A Final Salute in a Hall of Heroes; Ronald Reagan Rests in State in the Capitol

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Byline: Stephen Dinan and Jon Ward, THE WASHINGTON TIMES

The Capitol dome became the focus for a nation in mourning for former President Ronald Reagan, whose remains were delivered by horse-drawn caisson yesterday to the Rotunda, where he will lie in state through tomorrow morning.

Surrounded by statues of the nation's greatest heroes, including George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln, Vice President Dick Cheney eulogized Mr. Reagan.

"Ronald Reagan was more than a historic figure. He was a providential man who came along just when our nation and the world most needed him," Mr. Cheney said. "And believing as he did that there is a plan at work in each life, he accepted not only the great duties that came to him, but also the great trials that came near the end."

Several groups of eight pall bearers, two from each branch of the armed services in each group, carried Mr. Reagan's body up the steps of the West Front, over the spot where he was sworn in as 40th president in 1981, and into the nation's grandest funeral parlor, the majestic Rotunda that stands at the center of the Capitol and, therefore, the city of Washington.

Mr. Reagan had been here before - he made history in 1985 when he took his second oath of office inside the Rotunda, the first president to do so, driven indoors by a bitter January day. And, in 1984, he honored the unknown soldier from the Vietnam War.

Attendance in the chamber was restricted to …