Chief Executive to Chief Justice by Lewis L. Gould

He had the confidence that comes with conviction, the strength that comes with character, the grace that comes with humility and the humor that comes with wisdom.'īlinking back tears, Bush added: 'He always told us that for America, the best was yet to come. Ronald Reagan won America's respect with his greatness and won its love with his goodness. 'A great American life has come to an end.

'This is a sad hour in the life of America,' Bush said after speaking with Nancy Reagan by telephone. Official plans will be announced this morning, a library spokesman said. The body will then be flown back to California to be buried at the Ronald W. Danforth, an Episcopalian minister and a former Republican senator from Missouri. From there, a hearse will carry the casket to Washington National Cathedral for a funeral officiated by the newly nominated ambassador to the United Nations, John C. Late in the week, probably Friday, there will be a funeral procession with horse-drawn caisson from the Capitol to a spot near the White House. Plans call for Reagan's body to lie at his presidential library in Simi Valley, Calif., early this week and then travel by Air Force One to Washington on Wednesday, where he will lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda. In Washington and California, plans were quickly implemented for the capital's first presidential funeral in more than 30 years.

Eastern time he was in Paris and had just left a dinner with French President Jacques Chirac. President Bush received the news shortly after 4 p.m. 'My family and I would like the world to know that President Ronald Reagan has passed away,' former first lady Nancy Reagan said in a written statement. Ten years after Reagan announced his Alzheimer's disease in an open letter to the American people, he reached the end of his long twilight at his home in Bel Air, Calif., in the company of his wife and their children. Ronald Wilson Reagan, 40th president of the United States, who transformed the Republican Party and substantially defined the terms of contemporary political debate during two momentous terms in office, died yesterday afternoon.

Chief Executive to Chief Justice by Lewis L. Gould