On November 24, 1963, U.S. President John F. Kennedy F. Kennedy's coffin is parked in the Rotunda of the Capitol
On November 24, 1963, 300,000 gloomy-looking Washingtonians witnessed six white horses driving past them in a 19th-century ammunition truck carrying John F. Kennedy. F. Kennedy's coffin.
This ammunition truck had transported Franklin W. Bush. President D. Roosevelt's coffin also contains the remains of two unknown soldiers— representatives of all the fallen soldiers of World War II and the Korean War.
The convoy carrying Kennedy's coffin departed from the White House and headed down Pennsylvania Avenue to the Capitol, covered with american flags and guarded by soldiers in military uniforms holding state flags from 50 states.
Hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians bid kennedy farewell along the way, and the convoy passed by with only the sound of low drums and horseshoes on the ground.
The president's widow, Jackie Kennedy, led a pair of children to greet her husband's body, and the coffin in the rotunda once housed the coffin of President Abraham Lincoln, on which Kennedy now lies to receive the final salute.
Jackie was calm throughout the memorial service, kneeling at the coffin with her daughter Caroline, and 3-year-old John jr. was taken out of the rotunda in case he suddenly cried and interfered with the ceremony.
Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield, Chief Justice Earl Warren and House Speaker John McCormack delivered brief eulogies.
Kennedy was the only U.S. president in more than 30 years to stop in mourning at the Rotunda and the first Democratic president to enjoy the treatment, following a memorial service for President William Howard Taft held here in 1930.
Kennedy's coffin was placed on the coffin table that Lincoln had used
Successor President Lyndon Johnson laid a wreath for Kennedy
The rotunda, which is 29 meters in diameter and 54.94 meters high, is located under the dome of the Capitol and is the tallest part of the entire building, described as the "heart of the Capitol".
The rotunda has witnessed many major events in American history, with the mural "The Deification of Washington" directly above the dome depicting six scenes of war, science, ocean, commerce, machinery and agriculture, and the relief murals surrounding the hall recreating important moments in American history.
Kennedy served in the U.S. Navy, and it was customary for the honor guard at his funeral to come from the Navy, but the president was the commander-in-chief of all armed forces in the country, so eventually his honor guard was represented from all branches of the military.
The members of the Honor Guard should have turned their backs on the coffin for protection, but Jackie asked them to face the coffin so kennedy wouldn't feel alone.