Ford state funeral to have modest grandeur

updated 8:39 p.m. ET Dec. 28, 2006

WASHINGTON - Less pomp, more circumstance.

Gerald R. Ford’s state funeral is missing some of the grandeur of the one for Ronald Reagan two years ago, a reflection of the 38th president’s modest ways and lesser imprint on the nation, according to further planning details released Thursday.

Part of it will be missing President Bush, too. The president will not attend Ford’s state funeral in the Rotunda on Saturday night, but will return to Washington from his Texas ranch on Monday, pay respects to Ford while his remains lie in state at the Capitol, and speak Tuesday at services for Ford at the National Cathedral.

Ford created a posthumous buzz with the release of interviews critical of Bush that he gave to two newspapers on condition they not be published at the time.

He told The Washington Post in 2004 and the New York Daily News in May that Bush was mistaken in his rationale for going to war against Iraq. He also said he was “dumbfounded” when he learned of Bush’s domestic surveillance program.

If some of the formalities are toned down, Ford’s goodbye is packed with events tied to the touchstones of his life.

A prayer service and public viewing Friday in Palm Desert, Calif., near Ford’s retirement haven for 30 years, begins a five-day chain of ceremonies that includes two funeral services in Washington; yet another, in Grand Rapids, Mich., adopted hometown of the Nebraska native, and additional commemorations in the Capitol.

Readying itself in a hurry, the nation’s capital prepared to receive Ford’s remains and honor the memory of the congressional veteran who achieved the highest office by happenstance.

Tuesday a national day of mourning
Bush declared Tuesday a national day of mourning, asking people to gather in places of worship to honor Ford’s memory and ordering nonessential government departments to close. “I invite the people of the world who share our grief to join us in this solemn observance,” he said.

The convergence of foreign and U.S. dignitaries, the public and national symbolism marked the ceremonies as a potential target for terrorism, prompting the government to designate the funeral a special security event. That expedites a range of extraordinary measures overseen by the Secret Service.

Even so, some of the most regal touches of a state funeral — those most burned in the consciousness of Americans old enough to remember the clicking hooves and the faces of grief of John F. Kennedy’s funeral procession — are being bypassed, by request of his family and, most likely, according to Ford’s own wishes.

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