Posted on 06/10/2004 5:28:21 PM PDT by MadIvan
Lady Thatcher and Nancy Reagan held an emotional reunion in Washington yesterday on the eve of the state funeral for the 40th president.
As the city filled with more than 1,000 world leaders and dignitaries, Mrs Reagan made time to invite her husband's old friend and ally to tea at the presidential guesthouse, Blair House, across Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House.
Earlier, Lady Thatcher visited the US Capitol Rotunda where President Reagan's body is lying in state, laying her hand briefly on the flag-draped mahogany coffin.
It was one of many moving, even painful, scenes when high pageantry collided with personal grief, as the former president's closest friends and admirers joined throngs of ordinary Americans paying their respects.
The mood in the Rotunda switched back and forth between sombre mourning and something approaching tourist gawping, as some 5,000 visitors an hour filed past the coffin, lying in state on a simple pine and black cloth bier first used for the coffin of Abraham Lincoln in 1865.
Boy scouts in khaki shorts and neckerchiefs queued with office workers as they waited patiently to pay their respects. Anticipating the huge queues, many left home in the early hours to join the stream of mourners.
Susan Frays, from Waldorf, Maryland, and her three sons queued for almost three hours. "Getting them up this morning was hard, but I think they'll look back on it as something they'll remember," she said.
Lady Thatcher will deliver a taped eulogy at today's service. She is also expected to be one of a small group of friends who will attend Mr Reagan's burial at sunset tonight in the grounds of the Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California.
Mrs Reagan's frail, bird-like figure accompanied her late husband to the Capitol late on Wednesday, after a ceremonial procession on a gun carriage drawn by six black horses through the heart of Washington.
Republican leaders, headed by the vice-president, Dick Cheney, offered tributes as the casket was carried into the high-domed Rotunda by a military honour guard. Mr Cheney called the late president a "graceful and gallant man".
After the speeches, Mr Cheney escorted Mrs Reagan to the coffin to take her leave. She ran her hand along the top, smoothing down the Stars and Stripes several times and murmuring a prayer or farewell to her husband as she struggled to retain her composure.
For a moment, she appeared oblivious to the packed ranks of the nation's ruling elite, her friends and family or the relentless gaze of the television cameras carrying live images to millions. Mrs Reagan looked small and alone, a reminder that a state funeral is, for all its pomp, still a funeral. As the public queued for hours outside the Capitol in muggy, 84F heat, watched by thousands of police, the city prepared for the funeral service at the Washington National Cathedral.
The list of foreign leaders and retired statesmen due to attend the service extended beyond protocol, recalling the central events of Mr Reagan's time in office, and brushing up against modern-day diplomatic tensions. The cathedral is expected to welcome the former Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, and the former Polish president and Solidarity leader, Lech Walesa.
The modern-day leaders of Romania, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Lithuania will attend, as will Hamid Karzai, president of Afghanistan - the scene of bitter covert struggles with the Soviet Union during the Reagan era. The governor general of Grenada, the Caribbean island invaded on Mr Reagan's orders, to block a pro-Communist coup, is also due.
President Jacques Chirac of France triggered sharp questions in Washington by declining to fly the short distance to the capital from Sea Island, Georgia, where he was attending the G8 summit.
French officials said Mr Chirac had pressing business in Paris and felt it was more appropriate for his predecessor, Valerie Giscard d'Estaing, to attend, with the serving French foreign minister, Michel Barnier. However, other leaders at the summit rearranged their schedules, including Tony Blair; Gerhard Schroder, the German chancellor; Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish prime minister; and Thabo Mbeki, the South African president.
The British contingent will be led by the Prince of Wales, representing the Queen, accompanied by Mr and Mrs Blair and Lady Thatcher. Her seven-minute eulogy was recorded on video in February, on doctors' advice, to avoid the strain of delivering a live address.
Amen; it should have read: "thongs of ordinary Americans..."
I'll have to tape everything tomorrow. I have to miss it :(. It will be like watching all my old civics classes concluding. All the characters of the 80's will be there. They were the ones to teach people of my generation what it meant to be a leader.
"When Chirac dies the US can send Michael Moore."
I was one of the 'thousands of ordinary Americans paying tribute'. I got in line at 11pm, which is good because they cut the line off at 3am. I finally got into the Capitol at 5:45 AM. The wait was tiring and made my feet sore but not that bad because I got some nice views in of the Washington monument and the Capitol building, also the entire huge crowd was very polite and well mannered. It was dark most of the wait so the heat wasn't a problem. I finally got to view the casket and the surrounding things and military honor guard. The military only had ceremonial guns but the DC Capitol police outside had modern assault rifles and were loaded up with several extra clips. I also got to sign the condolence book and thank President Reagan for all the things he did. I think he was by far the best President of the 20th century and it may be a long time before we have a President like that again if ever. The wait was definately worth it, it was small compared to the things Reagan did for America.
Hey! Jerry Lewis can't live forever.
LOL Poor Jerry Lewis, he's not responsible for those smelly French weenies liking him. After all, a broken clock is correct twice a day! (I love Jerry Lewis, and just couldn't help myself. I always hoped he'd get the girl... Must be I'm attracted to comedy, I love Bill Murray too ;)
Oh I'm big time onto Bill Murray. But I'd have to say Gene Wilder in his prime topped my list.
I love Bill in that new film set in Japan...can't remember the name. Used to live in Asia and I felt homesick and excited at the same time while watching. He is really stiff in love scenes though... But it fit the storyline.
Lost In Translation. Haven't seen it yet, but I'm looking forward to it.
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