Sitting presidents lay in repose in the East Room, rather than in the Rotunda.

You are right about Bush having plans already made, it is a requirement that presidents have funeral plans on file with the MDW, however, those plans are subject to change at the president’s whim.

You are probably quite right about Reagan, too. It would have been a much decried affair if he hadn’t been given the send-off he was. Carter probably will - hopefully will - have an understated funeral as well; in fact because of his legacy he may not lay in state at all.

With Ford, well, after the service at the Cathedral, the media kinda just let it drop. One could say that’s because today was the opening of the new Congress, but there was no coverage of that, either. Instead, it was the regular diet of daytime TV. Some would say that Reagan’s got so much attention because it was during the lull of the summer, which is notoriously slow for news, and that could be some to do with it. But the truth is, the “liberal media” have long been as fascinated with Reagan as the legions of loyal neo-cons he spawned. Had this level of coverage been given Reagan, we would have certainly heard about it from the likes of Limbaugh, Hannity or Savage.

I expect that Carter’s funeral will be of a similar understated elegance. It would befit the man in much the way this funeral befit Ford. In fact, I think that Carter would be embarassed if the government laid out much extravagance to bury him, rather than spending it on the underprivileged that he’s worked so hard for since his presidency ended. And I expect much of the coverage to focus on Carter’s failures as a president; the Iran Hostage Crisis, his inability to bring inflation to heal, the gasoline queues and rationing. Who would care about something as inconsequential as the Camp David Accords?

Bush pere will likely have a more modest memorial, as well. Again, it befits the man in question. Say what you will about his policies, but he was not extravagant or showy. The coverage, though, will likely be more in line with that of Reagan than with that of Ford.

But I think that both of the other funerals will be full of pomp and bluster. Clinton and Bush fils are both a bit more about the image and the trappings. I fully expect that Dubya’s plans (which, from my understanding, would already be on file) would probably be designed for many opportunities to deify him. The “liberal media” will probably remind us of his “everyman” affability.

I can only imagine what future presidents may seek for themselves. Perhaps they will take a cue from Ford. It’s difficult to say for sure. I was only about 18 months old when we had Ike and LBJ die within months of one another. I was only about 7 or 8 when Nelson Rockefeller, the recently out-of-office VP of Ford’s, died, and I don’t think there was much pomp for his funeral. Humphrey and Agnew seemed to pass with little public notice. So it does seem that VP’s don’t get the state funeral treatment, if that’s the highest office they’ve attained.

Personally, I wish I didn’t feel that the cult of personality that has come to be built up around our presidents now would automatically lead to the sort of funeral Reagan had. And I know that the neo-cons felt Reagan deserved something along the lines of Kennedy, and yet it wasn’t like that. But Kennedy was a sitting president, and there is much that comes with that. And even then, they don’t always match up to Kennedy’s. Lincoln’s may be the only one that comes close.