The late President George H.W. Bush made a deliberate choice not to have his casket carried in the ceremonial horse-drawn wagon that has transported late presidents during state funerals for years.
The change marked a key difference in memorial ceremonies between President Ronald Reagan and his vice president, who succeeded him in the White House in 1989.
Unlike Bush’s funeral on Wednesday, Reagan in June 2004 received a presidential parade along Pennsylvania Avenue after his casket landed in Washington, D.C. With barriers keeping them from the street, onlookers were able to get a glimpse of Reagan’s casket as it made its way to the Capitol atop a hose-drawn wagon. The wagon, known as a caisson, was originally built to transport cannons and ammunition and has been used in presidential state funerals dating all the way back to George Washington’s.
[WATCH: Funeral proceedings for George H.W. Bush underway]
Bush chose not to have his casket carried on the horse-drawn wagon because he felt it would slow down the process. Bush’s casket was brought from Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland directly to the Capitol building. There was no parade.
“As with his boating, skydiving, golf and just about everything else, speed was his focus for this necessary series of events,” Bush spokesman Jim McGrath said in a statement.
McGrath’s explanation resonates with the accounts Bush’s loved ones gave at his funeral Wednesday. His oldest son, former President George W. Bush, described his father as a man who never slowed down, unless it was bed time.
Telling a story about his father’s golf habit, George W. Bush said his father had two settings: “full throttle, then sleep.”
“He played golf at a legendary pace. I always wonder why he insisted on speed golf. He’s a good golfer. Here’s my conclusion,” Bush said. “He played fast so he could move on to the next event, to enjoy the rest of the day, to expend his enormous energy, to live it all. He was born with just two settings, full throttle, then sleep.”
The late president passed away in Houston at 10:10 p.m. on Nov. 30.
