Tradition Guides Presidents' Funerals
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
By CALVIN WOODWARD,
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON — The modern presidency operates as if by script, with carefully chosen crowds, painstakingly shaped words and backdrops picked for just the right effect.

As in life, so, too, in death.

The funeral of an ex-president follows rituals soaked in tradition and specified right down to the exact speed of a procession, 20 miles per hour. That doesn't mean one president's funeral is like another's _ far from it _ and Gerald Ford's may not have the full-throated grandeur of Ronald Reagan's in June 2004.

Planners are guided by the wishes of the family and any instructions from the president himself on how elaborate the events will be, how much of it takes place in Washington and more. Ford's collegial character and unassuming style in the White House are expected to be reflected in his presidential funeral arrangements, details of which have yet to be announced. the rest