State funeral of John F. Kennedy
Encyclopedia
The state funeral
of John F. Kennedy
took place in Washington, DC during the three days that followed his assassination
on Friday, November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas
.
The body of President Kennedy was brought back to Washington, D.C.
and placed on the East Room of the White House
for 24 hours. On the Sunday after the assassination, his coffin was carried on a horse-drawn caisson
to the U.S. Capitol
to lie in state
. Throughout the day and night, hundreds of thousands lined up to view the guarded casket. Representatives from over 90 countries attended the state funeral
on Monday, November 25. After the Requiem Mass at St. Matthew's Cathedral
, the late president was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery
in Virginia.
was assassinated in Dallas, his body was flown back to Washington, D.C.
At the same time, military authorities started planning his state funeral
. Army Major General
Philip C. Wehle
, the commanding general of the Military District of Washington (MDW) (CG MDW), and the chief of ceremonies and special events at the MDW, retired Army Colonel Paul C. Miller, planned the funeral. They headed to the White House
and worked with the president's brother-in-law, Sargent Shriver
, also director of the Peace Corps, and an aide to the president. Because Kennedy had no funeral plan in place, much of the planning rested with the CG MDW.
House Speaker
John W. McCormack said that the President's body would be brought back to the White House to lie in the East Room the following day and then taken to the Capitol to lie in state in the Rotunda all day Sunday.
The day after the assassination, Johnson issued Presidential Proclamation 3561, declaring Monday to be a national day of mourning
, and only essential emergency workers to be at their posts.
Several elements of the state funeral paid tribute to Kennedy's service in the Navy during World War II
. They included a member of the Navy bearing the presidential flag
, the Navy Hymn, "Eternal Father, Strong to Save
," and the Naval Academy
Glee Club performing at the White House.
After the autopsy at Bethesda Naval Hospital
, Kennedy's body was prepared for burial by embalmers from Gawler's Funeral Home in Washington, who performed the embalming and cosmetic restoration procedures at Bethesda, as opposed to the funeral home. The body was then put in a coffin made of 500-year old African mahogany, as some of the handles and ornaments on the bronze one that carried the body from Dallas had been damaged en route.
The body of President Kennedy was returned to the White House at nearly 4:30 a.m., Saturday, November 23. The motorcade bearing the remains was met at the White House gate by a Marine honor guard, which escorted it to the North Portico, where it was borne to the East Room
. After being placed in the East Room, Jacqueline Kennedy declared that the casket would be kept closed for the duration of the viewing and funeral. However, the views were conflicting as to why she declared the casket to be closed. Religious leaders said that it minimized morbid concentration on the corpse. The White House said that Kennedy was shot in the head and neck and that the head wound was a gaping one. Mrs. Kennedy, still wearing the blood-stained raspberry-colored suit she wore in Dallas, had to that point refused to leave the side of her husband's body since his death, the only exceptions being during his autopsy and the swearing-in of President Johnson. Only after the casket was placed in the East Room, now decorated with black crepe, did she retire to her private quarters. She requested that two Catholic priests remain with the body until the official funeral. A call was made to the Catholic University of America
and Msgr. Robert Paul Mohan and Fr. Gilbert Hartke
, two prominent Washington, D.C. priests were immediately dispatched for the task.
Kennedy's casket remained in the East Room for 24 hours, as he lay in repose (then, the term "lying in repose
" meant private, as opposed to a public lying in state
.).
A Mass
was said in the East Room at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, November 23. After that, other family members, friends, and other government officials came at specified times to pay their respects, including former U.S. Presidents Truman
and Eisenhower
(The other surviving former U.S. president at the time, Herbert Hoover
, was too ill to attend and was represented by his sons. Herbert Hoover Jr. attended the funeral, while Allan Hoover went to the services in the rotunda; Hoover died 11 months afterward).
Kennedy lay where, nearly one hundred years earlier, Lincoln
had lain. An honor guard and two priests stood vigil over his remains. The honor guard included troops from the 3rd Infantry
and from the Army's Special Forces (Green Berets). The Special Forces troops had been brought hurriedly from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, at the request of Attorney General
Robert F. Kennedy
, who was aware of his brother's particular interest in them.
The catafalque
upon which the remains rested was the same one used in 1958 during the funerals of the Unknown Soldier
s from the Korean War
and World War II
at Arlington.
and the Unknown Soldier
, carry Kennedy's flag-covered casket down the White House drive, past parallel rows of soldiers bearing the flags of the 50 states of the Union, then along Pennsylvania Avenue
to the Capitol
Rotunda to lie in state. The only sounds on Pennsylvania Avenue as the cortège made its way to the Capitol were the sounds of the muffled drums and the clacking of horses' hooves, including the riderless horse Black Jack.
The widow, holding her two children, one in each hand, led the public mourning for the country. In the rotunda, Mrs. Kennedy and her daughter Caroline
knelt beside the casket, which rested on the Lincoln catafalque
. Three-year-old John Jr. was briefly taken out of the rotunda so as not to disrupt the service. Mrs. Kennedy maintained her composure as her husband was taken to the Capitol to lie in state, as well as during the memorial service.
Brief eulogies were delivered inside the rotunda by Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield
of Montana
, Chief Justice
Earl Warren
, and Speaker McCormack.
Kennedy was the first president in more than 30 years to lie in state in the rotunda, the previous one was the first president (and also the first chief justice) to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery
, William Howard Taft
, in 1930. He was also the first Democrat to lie in state at the Capitol.
The original plan was for the rotunda was to close at 9:00 p.m. and reopen for an hour at 9:00 the next morning. Because of long lines however, police and military authorities decided to keep the doors open. At 9:00 p.m. both Jacqueline Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy returned to the rotunda. More than half the mourners came to the rotunda after 2:45 p.m., by which time 115,000 had already visited. Military officials doubled the lines, first to two abreast, then to four abreast.
NBC
broadcast uninterrupted coverage of the people passing through the Capitol rotunda during the overnight hours. Today co-host Hugh Downs
said when hosting the show from Washington the next day that the mass numbers made it "the greatest and most solemn wake in history." CBS
Washington correspondent Roger Mudd
said of the mass numbers: "This outpouring of affection and sympathy for the late president is probably the most majestic and stately ceremony the American people can perform." Jersey Joe Walcott
, a former heavyweight boxing champion, agreed with Mudd, saying of Kennedy after he passed by the bier at 2:30 a.m., "He was a great man."
Dean Rusk
and other State Department personnel went out to both of Washington's commercial airports, to personally greet foreign dignitaries.
Some of the dignitaries that arrived on Sunday to attend the funeral included Soviet First Deputy Premier Anastas Mikoyan
, French President Charles de Gaulle
, Canadian Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson
, The Duke of Edinburgh
representing Queen Elizabeth II
, British Prime Minister Sir Alec Douglas-Home, Irish President Éamon de Valera
, and Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie. Queen Frederika of Greece, and King Baudouin I of the Belgians were just some of the other members of royalty attending. Some law enforcement officials, including MPDC
Chief Robert V. Murray, later said that it was the biggest security nightmare they ever faced. De Valera visited the rotunda.
on Monday's events. First, they decided that the public viewing should end at 09:00 EST.
Unlike Sunday's procession, which was led by only the muffled drum corps, Monday's was expanded to include other military units. Military officials also agreed on what the widowed Mrs. Kennedy requested. They included two foreign military units—pipers from the Scottish Black Watch
(Royal Highland Regiment) marching in the procession from the White House to St. Matthew's Roman Catholic Cathedral
and a group of 24 Irish Defence Forces
cadets performing silent drill at the grave site—and an eternal flame at the grave. The cadets came from the Military College of Ireland in Curragh, County Kildare, which is Ireland's equivalent to West Point, due to the impression created by a similar display at Arbour Hill Barracks in Dublin by cadets during the visit of President Kennedy to Ireland
just five months before. The cadets traveled on the plane to the funeral with Irish President Éamon de Valera.
Approximately one million people lined the route of the funeral procession, from the Capitol back to the White House, then to St. Matthew's Cathedral, and finally to Arlington National Cemetery. Millions more—almost the entire population of America—followed the funeral on television. Those who watched the funeral on television were the only ones who saw the ceremonies in its entirety. The three networks, ABC
, CBS, and NBC, needed at least 50 cameras for the joint coverage in order to allow viewers to follow the proceedings from the Capitol to Arlington without missing a moment. In addition, their respective Washington bureau chiefs (Bob Fleming at ABC, Bill Small at CBS, and Bill Monroe
at NBC) also moved correspondents and cameras to keep them ahead of the cortege.
The day's events began at 8:25 a.m., when the MPDC
cut off the line of mourners waiting to get into the rotunda because a large group of people tried to crash the line and weren't able to sort the people in line out, many had waited for 5 hours. Thirty-five minutes, later, the doors closed, ending the lying in state, though the last visitors passed through at 9:05 a.m.
At 10:00 a.m., both houses of Congress met to pass resolutions expressing sorrow. In the Senate
, Maine Republican Senator Margaret Chase Smith
laid a single rose on the desk Kennedy occupied when in the Senate.
visited the rotunda, the coffin was carried out onto the caisson. At 10:50, the caisson left the Capitol. Ten minutes later, the procession began, making its way back to the White House, where it resumed on foot to St. Matthew's Cathedral, led by Kennedy's widow and the Kennedy brothers. They walked the same route the widow took quite often with the President when going to Mass at the cathedral. This also marked the first time that a first lady walked in her husband's funeral procession. The two Kennedy children rode in a limousine behind them. The rest of the Kennedy family, apart from the President's father, Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr.
, who was ill, waited at the cathedral.
The new president, Lyndon B. Johnson
, his wife, Lady Bird
and their two daughters, Luci
and Lynda, also marched in the procession, though he was told not to do so because of the assassination. However, LBJ recounted his experiences in his memoirs saying, "I remember marching behind the caisson to St. Matthew's Cathedral. The muffled rumble of drums set up a heartbreaking echo." Merle Miller quoted him as having said, "Walking in the procession was especially one of the most difficult decisions I had to make," but it was something he could do, should do, would do, and did so. When he moved into the Oval Office the next day, there was a letter from Mrs. Kennedy on his desk. The first thing she wrote was thanking him for marching in the procession.
Not since the funeral of Britain's King Edward VII
in 1910, had there been such a large gathering of presidents, prime ministers, and royalty at a state funeral. In all, 220 foreign dignitaries, including 19 heads of state and government, and members of royal families, from 92 countries, five international agencies, and the papacy attended the funeral. Most of the dignitaries passed unnoticed, strolling respectfully behind the former first lady and the Kennedy family during the relatively short walk to the cathedral along Connecticut Avenue. As the dignitaries marched, there was a heavy security presence because of concerns for the potential assassination of so many world leaders, with the heaviest being for French President Charles de Gaulle
. Under Secretary of State George Ball manned the operations center at the State Department so that no incident happened.
NBC transmitted coverage of the procession from the White House to the cathedral by satellite to twenty-three countries, including Japan and the Soviet Union. However, satellite coverage ended when the coffin went into the cathedral. In the Soviet Union, their commentators said that "the grief of the Soviet people mingles with the grief of the American people." However, there was no coverage in East Germany, where television audiences had only a soccer match to watch.
The widow, wearing a black veil, and holding the hands of her two children, John Jr.
, who celebrated his third birthday on the day of his father's funeral, on her left, and Caroline
, on her right, led the way up the steps of the cathedral.
Low Mass
at the cathedral where Kennedy, a practicing Catholic, often worshipped. Cardinal Cushing was a close friend of the family who had witnessed and blessed the marriage of Senator Kennedy and Jacqueline Bouvier in 1953. He had also baptized two of their children, given the invocation at President Kennedy's inauguration, and officiated at the recent funeral of their infant son, Patrick Bouvier Kennedy.
At the request of the First Lady, the Requiem Mass was a Low Mass
. That is, when Mass is recited or spoken and not sung, with it being a simplified version of the Mass. Two months later, Cardinal Cushing offered a pontifical Solemn High
Requiem
Mass at Holy Cross Cathedral in Boston with the city's orchestra and choir singing Mozart's Requiem setting.
Rather than a formal eulogy at the Low Requiem Mass, not permitted by the Catholic Church, the Roman Catholic Auxiliary Bishop
of Washington, the Most Reverend Philip M. Hannan, decided to read selections from Kennedy's writings and speeches. The readings included a passage from the third chapter of Ecclesiastes
: "There is an appointed time for everything...a time to be born and a time to die...a time to love and a time to hate...a time of war and a time of peace." He then concluded his remarks by reading the entire Inaugural Address
.
As he did during their wedding ten years earlier, Luigi Vena sang Franz Schubert
's Ave Maria after the offertory
. Jacqueline Kennedy had requested it and for a few moments she lost her composure and sobbed as this music filled the cathedral.
for burial. Moments after the casket was carried down the front steps of the cathedral, Jacqueline Kennedy whispered to her son, after which he saluted his father's coffin; the image became an iconic representation of the 1960s
. The children were deemed to be too young to attend the final burial service, so this was the point where the children said goodbye to their father.
Virtually everyone else followed the caisson in a long line of black limousines passing by the Lincoln Memorial
and crossing the Potomac River
. However, many of the military units did not participate in the burial service and left just after crossing the Potomac. Because the line of cars taking the foreign dignitaries was long, the last cars carrying the dignitaries left St. Matthew's as the procession entered the cemetery. The burial services had already begun when the last car arrived.
At the end of the burial services, the widow lit an eternal flame
to burn continuously over his grave. At 3:34 p.m. EST, the casket containing his remains was lowered into the earth as "Kennedy slipped out of mortal sight—out of sight but not out of heart and mind." Kennedy thus became only the second president to be buried at Arlington, after Taft. He was buried at Arlington exactly two weeks to the day he last visited there, when he came for Veteran's Day observances.
State funeral
A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of protocol, held to honor heads of state or other important people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive elements of military tradition...
of John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
took place in Washington, DC during the three days that followed his assassination
Assassination of John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the thirty-fifth President of the United States, was assassinated at 12:30 p.m. Central Standard Time on Friday, November 22, 1963, in Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas...
on Friday, November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
.
The body of President Kennedy was brought back to Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
and placed on the East Room of the White House
East Room
The East Room is the largest room in the White House, the home of the president of the United States. It is used for entertaining, press conferences, ceremonies, and occasionally for a large dinner...
for 24 hours. On the Sunday after the assassination, his coffin was carried on a horse-drawn caisson
Caisson (military)
A limber is a two-wheeled cart designed to support the trail of an artillery piece, or the stock of a field carriage such as a caisson or traveling forge, allowing it to be towed. A caisson is a two-wheeled cart designed to carry artillery ammunition...
to the U.S. Capitol
United States Capitol
The United States Capitol is the meeting place of the United States Congress, the legislature of the federal government of the United States. Located in Washington, D.C., it sits atop Capitol Hill at the eastern end of the National Mall...
to lie in state
Lying in state
Lying in state is a term used to describe the tradition in which a coffin is placed on view to allow the public at large to pay their respects to the deceased. It traditionally takes place in the principal government building of a country or city...
. Throughout the day and night, hundreds of thousands lined up to view the guarded casket. Representatives from over 90 countries attended the state funeral
State funeral
A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of protocol, held to honor heads of state or other important people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive elements of military tradition...
on Monday, November 25. After the Requiem Mass at St. Matthew's Cathedral
Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle
The Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington D.C., most commonly known as St. Matthew's Cathedral, is the seat of the Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington. As St...
, the late president was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, is a military cemetery in the United States of America, established during the American Civil War on the grounds of Arlington House, formerly the estate of the family of Confederate general Robert E. Lee's wife Mary Anna Lee, a great...
in Virginia.
Preparations for the state funeral
After John F. KennedyJohn F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
was assassinated in Dallas, his body was flown back to Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
At the same time, military authorities started planning his state funeral
State funeral
A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of protocol, held to honor heads of state or other important people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive elements of military tradition...
. Army Major General
Major general (United States)
In the United States Army, United States Marine Corps, and United States Air Force, major general is a two-star general-officer rank, with the pay grade of O-8. Major general ranks above brigadier general and below lieutenant general...
Philip C. Wehle
Philip C. Wehle
Philip Campbell Wehle was a Major General in the U.S. Army and the Commanding General of the Military District of Washington from 1962 to 1965....
, the commanding general of the Military District of Washington (MDW) (CG MDW), and the chief of ceremonies and special events at the MDW, retired Army Colonel Paul C. Miller, planned the funeral. They headed to the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
and worked with the president's brother-in-law, Sargent Shriver
Sargent Shriver
Robert Sargent Shriver, Jr., known as Sargent Shriver, R. Sargent Shriver, or, from childhood, Sarge, was an American statesman and activist. As the husband of Eunice Kennedy Shriver, he was part of the Kennedy family, serving in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations...
, also director of the Peace Corps, and an aide to the president. Because Kennedy had no funeral plan in place, much of the planning rested with the CG MDW.
House Speaker
Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
The Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, or Speaker of the House, is the presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives...
John W. McCormack said that the President's body would be brought back to the White House to lie in the East Room the following day and then taken to the Capitol to lie in state in the Rotunda all day Sunday.
The day after the assassination, Johnson issued Presidential Proclamation 3561, declaring Monday to be a national day of mourning
National day of mourning
A national day of mourning is a day marked by mourning and memorial activities observed among the majority of a country's populace. They are designated by that nation's government...
, and only essential emergency workers to be at their posts.
Several elements of the state funeral paid tribute to Kennedy's service in the Navy during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. They included a member of the Navy bearing the presidential flag
Flag of the President of the United States
The Flag of the President of the United States consists of the presidential coat of arms on a dark blue background. While having the same design as the presidential seal since 1945, the flag has a separate history, and the designs on the flag and seal have at different times influenced each other...
, the Navy Hymn, "Eternal Father, Strong to Save
Eternal Father, Strong to Save
"Eternal Father, Strong to Save" is a hymn often associated with the Royal Navy or the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps. Accordingly, it is often known as the Royal Navy Hymn or the United States Navy Hymn , and sometimes by the last line of its first verse, "For Those in Peril on...
," and the Naval Academy
United States Naval Academy
The United States Naval Academy is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located in Annapolis, Maryland, United States...
Glee Club performing at the White House.
White House repose
National Naval Medical Center
The National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, USA — commonly known as the Bethesda Naval Hospital — was for decades the flagship of the United States Navy's system of medical centers. A federal institution, it conducted medical and dental research as well as providing health care for...
, Kennedy's body was prepared for burial by embalmers from Gawler's Funeral Home in Washington, who performed the embalming and cosmetic restoration procedures at Bethesda, as opposed to the funeral home. The body was then put in a coffin made of 500-year old African mahogany, as some of the handles and ornaments on the bronze one that carried the body from Dallas had been damaged en route.
The body of President Kennedy was returned to the White House at nearly 4:30 a.m., Saturday, November 23. The motorcade bearing the remains was met at the White House gate by a Marine honor guard, which escorted it to the North Portico, where it was borne to the East Room
East Room
The East Room is the largest room in the White House, the home of the president of the United States. It is used for entertaining, press conferences, ceremonies, and occasionally for a large dinner...
. After being placed in the East Room, Jacqueline Kennedy declared that the casket would be kept closed for the duration of the viewing and funeral. However, the views were conflicting as to why she declared the casket to be closed. Religious leaders said that it minimized morbid concentration on the corpse. The White House said that Kennedy was shot in the head and neck and that the head wound was a gaping one. Mrs. Kennedy, still wearing the blood-stained raspberry-colored suit she wore in Dallas, had to that point refused to leave the side of her husband's body since his death, the only exceptions being during his autopsy and the swearing-in of President Johnson. Only after the casket was placed in the East Room, now decorated with black crepe, did she retire to her private quarters. She requested that two Catholic priests remain with the body until the official funeral. A call was made to the Catholic University of America
The Catholic University of America
The Catholic University of America is a private university located in Washington, D.C. in the United States. It is a pontifical university of the Catholic Church in the United States and the only institution of higher education founded by the U.S. Catholic bishops...
and Msgr. Robert Paul Mohan and Fr. Gilbert Hartke
Gilbert V. Hartke
Rev. Gilbert V. Hartke, O.P. was founder of The Catholic University of America’s Department of Speech and Drama, one of the first university drama programs in America...
, two prominent Washington, D.C. priests were immediately dispatched for the task.
Kennedy's casket remained in the East Room for 24 hours, as he lay in repose (then, the term "lying in repose
Lying in repose
Lying in repose is a term used to describe when a deceased person, often of some stature, is available for public viewing. "Lying in repose" is different from the formal honor of "lying in state", which is generally held at the principal government building of the country and often accompanied by...
" meant private, as opposed to a public lying in state
Lying in state
Lying in state is a term used to describe the tradition in which a coffin is placed on view to allow the public at large to pay their respects to the deceased. It traditionally takes place in the principal government building of a country or city...
.).
A Mass
Mass (liturgy)
"Mass" is one of the names by which the sacrament of the Eucharist is called in the Roman Catholic Church: others are "Eucharist", the "Lord's Supper", the "Breaking of Bread", the "Eucharistic assembly ", the "memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection", the "Holy Sacrifice", the "Holy and...
was said in the East Room at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, November 23. After that, other family members, friends, and other government officials came at specified times to pay their respects, including former U.S. Presidents Truman
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice president and the 34th Vice President of the United States , he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his...
and Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
(The other surviving former U.S. president at the time, Herbert Hoover
Herbert Hoover
Herbert Clark Hoover was the 31st President of the United States . Hoover was originally a professional mining engineer and author. As the United States Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s under Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge, he promoted partnerships between government and business...
, was too ill to attend and was represented by his sons. Herbert Hoover Jr. attended the funeral, while Allan Hoover went to the services in the rotunda; Hoover died 11 months afterward).
Kennedy lay where, nearly one hundred years earlier, Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
had lain. An honor guard and two priests stood vigil over his remains. The honor guard included troops from the 3rd Infantry
3rd US Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard)
The 3rd United States Infantry Regiment is a regiment of the US Army. It currently has three active battalions, and is readily identified by its nickname, The Old Guard, as well as Escort to the President. The regimental motto is Noli Me Tangere...
and from the Army's Special Forces (Green Berets). The Special Forces troops had been brought hurriedly from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, at the request of Attorney General
United States Attorney General
The United States Attorney General is the head of the United States Department of Justice concerned with legal affairs and is the chief law enforcement officer of the United States government. The attorney general is considered to be the chief lawyer of the U.S. government...
Robert F. Kennedy
Robert F. Kennedy
Robert Francis "Bobby" Kennedy , also referred to by his initials RFK, was an American politician, a Democratic senator from New York, and a noted civil rights activist. An icon of modern American liberalism and member of the Kennedy family, he was a younger brother of President John F...
, who was aware of his brother's particular interest in them.
The catafalque
Lincoln catafalque
The Lincoln catafalque is a catafalque hastily constructed in 1865 to support the casket of Abraham Lincoln while the president's body lay in state in the Capitol Rotunda in Washington, D.C. The catafalque has since been used for all those who have lain in state in the Capitol Rotunda, as listed...
upon which the remains rested was the same one used in 1958 during the funerals of the Unknown Soldier
Tomb of the Unknowns
The Tomb of the Unknowns is a monument dedicated to American service members who have died without their remains being identified. It is located in Arlington National Cemetery in the United States...
s from the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
and World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
at Arlington.
Lying in state
On Sunday afternoon about 300,000 people watched a horse-drawn caisson, which had borne the body of Franklin D. RooseveltFranklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
and the Unknown Soldier
Tomb of the Unknowns
The Tomb of the Unknowns is a monument dedicated to American service members who have died without their remains being identified. It is located in Arlington National Cemetery in the United States...
, carry Kennedy's flag-covered casket down the White House drive, past parallel rows of soldiers bearing the flags of the 50 states of the Union, then along Pennsylvania Avenue
Pennsylvania Avenue
Pennsylvania Avenue is a street in Washington, D.C. that joins the White House and the United States Capitol. Called "America's Main Street", it is the location of official parades and processions, as well as protest marches...
to the Capitol
United States Capitol
The United States Capitol is the meeting place of the United States Congress, the legislature of the federal government of the United States. Located in Washington, D.C., it sits atop Capitol Hill at the eastern end of the National Mall...
Rotunda to lie in state. The only sounds on Pennsylvania Avenue as the cortège made its way to the Capitol were the sounds of the muffled drums and the clacking of horses' hooves, including the riderless horse Black Jack.
The widow, holding her two children, one in each hand, led the public mourning for the country. In the rotunda, Mrs. Kennedy and her daughter Caroline
Caroline Kennedy
Caroline Bouvier Kennedy is an American author and attorney. She is a member of the influential Kennedy family and the only surviving child of U.S. President John F...
knelt beside the casket, which rested on the Lincoln catafalque
Lincoln catafalque
The Lincoln catafalque is a catafalque hastily constructed in 1865 to support the casket of Abraham Lincoln while the president's body lay in state in the Capitol Rotunda in Washington, D.C. The catafalque has since been used for all those who have lain in state in the Capitol Rotunda, as listed...
. Three-year-old John Jr. was briefly taken out of the rotunda so as not to disrupt the service. Mrs. Kennedy maintained her composure as her husband was taken to the Capitol to lie in state, as well as during the memorial service.
Brief eulogies were delivered inside the rotunda by Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield
Mike Mansfield
Michael Joseph Mansfield was an American Democratic politician and the longest-serving Majority Leader of the United States Senate, serving from 1961 to 1977. He also served as United States Ambassador to Japan for over ten years...
of Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
, Chief Justice
Chief Justice of the United States
The Chief Justice of the United States is the head of the United States federal court system and the chief judge of the Supreme Court of the United States. The Chief Justice is one of nine Supreme Court justices; the other eight are the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States...
Earl Warren
Earl Warren
Earl Warren was the 14th Chief Justice of the United States.He is known for the sweeping decisions of the Warren Court, which ended school segregation and transformed many areas of American law, especially regarding the rights of the accused, ending public-school-sponsored prayer, and requiring...
, and Speaker McCormack.
Kennedy was the first president in more than 30 years to lie in state in the rotunda, the previous one was the first president (and also the first chief justice) to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, is a military cemetery in the United States of America, established during the American Civil War on the grounds of Arlington House, formerly the estate of the family of Confederate general Robert E. Lee's wife Mary Anna Lee, a great...
, William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft was the 27th President of the United States and later the tenth Chief Justice of the United States...
, in 1930. He was also the first Democrat to lie in state at the Capitol.
Public viewing
In the only public viewing, hundreds of thousands lined up in near-freezing temperatures to view the casket. Over the span of 18 hours, 250,000 people, some waiting for as long as 10 hours in a line that stretched 40 blocks up to 10 persons wide over nearly 10 miles, personally paid their respects as Kennedy's body lay in state. Capitol police officers politely reminded mourners to keep moving along in two lines that passed on either side of the casket and exited the building on the west side facing the National Mall.The original plan was for the rotunda was to close at 9:00 p.m. and reopen for an hour at 9:00 the next morning. Because of long lines however, police and military authorities decided to keep the doors open. At 9:00 p.m. both Jacqueline Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy returned to the rotunda. More than half the mourners came to the rotunda after 2:45 p.m., by which time 115,000 had already visited. Military officials doubled the lines, first to two abreast, then to four abreast.
NBC
NBC News
NBC News is the news division of American television network NBC. It first started broadcasting in February 21, 1940. NBC Nightly News has aired from Studio 3B, located on floors 3 of the NBC Studios is the headquarters of the GE Building forms the centerpiece of 30th Rockefeller Center it is...
broadcast uninterrupted coverage of the people passing through the Capitol rotunda during the overnight hours. Today co-host Hugh Downs
Hugh Downs
Hugh Malcolm Downs is a long time American broadcaster, television host, news anchor, TV producer, author, game show host, and music composer; and is perhaps best known for his role as co-host the NBC News program Today from 1962 to 1971, host of the Concentration game show from 1958 to 1969, and...
said when hosting the show from Washington the next day that the mass numbers made it "the greatest and most solemn wake in history." CBS
CBS News
CBS News is the news division of American television and radio network CBS. The current chairman is Jeff Fager who is also the executive producer of 60 Minutes, while the current president of CBS News is David Rhodes. CBS News' flagship program is the CBS Evening News, hosted by the network's main...
Washington correspondent Roger Mudd
Roger Mudd
Roger Mudd is a U.S. television journalist and broadcaster, most recently as the primary anchor for The History Channel. Previously, Mudd was weekend and weekday substitute anchor of CBS Evening News, co-anchor of the weekday NBC Nightly News, and hosted NBC's Meet the Press, and NBC's American...
said of the mass numbers: "This outpouring of affection and sympathy for the late president is probably the most majestic and stately ceremony the American people can perform." Jersey Joe Walcott
Jersey Joe Walcott
Arnold Raymond Cream , better known as Jersey Joe Walcott, was a world heavyweight boxing champion. He broke the world's record for the oldest man to win the world's Heavyweight title when he earned it at the age of , a record that would be broken on November 5, 1994, by George Foreman, who...
, a former heavyweight boxing champion, agreed with Mudd, saying of Kennedy after he passed by the bier at 2:30 a.m., "He was a great man."
Arrival of dignitaries
As Kennedy lay in state, foreign dignitaries—including heads of state and government and members of royal families—started to converge on Washington to attend the state funeral on Monday. Secretary of StateUnited States Secretary of State
The United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the Cabinet and the highest-ranking cabinet secretary both in line of succession and order of precedence...
Dean Rusk
Dean Rusk
David Dean Rusk was the United States Secretary of State from 1961 to 1969 under presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. Rusk is the second-longest serving U.S...
and other State Department personnel went out to both of Washington's commercial airports, to personally greet foreign dignitaries.
Some of the dignitaries that arrived on Sunday to attend the funeral included Soviet First Deputy Premier Anastas Mikoyan
Anastas Mikoyan
Anastas Ivanovich Mikoyan was an Armenian Old Bolshevik and Soviet statesman during the rules of Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin, Nikita Khrushchev, and Leonid Brezhnev....
, French President Charles de Gaulle
Charles de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969....
, Canadian Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson
Lester B. Pearson
Lester Bowles "Mike" Pearson, PC, OM, CC, OBE was a Canadian professor, historian, civil servant, statesman, diplomat, and politician, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1957 for organizing the United Nations Emergency Force to resolve the Suez Canal Crisis...
, The Duke of Edinburgh
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh is the husband of Elizabeth II. He is the United Kingdom's longest-serving consort and the oldest serving spouse of a reigning British monarch....
representing Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
, British Prime Minister Sir Alec Douglas-Home, Irish President Éamon de Valera
Éamon de Valera
Éamon de Valera was one of the dominant political figures in twentieth century Ireland, serving as head of government of the Irish Free State and head of government and head of state of Ireland...
, and Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie. Queen Frederika of Greece, and King Baudouin I of the Belgians were just some of the other members of royalty attending. Some law enforcement officials, including MPDC
Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia
The Metropolitan Police Department, also known as the DC Police, DCPD, MPD, and MPDC is the municipal police force in Washington, D.C...
Chief Robert V. Murray, later said that it was the biggest security nightmare they ever faced. De Valera visited the rotunda.
Funeral
As people were viewing the casket, military authorities held meetings at the White House, at MDW headquarters, and at Arlington National CemeteryArlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, is a military cemetery in the United States of America, established during the American Civil War on the grounds of Arlington House, formerly the estate of the family of Confederate general Robert E. Lee's wife Mary Anna Lee, a great...
on Monday's events. First, they decided that the public viewing should end at 09:00 EST.
Unlike Sunday's procession, which was led by only the muffled drum corps, Monday's was expanded to include other military units. Military officials also agreed on what the widowed Mrs. Kennedy requested. They included two foreign military units—pipers from the Scottish Black Watch
Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment)
It all began in 1725 when General Wade, as leader of the King's Army in Scotland, and involved in his great project of building the military roads there, set up six companies of the Highland "Watch". These were formed to stop fighting among the clans; controlling the roads was an important part of...
(Royal Highland Regiment) marching in the procession from the White House to St. Matthew's Roman Catholic Cathedral
Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle
The Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington D.C., most commonly known as St. Matthew's Cathedral, is the seat of the Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington. As St...
and a group of 24 Irish Defence Forces
Irish Defence Forces
The armed forces of Ireland, known as the Defence Forces encompass the Army, Naval Service, Air Corps and Reserve Defence Force.The current Supreme Commander of the Irish Defence forces is His Excellency Michael D Higgins in his role as President of Ireland...
cadets performing silent drill at the grave site—and an eternal flame at the grave. The cadets came from the Military College of Ireland in Curragh, County Kildare, which is Ireland's equivalent to West Point, due to the impression created by a similar display at Arbour Hill Barracks in Dublin by cadets during the visit of President Kennedy to Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
just five months before. The cadets traveled on the plane to the funeral with Irish President Éamon de Valera.
Approximately one million people lined the route of the funeral procession, from the Capitol back to the White House, then to St. Matthew's Cathedral, and finally to Arlington National Cemetery. Millions more—almost the entire population of America—followed the funeral on television. Those who watched the funeral on television were the only ones who saw the ceremonies in its entirety. The three networks, ABC
ABC News
ABC News is the news gathering and broadcasting division of American broadcast television network ABC, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company...
, CBS, and NBC, needed at least 50 cameras for the joint coverage in order to allow viewers to follow the proceedings from the Capitol to Arlington without missing a moment. In addition, their respective Washington bureau chiefs (Bob Fleming at ABC, Bill Small at CBS, and Bill Monroe
Bill Monroe (journalist)
William Blanc "Bill" Monroe Jr. was an American television journalist for NBC News. He was the executive producer and fourth moderator of the NBC public affairs program Meet the Press , succeeding Lawrence E...
at NBC) also moved correspondents and cameras to keep them ahead of the cortege.
The day's events began at 8:25 a.m., when the MPDC
Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia
The Metropolitan Police Department, also known as the DC Police, DCPD, MPD, and MPDC is the municipal police force in Washington, D.C...
cut off the line of mourners waiting to get into the rotunda because a large group of people tried to crash the line and weren't able to sort the people in line out, many had waited for 5 hours. Thirty-five minutes, later, the doors closed, ending the lying in state, though the last visitors passed through at 9:05 a.m.
At 10:00 a.m., both houses of Congress met to pass resolutions expressing sorrow. In the Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
, Maine Republican Senator Margaret Chase Smith
Margaret Chase Smith
Margaret Chase Smith was a Republican Senator from Maine, and one of the most successful politicians in Maine history. She was the first woman to be elected to both the U.S. House and the Senate, and the first woman from Maine to serve in either. She was also the first woman to have her name...
laid a single rose on the desk Kennedy occupied when in the Senate.
Procession to cathedral
After Mrs. Kennedy and her brothers-in-law, Attorney General Robert Kennedy and Massachusetts Democratic Senator Ted KennedyTed Kennedy
Edward Moore "Ted" Kennedy was a United States Senator from Massachusetts and a member of the Democratic Party. Serving almost 47 years, he was the second most senior member of the Senate when he died and is the fourth-longest-serving senator in United States history...
visited the rotunda, the coffin was carried out onto the caisson. At 10:50, the caisson left the Capitol. Ten minutes later, the procession began, making its way back to the White House, where it resumed on foot to St. Matthew's Cathedral, led by Kennedy's widow and the Kennedy brothers. They walked the same route the widow took quite often with the President when going to Mass at the cathedral. This also marked the first time that a first lady walked in her husband's funeral procession. The two Kennedy children rode in a limousine behind them. The rest of the Kennedy family, apart from the President's father, Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr.
Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr.
Joseph Patrick "Joe" Kennedy, Sr. was a prominent American businessman, investor, and government official....
, who was ill, waited at the cathedral.
The new president, Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States...
, his wife, Lady Bird
Lady Bird Johnson
Claudia Alta "Lady Bird" Taylor Johnson was First Lady of the United States from 1963 to 1969 during the presidency of her husband Lyndon B. Johnson. Throughout her life, she was an advocate for beautification of the nation's cities and highways and conservation of natural resources and made that...
and their two daughters, Luci
Luci Baines Johnson
Luci Baines Johnson Turpin, formerly Nugent, is the younger daughter of U.S. President Lyndon Johnson and his wife, the former Claudia Alta Taylor . Her name was originally spelled "Lucy"; she informally changed the spelling in her teens...
and Lynda, also marched in the procession, though he was told not to do so because of the assassination. However, LBJ recounted his experiences in his memoirs saying, "I remember marching behind the caisson to St. Matthew's Cathedral. The muffled rumble of drums set up a heartbreaking echo." Merle Miller quoted him as having said, "Walking in the procession was especially one of the most difficult decisions I had to make," but it was something he could do, should do, would do, and did so. When he moved into the Oval Office the next day, there was a letter from Mrs. Kennedy on his desk. The first thing she wrote was thanking him for marching in the procession.
Not since the funeral of Britain's King Edward VII
Edward VII of the United Kingdom
Edward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910...
in 1910, had there been such a large gathering of presidents, prime ministers, and royalty at a state funeral. In all, 220 foreign dignitaries, including 19 heads of state and government, and members of royal families, from 92 countries, five international agencies, and the papacy attended the funeral. Most of the dignitaries passed unnoticed, strolling respectfully behind the former first lady and the Kennedy family during the relatively short walk to the cathedral along Connecticut Avenue. As the dignitaries marched, there was a heavy security presence because of concerns for the potential assassination of so many world leaders, with the heaviest being for French President Charles de Gaulle
Charles de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969....
. Under Secretary of State George Ball manned the operations center at the State Department so that no incident happened.
NBC transmitted coverage of the procession from the White House to the cathedral by satellite to twenty-three countries, including Japan and the Soviet Union. However, satellite coverage ended when the coffin went into the cathedral. In the Soviet Union, their commentators said that "the grief of the Soviet people mingles with the grief of the American people." However, there was no coverage in East Germany, where television audiences had only a soccer match to watch.
The widow, wearing a black veil, and holding the hands of her two children, John Jr.
John F. Kennedy, Jr.
John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Jr. , often referred to as John F. Kennedy, Jr., JFK Jr., John Jr. or John-John, was an American socialite, magazine publisher, lawyer, and pilot. The elder son of U.S. President John F...
, who celebrated his third birthday on the day of his father's funeral, on her left, and Caroline
Caroline Kennedy
Caroline Bouvier Kennedy is an American author and attorney. She is a member of the influential Kennedy family and the only surviving child of U.S. President John F...
, on her right, led the way up the steps of the cathedral.
Funeral Mass at cathedral
About 1,200 invited guests attended the funeral Mass in the cathedral. The Archbishop of Boston, Richard Cardinal Cushing, celebrated the Pontifical RequiemRequiem
A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead or Mass of the dead , is a Mass celebrated for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, using a particular form of the Roman Missal...
Low Mass
Low Mass
Low Mass is a Tridentine Mass defined officially in the Code of Rubrics included in the 1962 edition of the Roman Missal as Mass in which the priest does not chant the parts that the rubrics assign to him...
at the cathedral where Kennedy, a practicing Catholic, often worshipped. Cardinal Cushing was a close friend of the family who had witnessed and blessed the marriage of Senator Kennedy and Jacqueline Bouvier in 1953. He had also baptized two of their children, given the invocation at President Kennedy's inauguration, and officiated at the recent funeral of their infant son, Patrick Bouvier Kennedy.
At the request of the First Lady, the Requiem Mass was a Low Mass
Low Mass
Low Mass is a Tridentine Mass defined officially in the Code of Rubrics included in the 1962 edition of the Roman Missal as Mass in which the priest does not chant the parts that the rubrics assign to him...
. That is, when Mass is recited or spoken and not sung, with it being a simplified version of the Mass. Two months later, Cardinal Cushing offered a pontifical Solemn High
Solemn Mass
Solemn Mass , sometimes also referred to as Solemn High Mass or simply High Mass, is, when used not merely as a description, the full ceremonial form of the Tridentine Mass, celebrated by a priest with a deacon and a subdeacon, requiring most of the parts of the Mass to be sung, and the use of...
Requiem
Requiem
A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead or Mass of the dead , is a Mass celebrated for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, using a particular form of the Roman Missal...
Mass at Holy Cross Cathedral in Boston with the city's orchestra and choir singing Mozart's Requiem setting.
Rather than a formal eulogy at the Low Requiem Mass, not permitted by the Catholic Church, the Roman Catholic Auxiliary Bishop
Auxiliary bishop
An auxiliary bishop, in the Roman Catholic Church, is an additional bishop assigned to a diocese because the diocesan bishop is unable to perform his functions, the diocese is so extensive that it requires more than one bishop to administer, or the diocese is attached to a royal or imperial office...
of Washington, the Most Reverend Philip M. Hannan, decided to read selections from Kennedy's writings and speeches. The readings included a passage from the third chapter of Ecclesiastes
Ecclesiastes
The Book of Ecclesiastes, called , is a book of the Hebrew Bible. The English name derives from the Greek translation of the Hebrew title.The main speaker in the book, identified by the name or title Qoheleth , introduces himself as "son of David, king in Jerusalem." The work consists of personal...
: "There is an appointed time for everything...a time to be born and a time to die...a time to love and a time to hate...a time of war and a time of peace." He then concluded his remarks by reading the entire Inaugural Address
Inaugural address of John F. Kennedy
U.S. President John F. Kennedy delivered his only inaugural address at 12:51 Friday, January 20, 1961, immediately after taking the presidential oath of office administered by Chief Justice Earl Warren.-Background:...
.
As he did during their wedding ten years earlier, Luigi Vena sang Franz Schubert
Franz Schubert
Franz Peter Schubert was an Austrian composer.Although he died at an early age, Schubert was tremendously prolific. He wrote some 600 Lieder, nine symphonies , liturgical music, operas, some incidental music, and a large body of chamber and solo piano music...
's Ave Maria after the offertory
Offertory
The Offertory is the portion of a Eucharistic service when bread and wine are brought to the altar. The offertory exists in many liturgical Christian denominations, though the Eucharistic theology varies among celebrations conducted by these denominations....
. Jacqueline Kennedy had requested it and for a few moments she lost her composure and sobbed as this music filled the cathedral.
Burial
The casket was borne again by caisson on the final leg to Arlington National CemeteryArlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, is a military cemetery in the United States of America, established during the American Civil War on the grounds of Arlington House, formerly the estate of the family of Confederate general Robert E. Lee's wife Mary Anna Lee, a great...
for burial. Moments after the casket was carried down the front steps of the cathedral, Jacqueline Kennedy whispered to her son, after which he saluted his father's coffin; the image became an iconic representation of the 1960s
1960s
The 1960s was the decade that started on January 1, 1960, and ended on December 31, 1969. It was the seventh decade of the 20th century.The 1960s term also refers to an era more often called The Sixties, denoting the complex of inter-related cultural and political trends across the globe...
. The children were deemed to be too young to attend the final burial service, so this was the point where the children said goodbye to their father.
Virtually everyone else followed the caisson in a long line of black limousines passing by the Lincoln Memorial
Lincoln Memorial
The Lincoln Memorial is an American memorial built to honor the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. It is located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The architect was Henry Bacon, the sculptor of the main statue was Daniel Chester French, and the painter of the interior...
and crossing the Potomac River
Potomac River
The Potomac River flows into the Chesapeake Bay, located along the mid-Atlantic coast of the United States. The river is approximately long, with a drainage area of about 14,700 square miles...
. However, many of the military units did not participate in the burial service and left just after crossing the Potomac. Because the line of cars taking the foreign dignitaries was long, the last cars carrying the dignitaries left St. Matthew's as the procession entered the cemetery. The burial services had already begun when the last car arrived.
At the end of the burial services, the widow lit an eternal flame
John F. Kennedy Eternal Flame
The John F. Kennedy Eternal Flame is a presidential memorial at the gravesite of U.S. President John F. Kennedy, in Arlington National Cemetery. The permanent site replaced a temporary grave and eternal flame used during President Kennedy's funeral on November 25, 1963. The site was designed by...
to burn continuously over his grave. At 3:34 p.m. EST, the casket containing his remains was lowered into the earth as "Kennedy slipped out of mortal sight—out of sight but not out of heart and mind." Kennedy thus became only the second president to be buried at Arlington, after Taft. He was buried at Arlington exactly two weeks to the day he last visited there, when he came for Veteran's Day observances.