Reagan Buried at His Library

Ronald Wilson Reagan, the nation’s 40th president, was buried on a golden Southern California hilltop Friday, after a funeral in Washington National Cathedral attended by hundreds of world leaders, past and present.

The ceremonies ended a week of mourning and majesty that honored the uniquely American figure who was credited with hastening the end of the Cold War. Reagan died June 5 at 93.

A presidential jet delivered his body to California, where the former statesman and showman was laid to rest in a horseshoe-shaped burial site at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library -- shaded by seven oak trees and overlooking a panoramic farm valley, with the Pacific Ocean beyond.

The day began in the gray mist of a Washington drizzle and ended in the glow of a California sunset. Formal tributes in the nation’s capital gave way to the more intimate embrace of the Santa Susana Mountains and the tender memories of the children who loved him.

Michael Reagan spoke of his father’s gift of Christian faith and his advice on how to have a long and happy marriage: “You’ll never get in trouble if you say ‘I love you’ at least once a day.”

Patti Davis recounted how the man who would be president taught his daughter about death by helping her bury her goldfish.

And Ronald Prescott Reagan talked about his father’s optimism, his struggle with Alzheimer’s disease and his last trip home: “In his final letter to the American people, Dad wrote: ‘I now begin the journey that will lead me into the sunset of my life.’ This evening, he has arrived.”

Luminaries and laymen on both coasts searched Friday for ways to honor the son of a Midwestern shoe salesman who had risen to Hollywood celebrity, the California governorship and a presidency that spawned a conservative era in American politics.

“Ronald Reagan belongs to the ages now, but we preferred it when he belonged to us,” President Bush said during an interfaith service in the majestic cathedral, where about 3,500 people gathered in one of the greatest assemblages of power and influence the capital had seen in decades. “When the sun sets tonight off the coast of California and we lay to rest our 40th president, a great American story will close.”

It was a ceremony of solemn music and soaring tribute. Bush’s voice cracked once; his father, President George H.W. Bush, fought back tears. But for Nancy Reagan, 82, her husband’s companion and fierce protector throughout public life, it was a day spent letting go.

“There was only one person he said could make him lonely by just leaving the room,” President Bush said in one of several nods to the former first lady, who looked frail and spent as she persevered through the seventh straight day of public mourning. “America honors you, Nancy, for the loyalty and love you gave this man on a wonderful journey.”

On his last day, in his last moments, Reagan himself had paid mute tribute to his beloved wife. In her graveside eulogy at the presidential library, Davis described her father’s end: “He opened his eyes, eyes that had not opened for many, many days, and looked at my mother. He showed us that neither disease nor death can conquer love.”

Only hours before the Washington service began, the public viewing of the casket --draped in the flag that flew over the Capitol the day Reagan was inaugurated in 1981 -- came to an end in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol. An estimated 104,000 people had filed past in 36 hours.

Friday morning before leaving Blair House, the official residence of White House guests, Mrs. Reagan met with the personal staff from her own White House days -- including her maid, ushers, pastry chef, gardener and the president’s valet.

Shortly afterward, Mrs. Reagan rode to the Capitol, where she stood in the ornate Rotunda, alone at her husband’s side. She rubbed her hands over the cloth and spoke words no one could hear. Then she bent to kiss the coffin, reached for the arm of her military escort, hesitated and turned back for one final pat.

Three World War II-vintage howitzers cracked a 21-gun salute before nine military pallbearers ferried the casket to a waiting hearse for the 4 1/2-mile processional to the cathedral. Mrs. Reagan, her face strained but focused, watched until the coffin slid safely into the hearse, a black umbrella held by a gloved military attendant shielding her from the rain.

Outside the cathedral, the mahogany coffin -- said to be larger and more ornate than any used for former presidents -- glided from the back of the hearse to a chorus of “Hail to the Chief,” a tune Reagan loved even more than most. He saluted crisply whenever he heard it.

The 90-minute service was timed to the second. At 11:18, the church fell silent. The coffin passed through the door at precisely 11:30. After Mrs. Reagan was escorted down the aisle, President Bush stood to meet her and clasp her hand. She was seated beside her children and Michael Reagan, the son of the former president and his first wife, actress Jane Wyman.

Around them were the four living ex-presidents and their wives, all nine Supreme Court justices, Cabinet secretaries past and present, virtually the entire U.S. Congress, Britain’s Prince Charles and dozens of leaders who ruled the world for the final third of the 20th century.

The coffin sat on a catafalque directly below the cathedral’s central tower. As they passed by to deliver eulogies, President Bush, former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and former President Bush each paused to bow.

Recalling all he had been taught while serving as Reagan’s vice president, the elder Bush fought back tears. “I learned kindness, we all did. I also learned courage, the nation did. I learned decency,” he said, recalling a story of Reagan, still recovering from the 1981 assassination attempt, kneeling to wipe spilled water from the hospital floor so his nurse wouldn’t get in trouble.

Mulroney remembered Reagan’s devotion to his “beloved, indispensable Nancy.” Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher -- who, weakened by strokes, attended the service but delivered a taped tribute -- noted Reagan’s dedication to “the great cause ... of cheering us all up.”

The service, which wove together moments of humor and sorrow, as well as several grace notes, had been planned by the former president himself in the years before he succumbed to Alzheimer’s.

Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor -- appointed by Reagan as the court’s first female member -- read from a sermon by pilgrim John Winthrop that included the line: “We shall be as a city upon a hill,” referenced by Reagan in his last speech from the Oval Office.

The grand scale of the cathedral and the passage of time rendered some larger-than-life figures small and frail. Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist shuffled slowly across the cathedral floor. Former Reagan Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger greeted most well-wishers from his seat.

The scene provided a striking tableau of former presidents sitting together, some who admired Reagan, like Gerald R. Ford, others who challenged him. Jimmy Carter, defeated by Reagan in 1980, listened as Thatcher implicitly criticized his administration.

But even more than politics, the sight captured the mortality those men share -- all but Bill Clinton have filed their own plans for a state funeral at the same cathedral.

The Armed Forces Chorus performed “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” one of the former president’s favorites. Irish tenor Ronan Tynan sang “Amazing Grace.” At exactly 1 p.m., as the cathedral bells rang 40 times to honor the 40th president, the coffin began its trek to Andrews Air Force Base, where another 3,000 observers waited.

Mrs. Reagan, wearing eyeglasses now and looking unsteady, paused before boarding the presidential jet to wave broadly at the crowd and blow a kiss. Then the plane departed in the last of what were once countless commutes from Washington, where he worked, to the Western vistas of home in California.

A bit less grand but no less touching, Reagan’s California homecoming was a tardier affair, slowed by tens of thousands of well-wishers who lined the roads to pay their respects as the funeral cortege passed en route to the presidential library.

At 4:30 p.m., there was applause as Air Force One swept low over the Reagan library before landing at Point Mugu. Reagan’s casket arrived at the library about 6:30 p.m., and the service began about 20 minutes later.

“We have come from sea to shining sea to this soil which he loved so much and where his body will remain,” the Rev. Michael Wenning, retired senior pastor at Reagan’s Bel Air Presbyterian Church, said in opening the ceremony.

Almost 700 guests attended the burial services, including Thatcher, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and former California governors Pete Wilson and George Deukmejian.

The movie and television industries were represented by producer Norman Lear and actors Mickey Rooney, Kirk Douglas, Bo Derek and Tom Selleck. Singers Johnny Mathis and entertainer Wayne Newton were there.

Selleck said Reagan would have been touched by the enormous outpouring of respect, admiration and affection. “Suppose you throw a party and nobody comes?” Selleck said in an interview. “Well, everybody has come to this one.”

Cannons fired a 21-gun salute. A bugler played taps. Fighter jets flew overhead in a traditional missing-man formation.

The flag that had draped the former president’s coffin was folded by military pallbearers and presented to Mrs. Reagan. She pressed her cheek to the coffin, speaking softly, caressing the polished wood with her hand. The president’s children stood beside her, embracing her and offering their support.

Ronald Wilson Reagan, the 40th president of the United States, said son Ron, “is home now, he is free.”

Fiore and Kemper reported from Washington and Kelley from Simi Valley. Times staff writers Elizabeth Shogren in Washington, Eric Malnic in Los Angeles and Maria L. La Ganga in San Francisco contributed to this report.