Lincoln catafalque

The Lincoln catafalque on display (2007)

TheLincoln catafalqueis acatafalqueconstructed in 1865 to support thecasketofAbraham Lincolnwhile the president's bodylay in statein theCapitol rotundainWashington, D.C.The catafalque has since been used for many who have lain in state in the Capitol rotunda.

No law, written rule, or regulation specifies who may lie in state; use of the Capitol rotunda is controlled by concurrent action of the House and Senate. Any person who has rendered distinguished service to the nation may lie in state if the family so wishes andCongressapproves. In the case of unknown soldiers, the president or the appropriate branch of thearmed forcesinitiates the action.

A ceremonialHonor Guardprepares to move the flag-draped casket of former PresidentRonald Reaganduring hisstate funeralin the Capitol rotunda

Senatorsandrepresentativeshave lain in state on the catafalque elsewhere in the Capitol. An example of this was when the catafalque was used for the six hours that SenatorRobert C. Byrdlay in repose on the Senate floor on July 1, 2010. The catafalque has also been used nine times in theSupreme Courtbuilding, for the lying in state of formerChief JusticeEarl Warrenon July 11–12, 1974; former JusticeThurgood Marshall,January 27, 1993; former Chief JusticeWarren E. Burger,June 28, 1995; former JusticeWilliam J. Brennan Jr.,July 28, 1997; JusticeHarry A. Blackmun,March 8, 1999, Chief JusticeWilliam H. Rehnquiston September 6–7, 2005, JusticeAntonin Scaliaon February 19, 2016, JusticeJohn Paul Stevens,July 22, 2019, and JusticeRuth Bader Ginsburgon September 23-24, 2020. In addition, it was used in theDepartment of Commercebuilding on April 9–10, 1996, for the lying in state ofSecretary of CommerceRonald H. Brown.

The catafalque being moved into the rotunda forDaniel Inouye's lying in state

The catafalque is a simplebierof rough pine boards nailed together and covered with black cloth. Although the base and platform have occasionally been altered to accommodate the larger size of modern coffins and for the ease of the attending military personnel, it is basically the same today as it was in Lincoln's time. Presently the catafalque measures 7 feet 1 inch (216 cm) long, 2 feet 6 inches (76 cm) wide, and 2 feet (61 cm) high. The attached base is 8 feet 10 inches (269 cm) long,4 feet3+1⁄2inches (130.8 cm) wide, and 2 inches (5.1 cm) high. The platform is 11 feet 1 inch (338 cm) long, 6 feet (180 cm) wide, and9+1⁄4inches (23 cm) high. Although the cloth covering the catafalque has been replaced several times, the style of the drapery is similar to that used in 1865.

When not in use, the catafalque was previously kept in an area calledWashington's Tombin the crypt of theUnited States Capitol,which was intended as the final resting place forGeorge Washington,the firstPresident of the United States,but never used for that purpose. The catafalque is now displayed in the Exhibition Hall of theCapitol Visitor Center.

A list of those who have lain on the catafalque:

• Abraham Lincoln(April 19–21, 1865)
• Thaddeus Stevens(August 13–14, 1868)
• Charles Sumner(March 13, 1874)
• Henry Wilson(November 25–26, 1875)
• James A. Garfield(September 21–23, 1881)
• John Alexander Logan(December 30–31, 1886)
• William McKinley(September 17, 1901)
• Pierre Charles L'Enfant(April 28, 1909)reinterment
• George Dewey(January 20, 1917)
• Unknown SoldierofWorld War I(November 9–11, 1921)
• Warren G. Harding(August 8, 1923)
• William Howard Taft(March 11, 1930)
• John Joseph Pershing(July 18–19, 1948)
• Robert Alphonso Taft(August 2–3, 1953)
• Unknown SoldiersofWorld War IIand theKorean War(May 28–30, 1958)
• John F. Kennedy(November 24–25, 1963)
• Douglas MacArthur(April 8–9, 1964)
• Herbert Hoover(October 23–25, 1964)
• Dwight D. Eisenhower(March 30–31, 1969)
• Everett McKinley Dirksen(September 9–10, 1969)
• J. Edgar Hoover(May 3–4, 1972)
• Lyndon B. Johnson(January 24–25, 1973)
• Hubert Humphrey(January 14–15, 1978)
• Unknown SoldierofVietnamEra, later identified asMichael J. Blassie(May 25–28, 1984)
• Claude Denson Pepper(June 1–2, 1989)
• Thurgood Marshall(January 27, 1993)
• Ronald Reagan(June 9–11, 2004)
• William Rehnquist(September 6–7, 2005)
• Gerald Ford(December 30, 2006–January 2, 2007)
• Robert C. Byrd(July 1, 2010)
• Daniel Inouye(December 19–20, 2012)
• Frank Lautenberg(June 6, 2013)
• Antonin Scalia(February 19, 2016)
• John McCain(August 31, 2018)
• George H. W. Bush(December 3–5, 2018)
• John Paul Stevens(July 22, 2019)
• Elijah Cummings(October 25, 2019)
• John Lewis(July 27, 2020)
• Ruth Bader Ginsburg(September 23–25, 2020)^[1]
• William Evans(April 13, 2021)
• Bob Dole(December 9, 2021)
• Sandra Day O'Connor(December 18, 2023)

See also

• State funerals in the United States

Notes

1.^JusticeRuth Bader Ginsburghad lain on the steps of theSupreme Court of the United Stateson September 23 and 24, 2020, and inside theUnited States Capitolon September 25, 2020, in theNational Statuary Hall.

Sources

• This article incorporatespublic domain materialfrom websites or documents of theUnited States Government.
• "Catafalque".Architect of the Capitol. Retrieved on May 20, 2023.