A Dec. 31 article incorrectly said that former defense secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld was present as an honorary pallbearer when former president Gerald R. Ford's casket arrived in Washington to lie in state. Rumsfeld was not there^ , because his plane had been ^ was delayed.
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A Solemn Homecoming
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The cortege moved along Constitution Avenue and just before 7 p.m. wheeled slowly around a corner into the Capitol plaza, which was illuminated by floodlights.
American flags on the front fenders of the hearse barely fluttered in the evening stillness, as the hearse pulled up in front of the broad stone steps leading up to the House chamber. In two lines, flanking the path of the coffin, stood dignitaries and celebrated figures from Ford's past.
After cannon volleyed again in salute, Ford's casket was carried slowly up the steps to the House portico. At 7:43 p.m., with the coffin on the Lincoln bier, in the Rotunda, beneath the dome, the service began.
Ford joins a list of presidents who have lain in state beneath the Rotunda. It includes Reagan, Dwight D. Eisenhower, William H. Taft, Warren G. Harding, William McKinley Jr., James A. Garfield and Herbert Hoover.
Last night, after leaving the Rotunda, Joris Nieuwint, 28, from the Netherlands described the scene as impressive.
"It was very stately -- a huge room with a very big casket with a U.S. flag around it," he said. His wife, Dorien, 26, said people in line had been complaining about the cold while waiting. "Once you got in the room," she said, "everything was forgotten. Everyone was silent and respectful."
Staff writers Hamil R. Harris, Jerry Markon, Philip Rucker, Mary Beth Sheridan, Valerie Strauss, Martin Weil, Eric M. Weiss, Clarence Williams and Joshua Zumbrun contributed to this report.
