush’s Coffin Arrives at Capitol; Trump Plans to Attend Funeral
(about 1 hour later)
President Trump will attend but not speak at this week’s funeral service for former President George Bush, seemingly a compromise intended to respect tradition while avoiding an awkward moment given the animosity between the current president and the Bush family. WASHINGTON — President Trump will attend but not speak at this week’s funeral service for former President George Bush, seemingly a compromise intended to respect tradition while avoiding an awkward moment given the animosity between the current president and the Bush family.
Instead, eulogies will be delivered by former President George W. Bush, Mr. Bush’s son, and two friends, former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney of Canada and former Senator Alan Simpson, Republican of Wyoming. Rounding out the speakers will be Jon Meacham, the Pulitzer-winning historian and author of the definitive biography of the 41st president. The decision emerged as Mr. Bush made his final trip to the nation’s capital, carried here from Texas by the blue-and-white presidential jet that took him around a world that he helped transform. His coffin, covered in a flag, arrived at the Capitol as the rays of the setting sun washed over the plaza while family and friends stood solemnly during a 21-gun salute.
Mr. Trump, who has been sharply critical of the Bush family in the past, has offered nothing but praise for the former president since his death at age 94 on Friday and made no complaint about being left off the roster of funeral speakers. Vice President Mike Pence and the Republican leaders of Congress gave short speeches welcoming Mr. Bush’s relatives and associates to the Rotunda of the Capitol, where the former president will lie in state until Wednesday morning’s funeral service at Washington National Cathedral. The public will have the opportunity to cycle through the Capitol on Tuesday to pay respects.
Mr. Trump was not at the ceremony, but organizers expected him and the first lady, Melania Trump, to visit later Monday evening after the Bush family departed. On hand at the ceremony were former President George W. Bush, former Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida and their siblings, Neil, Marvin and Doro, as well as their spouses and a passel of grandchildren.
Members of Mr. Bush’s administration, including James A. Baker III, Dick Cheney, Colin L. Powell, John Sununu and others stood waiting for the coffin’s arrival and then entered the Capitol for the ceremony. Among others attending were a half-dozen members of the Supreme Court, including Justice Clarence Thomas, who was appointed by Mr. Bush.
The coffin was brought into the Rotunda from the north side, passing bronze statues of Ronald Reagan on the right and Dwight D. Eisenhower on the left. As is customary, the four entrances to the Rotunda were draped in black. After the speeches, George W. Bush led his family in circling the coffin before departing.
“Throughout his life of service, President Bush personified grace,” said Speaker Paul D. Ryan, Republican of Wisconsin. “His character was second to none. He reached the heights of power with uncommon humility. He made monumental contributions to freedom with a fundamental decency that resonates across generations. No one better harmonized the joy of life and the duty of life.”
Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican majority leader, reminded the mourners of Mr. Bush’s service as a Navy combat pilot shot down over the Pacific during World War II.
“With his even temperament and hard-won expertise, George Herbert Walker Bush steered this country as straight as he steered that airplane,” Mr. McConnell said. “He kept us flying high and challenged us to fly higher still. And he did it with modesty and kindness that would have been surprising in someone one-tenth as tough and as accomplished as he was.”
While Democrats attended the ceremony, they had no speaking roles so Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, took to the Senate floor on Monday to eulogize the former president before the ceremony.
“He embodied the characteristics we admire in a president — integrity, civility, dignity, humility and a sincere interest in bipartisanship,” Mr. Schumer said, adding, “His yearning for a kinder, gentler nation seems more needed now than when he first called for it.”
The arrival of the coffin kicked off four days of events as part of the first presidential state funeral in 12 years. More so than previous ones, however, this one was fraught with tension because of the bitter rift between the current occupant of the White House and the family of a previous one.
Unlike Senator John McCain, who made clear Mr. Trump would not be welcome at his own funeral in September, Mr. Bush opted not to break protocol by keeping away the incumbent president. But he did not invite Mr. Trump to speak.
Instead, eulogies will be delivered by George W. Bush and two friends, former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney of Canada and former Senator Alan Simpson, Republican of Wyoming. Rounding out the speakers will be Jon Meacham, the Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and author of the definitive biography of the 41st president.
Mr. Trump, who has been sharply critical of the Bush family in the past, has offered nothing but praise for the former president since his death at age 94 on Friday and made no public complaint about being left off the roster of funeral speakers.
“Looking forward to being with the Bush Family to pay my respects to President George H.W. Bush,” Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter on Monday.“Looking forward to being with the Bush Family to pay my respects to President George H.W. Bush,” Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter on Monday.
The lineup for the state funeral service at Washington National Cathedral on Wednesday emerged as Mr. Bush began his final trip to Washington, his coffin arriving at the Capitol on Monday evening. Despite the tension with the Bush family, Mr. Trump followed protocol by sending the blue-and-white presidential jet to pick up the coffin in Texas and bring it to Washington. Normally called Air Force One when the sitting president is onboard, it was given the call sign Special Air Mission 41 for the occasion. Despite the tension with the Bush family, Mr. Trump followed protocol by sending the presidential jet to pick up the former president’s coffin in Texas and bring it to Washington. Normally called Air Force One when the sitting president is aboard, it was given the call sign Special Air Mission 41 for the occasion.
During a simple but somber ceremony at Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base outside Houston, Mr. Bush’s coffin was loaded onto the plane. The younger Mr. Bush; his wife, Laura; his brother Neil; and other members of the family stood at attention during a 21-gun salute and the playing of “Hail to the Chief.” During a simple but somber ceremony at Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base outside Houston, Mr. Bush’s coffin was loaded onto the plane. George W. Bush; his wife, Laura; his brother Neil; and other members of the family stood at attention during a 21-gun salute and the playing of “Hail to the Chief.”
Friends and relatives then boarded the plane to join the Bush family patriarch for his journey to Washington, where he will lie in state before his funeral. Joining the family for the trip was the former president’s service dog, Sully, who was shown earlier lying by his coffin at the funeral home in a photograph released by Mr. Bush’s spokesman. Friends and relatives then boarded the plane to accompany the Bush family patriarch for his journey to Washington, where it landed at Joint Base Andrews at 3:22 p.m. Joining the family for the trip was the former president’s service dog, Sully, who was shown earlier lying by his coffin at the funeral home in a photograph released by Mr. Bush’s spokesman.
The Bush family has been estranged from the incumbent president since the 2016 presidential election when Mr. Trump defeated former Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida for the Republican nomination in a bruising primary battle that turned increasingly nasty. Mr. Trump has also denigrated George W. Bush’s leadership, and on the campaign trail this fall, mocked the elder Mr. Bush’s slogan, “a thousand points of light,” referring to volunteerism. The Bush family has been estranged from the incumbent president since the 2016 presidential election when Mr. Trump defeated former Jeb Bush for the Republican nomination in a bruising primary battle that turned increasingly nasty. Mr. Trump has also denigrated George W. Bush’s leadership, and on the campaign trail this fall, mocked the elder Mr. Bush’s slogan, “a thousand points of light,” referring to volunteerism.
The elder Mr. Bush told the author Mark K. Updegrove that he voted for Hillary Clinton in the fall of 2016, and the younger Mr. Bush said he voted for none of the above. The 43rd president has at times issued barely veiled criticism of Mr. Trump’s nationalist “America First” approach to foreign policy and immigration. The elder Mr. Bush told the author Mark K. Updegrove that he voted for Hillary Clinton in November 2016, and George W. Bush said he voted for none of the above. The 43rd president has at times issued barely veiled criticism of Mr. Trump’s nationalist “America First” approach to foreign policy and immigration.
While Senator John McCain was dying this year, he made clear that he did not want Mr. Trump even to attend his service at the National Cathedral. Instead, he invited the two men who defeated him in his bids for the White House, the younger Mr. Bush and former President Barack Obama, to give eulogies. It would not be like Mr. Bush to want his funeral to be a spectacle, and he evidently chose not to defy tradition by asking Mr. Trump to keep away. While other presidents have at times skipped funerals for predecessors — Richard M. Nixon did not attend services for Harry S. Truman, with whom he had a difficult relationship — in recent decades it has been the norm.
Their tributes to Mr. McCain in September were seen as implicit rebukes of Mr. Trump. The senator’s daughter, Meghan McCain, was even less elliptical in using her own eulogy to contrast her father with the president. “The America of John McCain has no need to be made great again because America was always great,” she said to applause. Even Mr. Nixon personally asked President Bill Clinton to deliver the eulogy at his service even though the first lady, Mrs. Clinton, had served on the House Judiciary Committee staff as it pursued impeachment during the Watergate investigation that led to his resignation. Mr. Clinton was generous in his testimonial. “May the day of judging President Nixon on anything less than his entire life and career come to a close,” he said in what was seen as closure over Watergate.
It would not be like Mr. Bush to want his funeral to be a spectacle, and he evidently chose not to defy protocol by asking Mr. Trump to keep away. While other presidents have at times skipped funerals for predecessors — Richard M. Nixon did not attend services for Harry S. Truman, with whom he had a difficult relationship — in recent decades it has been the norm. After the funeral at the national cathedral, Mr. Bush’s body will be flown back to Houston for a service at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church, where he was a longtime member. Mr. Baker, the former secretary of state and Mr. Bush’s longtime friend, will speak at the church.
Even Mr. Nixon personally asked President Bill Clinton to deliver the eulogy at his service even though Mrs. Clinton, the first lady, had served on the House Judiciary Committee staff as it pursued impeachment during the Watergate investigation that led to his resignation. Mr. Clinton was generous in his testimonial. “May the day of judging President Nixon on anything less than his entire life and career come to a close,” he said in what was seen as closure over Watergate. The former president will then be taken by a special train named Locomotive 4141 and painted the same blue shade used on Air Force One to College Station, Tex., an echo of the funeral trains used for presidents like Eisenhower, Abraham Lincoln and Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Mr. Bush’s coffin was being flown on Monday to Joint Base Andrews outside Washington and will be taken to the United States Capitol, where he served four years as a member of the House in the 1960s. Congressional leaders plan a ceremony in the Capitol and he will then lie in state there until Wednesday morning before being brought to the cathedral.
After the service there, Mr. Bush’s body will be flown back to Houston for a service at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church, where he was a longtime member. Former Secretary of State James A. Baker III, the president’s longtime friend, will speak at the church.
The former president will then be taken by a special train named Locomotive 4141 and painted the same blue shade used on Air Force One to College Station, Tex., an echo of the funeral trains used for presidents like Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Mr. Bush will be interred on the grounds of the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum at Texas A&M University, laid to rest next to Barbara Bush, his wife of 73 years, who died in April, and Robin Bush, their daughter who died of leukemia in 1953 at age 3.Mr. Bush will be interred on the grounds of the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum at Texas A&M University, laid to rest next to Barbara Bush, his wife of 73 years, who died in April, and Robin Bush, their daughter who died of leukemia in 1953 at age 3.