Fast Facts
The modern House Chamber may only be used for legislative functions, conference meetings, and caucus meetings unless the House agrees to take part in a ceremony. Earlier in House history, however, the Chamber also served as a place to memorialize Representatives who died in office. Since 1820, the House Chamber has hosted 32 funerals for sitting Members.
More >Individuals Who Have Lain in State or in Honor
Since Henry Clay in 1852, the U.S. Capitol has been used as a place to pay tribute to the Nation’s most distinguished citizens. Made available for public viewing in the Capitol, persons who have “lain in state” traditionally have been American officials, judges, and military leaders, including 12 U.S. Presidents. In 1998, to recognize two Capitol Police officers who died in the line of duty, Congress granted use of the Rotunda for their caskets to “lie in honor.” In 2020, Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg lay in state in the National Statuary Hall.- See also information on Funerals in the House Chamber.
Individuals Who Have Lain in State in National Statuary Hall
Individual | Office | Lay in State | Authority/Resolution |
---|---|---|---|
Donald Edwin Young | Representative | March 29, 2022 | NA |
Ruth Bader Ginsburg | Associate Justice of the Supreme Court | September 25, 2020 | NA |
Elijah Cummings | Representative | October 24, 2019 | NA |
Individuals Who Have Lain in State in the Capitol Rotunda
Individual | Office | Lay in State | Authority/Resolution |
---|---|---|---|
Harry Reid | Capitol Police Officer, Representative, Senator | January 12, 2022 | S. Con. Res. 25, 117th Congress, 2nd Session |
Robert Joseph Dole | Representative, Senator | December 9–10, 2021 | H. Con. Res. 63, 117th Congress, 1st Session |
John R. Lewis | Representative | July 27–28, 2020 | H. Con. Res. 105, 116th Congress, 2nd Session |
George H.W. Bush | Representative, CIA Director, Vice President, President | December 3–5, 2018 | S. Con. Res. 5, 115th Congress, 2nd Session |
John McCain | Representative, Senator | August 31, 2018 | S. Con. Res. 44, 115th Congress, 2nd Session |
Daniel K. Inouye | Representative, Senator | December 20, 2012 | S. Con. Res. 64, 112th Congress, 2nd Session |
Gerald R. Ford | Representative, Vice President, President | December 30, 2006–January 2, 2007 | NA |
Ronald Reagan | Governor, President | June 9–11, 2004 | S. Con. Res. 115, 108th Congress, 2nd Session |
Claude Denson Pepper | Senator, Representative | June 1–2, 1989 | H. Con. Res. 139, 101st Congress, 1st Session |
Unknown Soldier of the Vietnam Conflict | U.S. Soldier | May 25–28, 1984 | H. Con. Res. 296, 98th Congress, 2nd Session |
Hubert H. Humphrey | Senator, Vice President | January 14–15, 1978 | S. Res. 350 |
Lyndon Baines Johnson | Representative, Senator, Vice President, President | January 24–25, 1973 | H. Con. Res. 90, 93rd Congress, 1st Session |
J. Edgar Hoover | FBI Director | May 3–4, 1972 | H. Con. Res. 600, 92nd Congress, 2nd Session |
Everett McKinley Dirksen | Representative, Senator | September 9–10, 1969 | S. Res. 254, 91st Congress, 1st Session |
Dwight D. Eisenhower | General of the U.S. Army, President | March 30–31, 1969 | NA |
Herbert Clark Hoover | Cabinet Secretary, President | October 23–25, 1964 | NA |
Douglas MacArthur | General of the U.S. Army | April 8–9, 1964 | S. Con. Res. 74, 88th Congress, 2nd Session |
John F. Kennedy | Representative, Senator, President | November 24–25, 1963 | NA |
Unknown Soldiers of World War II and the Korean War | U.S. Soldiers | May 28–30, 1958 | H. Con. Res. 242, 85th Congress, 2nd Session |
Robert A. Taft | Senator | August 2–3, 1953 | S. Res. 158, 83rd Congress, 1st Session |
John Joseph Pershing | General of U.S. Armies | July 18-19, 1948 | NA |
William Howard Taft | President, Chief Justice of Supreme Court | March 11, 1930 | NA |
Warren G. Harding | Senator, President | August 8, 1923 | NA |
Unknown Soldier of World War I | U.S. Soldier | November 9–11, 1921 | NA |
George Dewey | U.S. Navy Admiral | January 20, 1917 | H. Con. Res. 68, 64th Congress, 2nd Session |
Pierre Charles L'Enfant | Planner, Architect | April 28, 1909 | S. Con. Res. 2, 61st Congress, 1st Session |
William McKinley, Jr. | Representative, Governor, President | September 17, 1901 | NA |
John A. Logan | Representative, Senator | December 30–31, 1886 | NA |
James Abram Garfield | Representative, President | September 21–23, 1881 | NA |
Henry Wilson | Senator, Vice President | November 25–26, 1875 | NA |
Charles Sumner | Senator | March 13, 1874 | NA |
Thaddeus Stevens | Representative | August 13–14, 1868 | NA |
Abraham Lincoln | Representative, President of the United States | April 19–21, 1865 | NA |
Henry Clay | Representative, Speaker of the House, Senator | July 1, 1852 | NA |
Individuals Who Have Lain in Honor in the Capitol Rotunda
Individual | Occupation | Lay in Honor | Authority/Resolution |
---|---|---|---|
Hershel Woodrow “Woody” Williams | World War II Veteran, Medal of Honor Recipient | July 14, 2022 | S. Con. Res. 42, 117th Congress, 2nd Session |
Officer William F. Evans | Capitol Police Officer | April 13, 2021 | H. Con. Res. 27, 117th Congress, 1st Session |
Officer Brian D. Sicknick | Capitol Police Officer | February 2–3, 2021 | H. Con. Res. 10, 117th Congress, 1st Session |
Reverend Billy Graham | Minister | February 28-March 1, 2018 | H. Con. Res. 107, 115th Congress, 1st Session |
Rosa Parks | Civil Rights Leader | October 30-31, 2005 | S. Con. Res. 61, 109th Congress, 1st Session |
Officer Jacob J. Chestnut, Jr. | Capitol Police Officer | July 28, 1998 | H. Cons. Res. 310, 105th Congress, 2nd Session |
Detective John M. Gibson | Capitol Police Officer | July 28, 1998 | H. Con. Res. 310, 105th Congress, 2nd Session |
Oral History Recollections from the Lying-in-State Ceremony for President John F. Kennedy (1917–1963)
Part 1
George W. Andrews III, Page, U.S. House of Representatives, and Son of Representatives George and Elizabeth Andrews of Alabama Transcript (PDF)
Part 2
George W. Andrews III, Page, U.S. House of Representatives, and Son of Representatives George and Elizabeth Andrews of Alabama Transcript (PDF)