On June 5, 2004, Ronald Reagan, the 40th president of the United States, died after having Alzheimer's disease for nearly a decade. Reagan was the first former U.S. president to die in 10 years since Richard Nixon in 1994. At the age of , Reagan was the longest-lived U.S. president in history at the time of his death, a record which was surpassed by Gerald Ford on November 12, 2006. His seven-day state funeral followed. After Reagan's death, his body was taken from his Bel Air home to the Kingsley and Gates Funeral Home in Santa Monica, California, to prepare the body for burial. On June 7, Reagan's casket was transported by hearse and displayed at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, then flown to Washington, D.C., on June 9 for a service, public viewing and tributes at the U.S. Capitol.
After lying in state for 34 hours in the Capitol rotunda, a state funeral service was conducted at the Washington National Cathedral on June 11, the day when President George W. Bush declared a national day of mourning. Later that day, after the service, Reagan's casket was transported back to California for interment at the Reagan Presidential Library. The state funeral was executed by the Military District of Washington (MDW). Reagan was the first former U.S. president to die in the 21st century.
Death
On the morning of June 5, 2004, there were reports that Reagan's health had significantly deteriorated, following nine years of Alzheimer's disease. According to Reagan's daughter, Patti Davis, "At the last moment, when his breathing told us this was it, he opened his eyes and looked straight at my mother. Eyes that hadn't opened for days did, and they weren't chalky or vague. They were clear and blue and full of love. If a death can be lovely, his was." His wife, former First Lady Nancy Reagan told him that the moment was "the greatest gift you could have given me." He died of pneumonia at his home, 668 St. Cloud Road, in the Bel-Air district of Los Angeles, at 1:09 PM PDT, at the age of 93.
President George W. Bush was in Paris when Reagan died and acknowledged the death in a press conference.
Bush's competitor for the 2004 presidential election, the Democratic nominee John Kerry, also commented on Reagan's death, saying "He was our oldest president . . . but he made America young again."
Various U.S. flags at the White House, across the United States, and around the world over official U.S. installations and operating locations, were ordered to be flown at half-staff for 30 days in a presidential proclamation by President Bush. In the announcement of Reagan's death, Bush also declared June 11 as a "National Day of Mourning."
Some of the early international tributes to Reagan included those of Queen Elizabeth II, former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, former Soviet Union Leader Mikhail Gorbachev (also attending the funeral), British Prime Minister Tony Blair, former Canadian Prime Ministers Brian Mulroney and Paul Martin, and French President Jacques Chirac. Martin advised Governor General Adrienne Clarkson to order all flags across Canada and at all Canadian diplomatic missions in the United States flown to half-staff on the 11th as well, in sympathy with the U.S.'s National Day of Mourning. In Germany, Chancellor Gerhard Schröder ordered German flags flown at half-staff above government buildings on the 11th as well.
Tributes and condolences were left at U.S. embassies and consulates overseas, as well as at places around the country significant to Reagan's life, including his presidential library, his birthplace in Tampico, Illinois, the funeral home where his body was taken after he died, and the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity house in Eureka, Illinois. The electronic signs at the Massachusetts Turnpike flashed the message "God Speed President Reagan."
After Reagan's death, campaigning for the ongoing 2004 United States elections was considered disrespectful during a time of mourning, and was suspended. The 2004 Canadian federal election was also to be held; Prime Minister and Liberal Party Leader Martin; Opposition Leader and Conservative Party leader Stephen Harper, and New Democratic Party Leader Jack Layton suspended their campaigns, citing respect for Reagan.
Funeral events
Reagan Library
On June 7, Reagan's body was removed from the funeral home and driven in a 20-mile-per-hour (32 km/h) motorcade, by hearse, to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley.