President john adams ultimately lost to Vice PresidentThomas Jefferson. While the transfer of power was ultimately peaceful, adams did forgo his successors inauguration. I think that has also happened d another time or two. They remained at odds for many, many years. Itit was only later during their retirement did they actually rekindle their friendship. Discussing many different topics in their correspondence including the topic of death. Adams actually wrote to jefferson in 1822 these words quote i answer your question is death and evil . It is not an evil it is a blessing to the individual and to the world. Yet we ought not to wish fort to life becomes insupportable. He was 86 years old when he wrote this note. Perhaps adams had become comfortable with the idea of leaving the world. But it was four years later that both men adams and jefferson passed away on the same exact day july 4, 1826. While he was not present when his father died John Quincy Adams later recorded his fathers last words three very poignant words Thomas Jefferson survives. He had no way of knowing jefferson had died in the very same day. As americans then gathered across the country to honor the 50th anniversary of the declaration of independence news of adams and jeffersons passing spread. What had begun as a mop up celebration was now one of morning and commemoration. The citizens began to listen to eulogy speeches and tributes in churches, government buildings and public spaces. Whileir jefferson and adams had their own opinions on how they should be remembered it would be up to those living in 1826 in successive generations eat up and until now to define and to shape their memory. While, president ial sitequ suchs ours are frequently called upon to discuss the legacies of people who have held the highest office in our country. And one way, one very important way and iconic way we know these men will eventually die. It is how that death is marked and remembered that it becomes very important. W our next panel will provide wonderful and different perspectives on this process. Plan to president ial funeral one is a historian and the other overseas president ial site defined by traffic tragedy. These three participants will grieve greater insight and how these rituals and how these events changed over time and how we what she is moments like this to better understand the relationship as well as how president ial morning politics, and culture our moderator for this session is giant high bushh executive director of the Ronald Reagan president ial foundation and institute. Take a moment of personal privilege of the approach of working for and with john for several years and planning the reagan centennial. And he was a great friend. A great leader. And it certainly has been extraordinary in transforming the work of the Reagan Foundation and preserving and continuing todvance the legacy of our 40th president of the United States. So congratulations john for your great achievement. [applause] joining john onstage are my friend jean becker former chief of staff to president george h debbie bush and first lady barbara bush. Lewis by his storied board trustee for the cleveland birthplace memorialso associatin and author of grants tomb the epic death of Ulysses S Grant and the making of an american pantheon. Executive director of the sixstory museum daily plaza, thank you for welcoming so many of our guests the other days are wonderful museum. Please welcome us and our panel as we continue the market mornings program. [applause] thank you so much, stuart. As stuart mentioned he and i have had the chance to work in the past, both at the red cross and stuart was just an absolute remarkable head of the reagan centennial in 2011. He saved me from one disaster and another. Or at the reagan library. Its wonderful to be with you all this morning. I had a little trepidation when stuart told me what he wanted to discuss with the panel wasnt death and destruction and tragedy. And i thought okay this will be quite a challenge. When i saw who were panels were this morning, were going to learn a lot. For all americans. I did a little bit of homework im not a g good mathematician. On theop very topic of president ial funerals,io assassination, morning and the like. So math today we have six living president s today including our current president in the white house. Theyve died in the whiteness of various national causes. Eight president s died while in office. Four of those assassinated. You can depending upon the circumstances very, very different which in respect to america and morning particularly on that particular president. These experts have studied just about every one of them. Ns i think we know today a lot of difficulty unifying comingju together on just about anything. But when you experience, when you plan, when you study the death of United States president , we find some these very rare moments where americans actually come together as a people to mourn. Whether its the incredible shock of the assassination of a president or the natural passing of a president. The morning is there. I read one of the papers talked about how the quotes is no greater shock for the country than the passing of a president. And i remember that for example probably one of the elder statesman here today. Our member the passing of john f. Kennedy. I was amiri five years old but it is very first memory i have as a young boy. I remember i was living in arlington, virginia i saw heard this thunderous noise outside of our home. Iran out into our backyard. Overhead with the jets that were flying with the missing man formation. And then iran downstairs to our big black and White Television sets to see those very same jets on television. I thought a lot about it. Standing up on our panelists, what you will find is that president ial funerals president ial morning is all about processions. Write a list horses, teams of six white horses. In the modern Day Television or road block coverage across all the networks. President ial library burials. I would like to start with the a show of hands. Can everyone who is fully planned and executed, involved in president ial funerals please raise your hand . [laughter] you are setting me up. [laughter] i am. Now, everyone who has been to a president ial funeral. One of the events are watched one on tv raise your hand. Okay theres a lot more of the second than the first. I would like us to start out by talking with someone whos done it all. Jean becker. Jean, take us behind the scenes of what it is like to plan and involve yourself in a fullblown modern day president ial funeral . It is complete chaos. What you see on tv i hope looks really organize a very together. It is chaos. It is a process that goes on for years and years. M i decide the best way to answer your question im not here to promote my book but my editor would want me too show this. The last chapter is called the long journey home. And im just going to read something i put in the book. Talk about planning the funeral this is before president bush died. One day on i had worked all day on the funeral i came home to houseguests who were ready to do his thing fun for the evening. I was exhausted and a little frustrated that some of the problems i knew i hadwa to solve it. All i wanted to do is drink a bottle of wine and collapse. One of my friends was not amused with major attitude she said i dont understand what the big deal is . You have been planning this fina for years. How is that youre not done yet . What is the big deal . My answer, i had a lot of attitude. Just imagine youre in charge of the event that will take place over six days and three maybe four if he died in maine it wouldve been for, different cities and about the cast of thousands including president s, kings and queens and members of a very large family that live all over the United States who need to be moved from where they live to houston, to washington, back to houston, two collegees statement back to their own homes. All of which will be carried live on Television Morning noon and night for six days. And you have no idea when is going to happen. Then, when it does happen you have about 48 hours before it all begins to pull it all together before the show begins, again alive on television for the next sixyo days. You wont sleep, he wont eat, you wont really think you will just do. My friend never asked that question again. [laughter] on some of the dumbest fights i ever had was a man who was in charge of the super bowl. We had a fight about whose job is harder. I said you know when the super bowl is. And he said, i know youre going to agree with me since but teams until two weeks out. You know whos going to die. [laughter] because seriously . Jean and i have a very close mutualal friend. What she works at the Reagan Foundation library. One of t the very first things that she showed to me when i took on this job was a three ring binder. About this thick about 6 inches thick. It was the plan the staff put together for president reagans funeral. I know of what you talk about and mrs. Reagans was just as thick. Could i just added quickly after president reagan died,an after president ford died, after nancy reagan died, all joanne wrote long memos too me. President fort greg willard wrote me a long memo. They became my bible of how to do a funeral. It saved my life. And i did the same for the staff and president bush 43, obama, clinton and carter. I wrote a long memo what went right, what went wrong and we can talk about later some of those big challenges. In a moment well talk about the sharing of those. But this is one of the best laid plans of mice and. I want to put a photo up and ask jean to comment, here we go. The unexpected moments in here is just one. On the bt unexpected moments. Many of you will remember presidt bob dole or bit rivals they had a nasty 81988 republican primary contest. Both said some things that prably wish they had not said. They became huge frien. And when senatorhi dole this isn president bush was lying in state in the rotunda. He insisted on standing. And saluting the casket. He is in a wheelchair now. I had an opportunity to ask him why he did this . Whyy he insisted on standing . And i cannot tell you the answer without crying. He said i had to stand and tell salute that great man. This was for the big pictures of the funeral that went viral. It was such a wonderful moment. Why some spectacle . Undulant passes at some time or another. But why the pomp and circumstance . What is the history behind it . Thats a good question is something that is build up over time. Hes hinting all these plans going into six days of the funeral, going back to the beginning with George Washington of the very first president ial funeral in 1799 is to show how far we have come. George washington in his will ask for no funeral or oration but he did not want any funeral. And one of the reasons i surmise is that washington had such a strong sense of republican virtue. That in america our leaders are citizens first. We are much different from the monarch and the tyrants. He had asked for no funeral. It was the freemasons of the referring nations asked martha that they could hold a modest funeral for him. They did and i think maybe theres an image of the funeral. It was a couple hundred marchers that were in the funeral. He died and was interred at mount vernon. But in practice today. The military the 21 gun salute, the writer list horse that we still see today. Now, over time with advances in technology and as the country grew for most began to become more elaborate. Significantly when the president died in officee like William Henry harrison in the first president to die in office in washington d. C. There was a funeral procession which might a little that resemble what we see today with hundreds of marchers that marked from white house to Congressional Cemetery where he was temporarily interred. And then over time once again advances in Technology Like the train and with involving with Abraham Lincoln there can be these more elaborate elongated ceremonies before the president was insured. But still these modest funerals would still be in practice even into the 1900s. Over clevelands funeral from beginning firm in the funeral first started at his home whenas he was placed in the ground was barely one hour in princeton, new jersey so extremely modest. Calvin coolidge was probably thl last of the modest funerals in 1932 which was several hundred guests attended his funeral in northampton, massachusetts. After that we see where franklin died in office driven because his unplanned unexpected candidate. And today. That leaves us into john f. Kennedy the next president to die. Very quickly after john f. Kennedy who also died unplanned is when president started to do the preplanning of funerals. And wondering binder that turn into three but grew over time. Estimates of the modern based state funerals that we are so familiar with now. Its the first one had the preplanning. As you have pointed to the planned element of it its a genius saying okay, you dont know when its going to happen. My gosh with john f. Kennedy you really, really dont know when its going to occur. Yet a funeral still needs to take place in these take place relatively quickly. So if you could talk to us youve got a fabulous museum the Six Floor Museum that covers jfks funeral. How are they able to do that . The last thing a president ial couple expected was to have the four days and the National Funeral and uniting the world. Was inspired by lincolns a funeral and went to great details. Time that within normas grace and support from her team. The six museum was a fascination days leading up to the aftermath. While there still questions today. I remember at the time i found a book on our shelf at home it was the torch is passed. About the jfk funeral. And i am a member at leafing through it in seeing Iconic Images of the funeral. I thought the one thing about the question would be giving donated so many wonderful images. For innocent bystanders. This was taken who actually was a doctor before and after the assassination. He was here documenting this tragic very sad moment just before little johnjohn raised his hand in salute. We have a lot of materials we have been not able to put on display but this is one example he wanted to express thees powerful memories. But it adds so much rick texture and dimension to the story were able to do the programming. Tell me, we use the word tourist sites. Whether we are doing with fords theater or the lincoln assassination or your own exhibits, tell me how do museums exhibits evolve dealing with an assassination when youre rubbing up against something that is so extremely delicate. How does the Community Come together and decide its time for us to commemorate this . Does it take a long while . Does it happen instantly . Is it takes a very long time but the day of the assassination became an instant memorial site. That said he was overwhelmed with mourners coming to try to understand what is happened. Our story has been a very long one of endurance as the decades in the fascination took place in 1963. The exhibit did not open until 1989 and in 1993 was designated as a National Historic landmark district. The Museum Opened after at least a decade of struggle trying to throw at you with that building. Thank god theur county save the building and turn it into the ministry of offices. The sixth floor was left vacant. A wonderful lady who ended up becoming our fairy godmother wat the chair of the Dallas County commission she, along with leaders lobbied throughout dallas to gain support to create an exhibit to explain to the world things that led up to the assassination. When you find a way to address all the people trying to seek their own meaning there. This tragic piece of history. I did not figure this out until i went to the reagan. Thats on the tip of your tongue. How do you approach a president to say it listen its time to Start Talking about your death and we have got to get on this thing. How soon will a president engage in this sophisticated its a delicate moment. In so many ways i have the best job in america being george bushs chief of staff. He loved it talking about his funeral. [laughter] first of all fans are part of your question, i think this is because of the assassination of kennedy. Give your first funeral meeting in the white house when you are president. I obviously was not part of that meeting. I know they make sitting president s at least to some kind of at light of the funeral in case he dies in office. So when i became chief of staff i inherited a very small folder of plans. By the time we were done he, after he became 80 once a year is that we need to talk about your funeral. Hes like oh good. [laughter] it was really odd. The other thing he did is every president ial funeral he attended, he would change his mind about something. After president nixons is when he decided to be buried in the library. He and mrs. Bush were being buried. After president reagan he decided he did not want to have a writer list horse that is too dramatic. After president he ford he wanted all the same music. Two favorite phone calls was brent and Henry Kissinger after president ford. They inform me no one who is 80 or older should be honorary pallbearers because they were exhausted, they were old and they were hungry. So i told president bush on their pallbearers of the captains of the uss george h. W. Bush we kicked at all the old people. My other favorite was the 43rd president denies a zoo called me immediately after john mccains funeral. Er jean, everyone at that funeral talk too long except for me. [laughter] at dads funeral moment talks more than 10 minutes, 10 minutes. Got it . I said yes, sir. But president bush is it time to talk but the trains . Will get to that biker to say that for later . Will say that for later. He enjoyed talk about the funeral. One quick story this is a little bizarre. Even the National Media has to get really organized. Because i also hit the ground running. The networks divide up whos going to be the pole camera for the big event. Fox news was the pole came a