Historical Highlight
Individuals Who Have Lain in State or in Honor
Since Henry Clay in 1852, the U.S. Capitol Rotunda has been used as a place to pay tribute to the Nation’s most distinguished citizens. Made available for public viewing in the Rotunda, persons who have “lain in state” traditionally have been American statesmen and military leaders, including 12 U.S. Presidents. In 1998, to recognize two Capitol Police officers who died in the line of duty, Congress granted use of the Rotunda for their caskets to “lie in honor.”
- See also information on Funerals in the House Chamber.
Individuals Who Have Lain in State in the Capitol Rotunda
Individual | Office | Lay in State | Authority/Resolution |
---|---|---|---|
George H.W. Bush | Representative, CIA Director, Vice President, President | December 3–5, 2018 | S. Con. Res. 5, 115th Congress, 2nd Session |
John McCain | Representative, Senator | August 31, 2018 | S. Con. Res. 44, 115th Congress, 2nd Session |
Daniel K. Inouye | Representative, Senator | December 20, 2012 | S. Con. Res. 64, 112th Congress, 2nd Session |
Gerald R. Ford | Representative, Vice President, President | December 30, 2006–January 2, 2007 | NA |
Ronald Reagan | Governor, President | June 9–11, 2004 | S. Con. Res. 115, 108th Congress, 2nd Session |
Claude Denson Pepper | Senator, Representative | June 1–2, 1989 | H. Con. Res. 139, 101st Congress, 1st Session |
Unknown Soldier of the Vietnam Conflict | U.S. Soldier | May 25–28, 1984 | H. Con. Res. 296, 98th Congress, 2nd Session |
Hubert H. Humphrey | Senator, Vice President | January 14–15, 1978 | S. Res. 350 |
Lyndon Baines Johnson | Representative, Senator, Vice President, President | January 24–25, 1973 | H. Con. Res. 90, 93rd Congress, 1st Session |
J. Edgar Hoover | FBI Director | May 3–4, 1972 | H. Con. Res. 600, 92nd Congress, 2nd Session |
Everett McKinley Dirksen | Representative, Senator | September 9–10, 1969 | S. Res. 254, 91st Congress, 1st Session |
Dwight D. Eisenhower | General of the U.S. Army, President | March 30–31, 1969 | NA |
Herbert Clark Hoover | Cabinet Secretary, President | October 23–25, 1964 | NA |
Douglas MacArthur | General of the U.S. Army | April 8–9, 1964 | S. Con. Res. 74, 88th Congress, 2nd Session |
John F. Kennedy | Representative, Senator, President | November 24–25, 1963 | NA |
Unknown Soldiers of World War II and the Korean War | U.S. Soldiers | May 28–30, 1958 | H. Con. Res. 242, 85th Congress, 2nd Session |
Robert A. Taft | Senator | August 2–3, 1953 | S. Res. 158, 83rd Congress, 1st Session |
John Joseph Pershing | General of U.S. Armies | July 18-19, 1948 | NA |
William Howard Taft | President, Chief Justice of Supreme Court | March 11, 1930 | NA |
Warren G. Harding | Senator, President | August 8, 1923 | NA |
Unknown Soldier of World War I | U.S. Soldier | November 9–11, 1921 | NA |
George Dewey | U.S. Navy Admiral | January 20, 1917 | H. Con. Res. 68, 64th Congress, 2nd Session |
Pierre Charles L'Enfant | Planner, Architect | April 28, 1909 | S. Con. Res. 2, 61st Congress, 1st Session |
William McKinley, Jr. | Representative, Governor, President | September 17, 1901 | NA |
John A. Logan | Representative, Senator | December 30–31, 1886 | NA |
James Abram Garfield | Representative, President | September 21–23, 1881 | NA |
Henry Wilson | Senator, Vice President | November 25–26, 1875 | NA |
Charles Sumner | Senator | March 13, 1874 | NA |
Thaddeus Stevens | Representative | August 13–14, 1868 | NA |
Abraham Lincoln | Representative, President of the United States | April 19–21, 1865 | NA |
Henry Clay | Representative, Speaker of the House, Senator | July 1, 1852 | NA |
Individuals Who Have Lain in Honor in the Capitol Rotunda
Individual | Occupation | Lay in Honor | Authority/Resolution |
---|---|---|---|
Reverend Billy Graham | Minister | February 28-March 1, 2018 | H. Con. Res. 107, 115th Congress, 1st Session |
Rosa Parks | Civil Rights Leader | October 30-31, 2005 | S. Con. Res. 61, 109th Congress, 1st Session |
Officer Jacob J. Chestnut, Jr. | Capitol Police Officer | July 28, 1998 | H. Cons. Res. 310, 105th Congress, 2nd Session |
Detective John M. Gibson | Capitol Police Officer | July 28, 1998 | H. Con. Res. 310, 105th Congress, 2nd Session |
Oral History Recollections from the Lying-in-State Ceremony for President John F. Kennedy (1917–1963)
Part 1
Part 2