State funeral held for U.S. President Warren G. Harding in Capitol rotunda 100 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Aug 8 1923)


Video: 'Warren G. Harding: America's 29th President' (Aug. 8, 1923, at 8:56)

(Wednesday, August 8, 1923; the caison bearing Harding’s body arrived on the Capitol plaza at 11:21 a.m. EDT, ceremonies were completed by noon)Warren G. Harding, the 29th U.S. President who died of a heart attack on Aug. 2, 1923, while in office, was honored today by a state funeral inside the Capitol rotunda in Washington, D.C.

Harding’s coffin was mounted on the caisson after lying in state in the East Room at the White House and taken in a long and somber procession to the Capitol where the funeral service was held before the Congress, the Cabinet, and a group of invited dignitaries.

At the conclusion of the service, the public was admitted to the rotunda to view the silvery metal coffin resting on the same catafalque used for President Lincoln. It was adorned with a flag and a spread eagle made with red, white, and blue flowers that had been designed by Florence Harding.

Later this afternoon, the funeral train would depart for Marion, Ohio, where a final funeral service would be held on August 10, 1923.

Harding’s body was placed in a temporary vault until 1927 when it was moved to the newly constructed Harding Memorial dedicated by President Herbert Hoover in 1931.