GREENSBORO, N.C. — For presidents and former presidents, the honor of lying in state is automatic, but not all those entitled to the honor have it accepted by their families.
Architect of the Capitol defines lying in state as reserved for those who are "government officials and military officers." Former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell was a four-star general.
His family, just as others before, have the right to say yes they want their loved one to Lie In State, or not, then the U.S. Congress approves it.
Powell, who served Democratic and Republican presidents in war and peace, but whose sterling reputation was forever stained when he went before the U.N. and made faulty claims to justify the U.S. war in Iraq, died Monday morning of COVID-19 complications. He was 84.
While Powell's family said he was fully vaccinated for COVID-19, a longtime aide confirmed he also had multiple myeloma, which is a type of blood cancer that hurts the body's ability to fight infections. Patients with multiple myeloma are considered to be at higher risk for COVID-19.
In our history, this tribute has been given to 12 presidents from Abraham Lincoln to George HW Bush. It's also gone to members of Congress, military commanders, and other notable figures such as Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who by the way, was the first woman to lie in state.
While lying in state is for those who served our country or were in office, lying in honor is reserved for private citizens. The most recent, Capitol Police Officer Sicknick was the fifth person to receive this honor.
Before him, was a minister and North Carolina’s own son, Billy Graham, Civil Rights icon Rosa Parks and two other Capitol Police Officers who were killed in the line of duty in 1998 when a gunman opened fire at the Capitol.