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What happens during a presidential funeral and a look back at past funerals
(Original Caption) Billy Graham delivers the sermon at the graveside services for former President Lyndon B. Johnson at the family cemetery on the LBJ Ranch.
ATLANTA – A presidential funeral in the United States is a carefully orchestrated event, blending solemn traditions and heartfelt tributes. It spans several days and includes multiple stages, giving the nation time to mourn and honor its former leader. Here’s an easy-to-follow breakdown of what happens during these historic occasions:
1. The Initial Announcement
When a former president passes away, the sitting president issues an official proclamation to announce their death. Flags are lowered to half-staff across the country for 30 days as a sign of national mourning. The Department of Defense is tasked with organizing a state funeral to honor the late president’s service.
2. Local Ceremonies
Before heading to Washington, D.C., there are usually private ceremonies in the president’s home state or city.
- Private Service: Close family and friends gather for a quiet memorial.
- Lying in Repose: The president’s body is placed at a significant location, such as a presidential library, where local residents can pay their respects.
3. Washington, D.C. Ceremonies
The capital plays a major role in the state funeral. Here’s what happens:
- Arrival in Washington: The president’s remains are flown to D.C., often on a special aircraft designated for this purpose.
- Procession Through the City: The casket is transported with military honors, often by a horse-drawn caisson. This symbolic journey reflects the nation’s respect.
- Lying in State: The casket is placed in the Capitol Rotunda, where the public can pay their respects. A special platform called the Lincoln Catafalque, first used for Abraham Lincoln, supports the casket.
- State Funeral Service: A formal ceremony is held, usually at the Washington National Cathedral, featuring eulogies from notable figures like current and former presidents, hymns, and prayers.
4. The Final Goodbye and Burial
After the ceremonies in Washington, the president’s remains are returned to their chosen burial site, often their hometown or a location of personal significance.
- Private Funeral: A smaller, more intimate service is held for family and close friends.
- Interment: The president is laid to rest, often with military honors such as a 21-gun salute or a flyover.
Ceremonial Highlights
Throughout the process, several traditions make these funerals uniquely presidential:
- Military Honors: Elite honor guards and military bands participate, reflecting the president’s role as commander-in-chief.
- 21-Gun Salute: This traditional military tribute honors the late president’s service.
- Eulogies: Delivered by prominent leaders, these heartfelt tributes celebrate the president’s life and legacy.
A Time for National Mourning
The entire process, from the initial announcement to the burial, typically lasts 7 to 10 days. It allows Americans to grieve collectively, remember the president’s contributions, and reflect on their impact on the nation.
RELATED: PHOTOS: Ceremonies begin for former President Jimmy Carter | 1924-2024
A Look at the Last 8 Presidents
Joint services military honor guards carry the casket of former U.S. President George H.W. Bush to a Union Pacific train in Spring, Texas, U.S., on Thursday, Dec. 6, 2018. Bush, the longest-living president in U.S. history at age 94, died at his home
George H.W. Bush (41st President)
- Died: Nov. 30, 2018
- Funeral: A state funeral spanned several days in Texas and Washington, D.C. Bush lay in state at the U.S. Capitol before a service at the National Cathedral. Attendees included President Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, former presidents, first ladies, and foreign dignitaries.
- Highlights: His remains were transported via a train painted in an Air Force One color scheme, reflecting his love of trains.
- Burial Site: George H.W. Bush Presidential Library, College Station, Texas, alongside his wife, Barbara, and daughter Robin.
- Estimated Cost: $500,000–$2 million
washington, UNITED STATES: Betty Ford pauses at the flag draped casket of her husband and former US president Gerald R. Ford, as he lies in state in the Rotunda of the US Capitol Building in Washington DC, 01 January 2007. Ford died in California on
Gerald Ford (38th President)
- Died: Dec. 26, 2006
- Funeral: Ceremonies took place in California, Washington, D.C., and Michigan. Services included a memorial at St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church, lying in state at the Capitol, and a funeral at the National Cathedral.
- Highlights: Ford’s body lay in repose at his presidential museum in Michigan, where 67,000 people paid their respects.
- Burial Site: Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum, Grand Rapids, Michigan, alongside his wife, Betty Ford.
- Estimated Cost: $7 million
TOPSHOT – Former US First Lady Nancy Reagan (C), escorted by Maj. Gen. Galen B. Jackman, watches 09 June, 2004, as the guard honor carries the casket bearing the remains of her husband former US president Ronald Reagan to the presidential airplane fo
Ronald Reagan (40th President)
- Died: June 5, 2004
- Funeral: A week-long state funeral included services in California, Washington, D.C., and a private burial at the Reagan Library. Reagan lay in repose for two days at the library and later in state at the Capitol, where 100,000 mourners visited.
- Highlights: A sunset burial service marked the return of large-scale presidential state funerals.
- Burial Site: Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, Simi Valley, California.
- Estimated Cost: $400 million (including extensive security costs).
Flowers for Richard Nixon’s Funeral (Photo by �� Steve Starr/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)
Richard Nixon (37th President)
- Died: April 22, 1994
- Funeral: A private service held at the Nixon Presidential Library in California, attended by world leaders and five living presidents.
- Highlights: Nixon lay in repose at the library, where 50,000 people waited up to 18 hours to pay their respects.
- Burial Site: Nixon Library, Yorba Linda, California, alongside his wife, Pat.
- Estimated Cost: Approximately $200,000
Honor guard bearing former Pres. Richard Nixon’s flag-draped coffin during funeral service (Rev. Billy Graham at far L). (Photo by Diana Walker/Getty Images)
Lyndon B. Johnson (36th President)
- Died: Jan. 22, 1973
- Funeral: Services included ceremonies in Washington, D.C., and Texas. Johnson lay in state at the Capitol and was later buried with military honors on his ranch.
- Highlights: A Texas National Guard Unit fired a 21-gun salute during his burial.
- Burial Site: Johnson Family Cemetery, Stonewall, Texas, alongside Lady Bird Johnson.
- Estimated Cost: Likely under $500,000
John F. Kennedy (35th President)
- Died: Nov. 22, 1963
- Funeral: A three-day event following his assassination. Kennedy lay in repose at the White House, then in state at the Capitol, before a funeral Mass at St. Matthew’s Cathedral.
- Highlights: Jacqueline Kennedy lit the eternal flame at his Arlington gravesite. The funeral was the first to be televised.
- Burial Site: Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia.
- Estimated Cost: Roughly $4 million (adjusted for inflation).
Funeral of Harry Truman, miscellaneous views of casket as it lies in state of Truman Library. (Photo by UPI Color/Bettmann Archive/Getty Images)
Harry S. Truman (33rd President)
- Died: Dec. 26, 1972
- Funeral: Truman requested a modest funeral. Services included a private memorial at the Truman Library and a public memorial at the National Cathedral.
- Highlights: His body passed by the Truman home, where Bess Truman watched from a window.
- Burial Site: Truman Library, Independence, Missouri, alongside his wife, Bess.
- Estimated Cost: Likely under $100,000
The late President Franklin Delano Roosevelt is laid to rest in the rose garden of his Hyde Park estate. Mourners and military officers gather to pay their last respects. | Location: Hyde Park, New York, USA.
Franklin D. Roosevelt (32nd President)
- Died: April 12, 1945
- Funeral: Services were held at the White House and St. John’s Episcopal Church before his burial at Hyde Park.
- Highlights: Thousands lined the train route from Warm Springs, Georgia, to New York. The ceremonies were scaled down due to WWII.
- Burial Site: Springwood Estate, Hyde Park, New York, alongside Eleanor Roosevelt.
- Estimated Cost: Unknown
Costs for Future Presidential Funerals
Modern presidential funerals have become increasingly expensive due to heightened security and larger public ceremonies. Estimated costs for future funerals could reach $8–10 million or more.
Presidents Still Living
- Joe Biden (46th President)
- Donald Trump (45th President)
- Barack Obama (44th President)
- George W. Bush (43rd President)
- Bill Clinton (42nd President)
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Video: At Least Two Killed in Shooting at Brown University
new video loaded: At Least Two Killed in Shooting at Brown University
transcript
transcript
At Least Two Killed in Shooting at Brown University
Students remained locked in their dorms and classrooms as the police searched for the shooter, who was described as a man wearing black. At least two people are dead, and eight are in critical condition.
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At 4:00 in the afternoon, we received a call. 4:05 was when the initial call came in to Brown University of a report of an active shooter. I can confirm that there are two individuals who have died this afternoon, and there are another eight in critical status. We do not have a shooter in custody at this time. There is a shelter in place in effect for the greater Brown University area. If you live on or near Brown’s campus, we are encouraging you to stay home and stay inside. This is a sad state of our country right now where you have to plan for these things. And hopefully the community takes some comfort to know that their Providence leadership has planned for this occurrence, including very recently.
By McKinnon de Kuyper
December 13, 2025
News
Multiple people shot near Brown University, police say
In this image from video, law enforcement officials gather outside the Brown University campus in Providence, R.I., on Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025.
Kimberlee Kruesi/AP
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Kimberlee Kruesi/AP
Multiple people have been shot near Brown University in Providence, R.I., on Saturday, police said.
The Providence Police Department said it is actively investigating the situation and is encouraging the public to shelter in place until further notice.
There is no suspect in custody, the university said on X, adding that it’s coordinating with multiple law enforcement agencies to search for a suspect.
The university issued an alert Saturday afternoon that the shooter was spotted near the Barus and Holley building, which houses the School of Engineering and Physics Department.
“Continue to shelter in place. Remain away from Barus & Holley area. Police do not have a suspect in custody and continue to search for suspect(s). Brown coordinating with multiple law enforcement agencies on site,” the university said.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
News
What to know about Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s release from immigration custody
BALTIMORE — Kilmar Abrego Garcia, whose mistaken deportation helped galvanize opposition to President Donald Trump’s immigration policies, was released from immigration detention on Thursday, and a judge has temporarily blocked any further efforts to detain him.
Abrego Garcia currently can’t be deported to his home country of El Salvador thanks to a 2019 immigration court order that found he had a “well founded fear” of danger there. However, the Trump administration has said he cannot stay in the U.S. Over the past few months, government officials have said they would deport him to Uganda, Eswatini, Ghana and, most recently, Liberia.
Abrego Garcia is fighting his deportation in federal court in Maryland, where his attorneys claim the administration is manipulating the immigration system to punish him for successfully challenging his earlier deportation.
Here’s what to know about the latest developments in the case:
Abrego Garcia is a Salvadoran citizen with an American wife and child who has lived in Maryland for years. He immigrated to the U.S. illegally as a teenager to join his brother, who had become a U.S. citizen. In 2019, an immigration judge granted him protection from being deported back to his home country.
While he was allowed to live and work in the U.S. under Immigration and Customs Enforcement supervision, he was not given residency status. Earlier this year, he was mistakenly deported to El Salvador, despite the earlier court ruling.
When Abrego Garcia was deported in March, he was held in a notoriously brutal Salvadoran prison despite having no criminal record.
The Trump administration initially fought efforts to bring him back to the U.S. but eventually complied after the U.S. Supreme Court weighed in. He returned to the U.S. in June, only to face an arrest warrant on human smuggling charges in Tennessee. Abrego Garcia was held in a Tennessee jail for more than two months before he was released on Friday, Aug. 22, to await trial in Maryland under home detention.
His freedom lasted a weekend. On the following Monday, he reported to the Baltimore immigration office for a check-in and was immediately taken into immigration custody. Officials announced plans to deport him to a series of African countries, but they were blocked by an order from U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis in Maryland.
On Thursday, after months of legal filings and hearings, Xinis ruled that Abrego Garcia should be released immediately. Her ruling hinged on what was likely a procedural error by the immigration judge who heard his case in 2019.
Normally, in a case like this, an immigration judge will first issue an order of removal. Then the judge will essentially freeze that order by issuing a “withholding of removal” order, according to Memphis immigration attorney Andrew Rankin.
In Abrego Garcia’s case, the judge granted withholding of removal to El Salvador because he found Abrego Garcia’s life could be in danger there. However, the judge never took the first step of issuing the order of removal. The government argued in Xinis’ court that the order of removal could be inferred, but the judge disagreed.
Without a final order of removal, Abrego Garcia can’t be deported, Xinis ruled.
The only way to get an order of removal is to go back to immigration court and ask for one, Rankin said. But reopening the immigration case is a gamble because Abrego Garcia’s attorneys would likely seek protection from deportation in the form of asylum or some other type of relief.
One wrinkle is that immigration courts are officially part of the executive branch, and the judges there are not generally viewed as being as independent as federal judges.
“There might be independence in some areas, but if the administration wants a certain result, by all accounts it seems they’re going to exert the pressure on the individuals to get that result,” Rankin said. “I hope he gets a fair shake, and two lawyers make arguments — somebody wins, somebody loses — instead of giving it to an immigration judge with a 95% denial rate, where everybody in the world knows how it’s gonna go down.”
Alternatively, the government could appeal Xinis’ order to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and try to get her ruling overturned, Rankin said. If the appeals court agreed with the government that the final order of removal was implied, there could be no need to reopen the immigration case.
In compliance with Xinis’ order, Abrego Garcia was released from immigration detention in Pennsylvania on Thursday evening and allowed to return home for the first time in months. However, he was also told to report to an immigration officer in Baltimore early the next morning.
Fearing that he would be detained again, his attorneys asked Xinis for a temporary restraining order. Xinis filed that order early Friday morning. It prohibits immigration officials from taking Abrego Garcia back into custody, at least for the time being. A hearing on the issue could happen as early as next week.
Meanwhile, in Tennessee, Abrego Garcia has pleaded not guilty in the criminal case where he is charged with human smuggling and conspiracy to commit human smuggling.
Prosecutors claim he accepted money to transport, within the United States, people who were in the country illegally. The charges stem from a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee for speeding. Body camera footage from a Tennessee Highway Patrol officer shows a calm exchange with Abrego Garcia. There were nine passengers in the car, and the officers discussed among themselves their suspicions of smuggling. However, Abrego Garcia was eventually allowed to continue driving with only a warning.
Abrego Garcia has asked U.S. District Court Judge Waverly Crenshaw to dismiss the smuggling charges on the grounds of “selective or vindictive prosecution.”
Crenshaw earlier found “some evidence that the prosecution against him may be vindictive” and said many statements by Trump administration officials “raise cause for concern.” Crenshaw specifically cited a statement by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche on a Fox News Channel program that seemed to suggest the Justice Department charged Abrego Garcia because he won his wrongful-deportation case.
The two sides have been sparring over whether senior Justice Department officials, including Blanche, can be required to testify in the case.
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