Posted on 06/28/2010 1:05:11 PM PDT by Second Amendment First
Sen. Robert Byrd may join Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy among historic figures who have lain in state in the Capitol Rotunda — an honor only bestowed upon 28 other Americans over the past 160 years.
Senate leaders are likely to make a request for Byrd to lie in state, aides said Monday, but they are still awaiting approval from Byrd’s family to go ahead with a formal resolution that would allow Byrd’s casket to rest under the dome for a public viewing.
With a career that spanned nearly 58 years and ranked him as the longest-serving member in congressional history, Byrd has likely earned the consideration.
In 2006, Gerald Ford was the most recent political figure to lie in state in the Capitol, and he was preceded by Ronald Reagan, whose casket was visited by thousands over three days in June 2004. The caskets are draped with an American flag, and rest upon the same wooden catafalque — a raised platform — constructed for Lincoln’s state funeral.
Presidents James Garfield, William McKinley, Warren G. Harding, William Howard Taft, Herbert Hoover, Dwight Eisenhower, Lyndon Johnson and were also honored in the political hallowed space.
In 1865, Henry Clay was the first to be honored in the Rotunda after serving five consecutive terms in the House, including service as Speaker.
Other big names bestowed the state honor include Spanish-American War hero George Dewey and architect Pierre Charles L'Enfant.
Three non-political figures have lain in honor, which is different from laying in state: civil rights activist Rosa Parks and the U.S. Capitol Police officers, Jacob Joseph Chestnut and John Michael Gibson, who were killed during an attack on the Capitol in 1998.
Typically, a concurrent resolution from both the Senate and the House must be passed granting permission for the Rotunda space to be used, but the process is usually given top priority, according to the Office of the House Historian.
Less than four days after Reagan died on June 5, 2004, both the Senate and House cleared a resolution, and the President was already lying in state.
The House is expected to introduce a separate resolution honoring Byrd’s service in Congress and flags at both the Capitol and White House flew at half mast today.
In the past, Congress has sometimes granted the honor without issuing a resolution, with authority being granted solely by the House Speaker and Senate Majority Leader. The option is usually used when Congress is out of session or unavailable to vote on the use of the rotunda.
The irony occurred to me as I wrote it.
He is a democrat...he lies in state, out of state, he lies all the time...he is a democrat. Good riddance to this repugnant pig democrat.
I’m all for it as long as they put a burning cross behind the coffin.
i think we can take judicial notice of the fact that he has long since assumed room temp, considering he passed at 3 am ; )
Sorry...I keep having a problem with my computer...It keeps earasing words.
“Let him lie there for at least months and more.”
Let him lie there for at least 6 months and more is what I orginally said but the “6” (months) was erased.
Sorry.
Harry Reid may stop complaining about the tourists stinking up the joint if he’s there that long.
The Obama rotting stench is right up there too.
Well, he lied for half a century in public service....might as well keep the status quo in death also.
Will the folks described by Byrd as “white N#ggers” be allowed to view his body? He was kind of the Pre-Biden, wasn’t he?
Thanks Second Amendment First.
Bringing him into the senate for one more vote.
Robert Byrd, the last of the Dixiecrats. Liberals like to pretend that “All the Dixiecrats became Republicans.” That is a lie, pure and simple. Only one, Strom Thurmond, converted to the Republican party. Here are the other Dixiecrat congressmen.
Harry F. Bird D(VA), who became an independent, but continued to caucus with the Democrats. Retired in ‘83.
Absalom Willis Robertson D(VA), DIO ‘66 a Democrat. Father of Pat Robertson.
John C. Stennis D(MI), retired in ‘89, still a Democrat.
James Eastland D(MI), retired in ‘78, still a Democrat.
Allen J. Ellender D(LA), retired in ‘72, still a Democrat.
Russell B. Long D(LA), retired in ‘87, still a Democrat.
J. Lister Hill D(AL), retired in ‘69, still a Democrat.
John Sparkman D(AL), retired in ‘79, still a Democrat.
Spessard Holland D(FL), retired in ‘71, still a Democrat.
George Smathers D(FL), retired in ‘69, still a Democrat.
John Little McClellan D(AR), DIO ‘77, still a Democrat.
Richard Russell, Jr. D(GA), DIO ‘71, still a Democrat.
Herman Talmadge D(GA), retired in ‘81, still a Democrat.
Robert Byrd D(WV), DIO ‘10, still a Democrat.
Dañada. It gets harder to tell satire from reality anymore.
Interesting, I’ve never seen that information before. Thanks.
No, as Grand Kleagle and also Exalted Cyclops of his local Klan Klavern, he's entitled to something somewhat fancier.
Thanks!
“Poster Boy for Term Limits.”
AMEN!!!
In the Robert C Byrd Memorial Cemetery, where else? ;)
I doubt there is anything left to name after him in WV unless it’s a cemetery.
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