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The emotions were genuine, the eulogies more than protocol. Richard Nixon, who emerged red-eyed from the hospital with his wife and daughter Tricia, praised his old mentor's "patriotism and statesmanship beyond party." Ike had at least lived to see his Republican protege in the White House, a long-held dream. Lyndon Johnson, who, while in office, consulted Eisenhower frequently, paid tribute to "this good man and noble leader." Once a bitterly outspoken foe, Harry Truman, now 84, remembered that before the two men were political opponents, they were "comrades in arms. And I cannot forget his services to his country and to Western civilization." Many others, like Truman, chose to remember Eisenhower not as the 34th President, whose stewardship may long be disputed, but as the "soldier of peace" who led the greatest alliance of armies the world has ever seen, or will likely see again.
Among the tributes from abroad, one of the most heartfelt was a message from Charles de Gaulle, the last of the towering figures of World War II. "For me," said De Gaulle, "I see disappear with great sadness a dear companion in arms and a friend." Despite his differences with the U.S., the French President was the first foreign head of state to announce that he would fly to Washington for the funeral. Scrawled in the book of condolences at the American embassy in Paris was a message from an unknown Frenchman: "To General Eisenhower, in deep homage also to those who fell on the beaches of Normandy. We shall never forget."
Nor will those who passed by the bier or watched the funeral procession on television. The arrangements had been meticulously laid down in 1966, then approved by Ike. The 54-page scenario for the funeral read like a battle plan, covering every detail from the pace of the funeral march (31 miles an hour) to the route and the points at which military bands were to play. After remaining at Washington's National Cathedral for 28 hours, the body was placed on a caisson Sunday afternoon and moved to the Capitol, where it lay in state on the same black-draped catafalque that supported the body of Abraham Lincoln. Eisenhower's casket was then returned to the cathedral for the funeral. After the benediction, everyone sang Onward Christian Soldiers.Monday evening, the coffin left Washington's Union Station, aboard a special train carrying only family and friends, for the 1,379-mile, 30-hour trip to Abilene, Kans., where Eisenhower grew up and where he chose to be buried.
Across Decades of Expansion
The journey could be measured better in years than in miles or hours. As the nine-car train rumbled through Appalachian passes, it would cross decades of U.S. expansion as well—the scarred hills of West Virginia, the black earth of Illinois, the railroad yards of St. Louis and Kansas City. When it reached the prairies of Abilene, it would arrive in another era. In spirit, if not in time, the contemporary chapel on the grounds of the Eisenhower Center where he will be buried was not so distant from the Abilene he knew as a youth.