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Body Of George H.W. Bush Returns To Washington

By: Brian Naylor | NPR
Posted on: Monday, December 3, 2018

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Updated at 4:35 p.m. ET

An Air Force jet, designated “Special Air Mission 41,” landed at Joint Base Andrews outside Washington, D.C., Monday afternoon, carrying the body of former President George Herbert Walker Bush.

The casket containing the remains of the 41st president is being transported to the U.S. Capitol rotunda, where Bush will lie in state until Wednesday morning’s funeral at Washington National Cathedral.

Bush will be eulogized during a Capitol ceremony by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and Vice President Pence. Wreaths will be placed by congressional leaders from both parties.

Bush is the first president to lie in state since Gerald Ford, following his death in 2006. In August, the late Sen. John McCain was the last public figure to lie in state there.

Bush’s casket will be on public view until Wednesday morning, when it will be taken to the National Cathedral. Wednesday has been designated by President Trump as a national day of mourning, and most federal agencies will be closed with federal workers given the day off.

Bush died Friday night at his Houston home at the age of 94.

Following the funeral in Washington, Bush’s casket will be returned to Houston, where a private service is scheduled for Thursday. His body will then be transported by a special train to its final resting place, the Bush Presidential Library in College Station, Texas.