Following the death over the weekend of George Herbert Walker Bush, all five living presidents are set to attend Bush’s funeral Wednesday at the National Cathedral in Washington.
One of those presidents, Bush’s son George W. Bush, will deliver a eulogy at the service, as will former U.S. Senator Alan Simpson, former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, and author and historian Jon Meacham.
In addition, President Trump and the first lady will attend the funeral, as will former Presidents Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, and Jimmy Carter. Despite longstanding enmity between the current president and the Bush family, the Bushes reportedly asked that Trump attend the service. Children of former presidents Johnson, Nixon, and Ford will also attend.
According to CNN, among the thousands in attendance are expected to be several current and former foreign world leaders. These include former President Lech Walesa of Poland, former British Prime Minister John Major, former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, former Kuwaiti Prime Minister Nasser al-Mohammed al-Ahmed al-Sabah, and Prince Charles of Wales.
After Bush died Saturday at age 94, his body was brought to Washington where his casket lay in state at the U.S. Capitol starting on Monday. A motorcade will bring the casket to National Cathedral, where the funeral is set to begin at around 11 a.m.
Former President George H.W. Bush will be honored today with a state funeral that will be attended by current and former US presidents and world leaders.
The funeral is set to begin around 11:00 a.m. ET. Here's the full program and order of service: https://t.co/NQgLAZim19 pic.twitter.com/pfMdNlSZIW
— CNN (@CNN) December 5, 2018
On Wednesday afternoon, Bush’s casket will be flown back to Texas where the former president will be laid to rest Thursday at the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library at Texas A&M University in College Station. Bush will be buried next to former first lady Barbara Bush, who died in April, and their daughter Robin, who passed away in 1953 at age 4. The Bushes had six children in total, including the 43rd president, as well as former Florida governor and presidential candidate Jeb Bush.
A former soldier, member of Congress, Republican National Committee chairman, and director of the CIA, Bush served for eight years as Ronald Reagan’s vice president before he was elected to his lone term as president in 1988. Bush’s term was notable for the first Persian Gulf War as well as the Cold War coming to an end.
But an economic recession hurt the president’s popularity, and Bush lost the presidential election to Democrat Bill Clinton in 1992. Bush and Clinton later became close friends after leaving office, and the two men joined forces to raise funds after Hurricane Katrina and other tragedies.
At 94 years, Bush lived the longest of any U.S. president.