Editing Dwight D. Eisenhower (section)

=== Death ===
At 12:25&nbsp;p.m. on March 28, 1969, Eisenhower died from [[congestive heart failure]] at [[Walter Reed Army Medical Center]] in Washington, D.C., at age 78. His last words were: "I've always loved my wife, my children, and my grandchildren, and I've always loved my country. I want to go. God, take me."<ref>{{cite news|title = Eisenhower Dead at 78 as Ailing Heart Fails; Rites Will Start Today|last = Belair|first = Felix Jr.|date = March 29, 1969|newspaper = [[The New York Times]]|page= 1}}</ref> The following day, his body was moved to the [[Washington National Cathedral]]'s Bethlehem Chapel, where he lay in repose for 28 hours.<ref name="FinalPost">{{cite web|title=Dwight D. Eisenhower – Final Post|url=https://eisenhower.archives.gov/all_about_ike/final_post.html|publisher=Presidential Libraries System, National Archives and Records Administration|access-date=May 19, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190308051349/https://www.eisenhower.archives.gov/all_about_ike/final_post.html|archive-date=March 8, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> He was then transported to the [[United States Capitol]], where he [[Lying in state#United States|lay in state]] in the [[Capitol Rotunda]] on March 30 and 31.<ref>{{cite web|title=Lying in State or in Honor|url=https://www.aoc.gov/nations-stage/lying-state-honor|publisher=Architect of the Capitol|accessdate=May 19, 2019|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20190518015734/https://www.aoc.gov/nations-stage/lying-state-honor|archivedate=May 18, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> A [[state funeral]] was conducted at the Washington National Cathedral on March 31.<ref name="Funeral">{{cite news |title=World's Leaders Join in Services for Eisenhower |first=Felix Jr. |last=Belair |newspaper=The New York Times |date=April 1, 1969 |page=1}}</ref> The president and first lady, Richard and Pat Nixon, attended, as did former president Lyndon B. Johnson. Former President Harry S. Truman was unable to attend due to a vacation.{{what|date=February 2025}} Also among the 2,000 guests invited were UN Secretary-General [[U Thant]] and 191 foreign delegates from 78 countries, including 10 foreign [[heads of state|heads of state and government]]--among them President [[Charles de Gaulle]] of France, who was in the United States for the first time since the [[state funeral of John F. Kennedy]],<ref>{{cite news|title=Nixon will Meet with De Gaulle Today|first=Peter|last=Grose|newspaper=The New York Times|date=March 31, 1969|page=1|quote=President de Gaulle arrived by plane from Paris, on his first visit to the United States since the funeral of President Kennedy in 1963.}}</ref> Chancellor [[Kurt-Georg Kiesinger]] of West Germany, [[Baudouin of Belgium|King Baudouin]] of Belgium and Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi of Iran.<ref name="Funeral" />

The service included the singing of [[Jean-Baptiste Faure|Faure's]] "The Palms", and the playing of the hymn "[[Onward, Christian Soldiers]]".<ref>{{cite news|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|title=For A Modest Man: A Simple Funeral Honors Ike|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=DS19690401.2.4&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN--------1|work=[[The Desert Sun]]|agency=[[United Press International|UPI]]|date=April 1, 1969|volume=42|issue=205|via=[[California Digital Newspaper Collection]], Center for Bibliographical Studies and Research at the University of California Riverside|access-date=May 19, 2019}}</ref> That evening, Eisenhower's body was placed on a special [[funeral train]] for its journey from the capital to his hometown of [[Abilene, Kansas]]. First incorporated into President [[Funeral and burial of Abraham Lincoln|Abraham Lincoln's funeral]] in 1865, a funeral train would not be part of a U.S. state funeral again until [[Death and state funeral of George H. W. Bush|2018]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Weissert|first1=Will|last2=Phillip|first2=David J.|agency=The Associated Press|url=https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2018/12/06/bushes-depart-on-first-presidential-funeral-train-since-1969/|title=Bushes depart on first presidential funeral train since 1969|date=December 6, 2018|website=MilitaryTimes.com|publisher=Sightline Media Group|access-date=May 19, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190809220531/https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2018/12/06/bushes-depart-on-first-presidential-funeral-train-since-1969/|archive-date=August 9, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> on 2 April 1969 Eisenhower is buried inside the Place of Meditation, the chapel on the grounds of the [[Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum and Boyhood Home|Eisenhower Presidential Center]] in Abilene. As requested, he was buried in a [[G.I. (military)|Government Issue]] casket, wearing his [[Eisenhower jacket|World War II uniform]], decorated with Army Distinguished Service Medal with three oak leaf clusters, Navy Distinguished Service Medal, and the Legion of Merit. Buried alongside Eisenhower are his son Doud, who died at age 3 in 1921, and wife Mamie, who died in 1979.<ref name=FinalPost/>

President Richard Nixon eulogized Eisenhower in 1969, saying:

{{blockquote|Some men are considered great because they lead great armies or they lead powerful nations. For eight years now, Dwight Eisenhower has neither commanded an army nor led a nation; and yet he remained through his final days the world's most admired and respected man, truly the first citizen of the world.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.upi.com/Archives/Audio/1969/Eisenhower-Judy-Garland-Die/|title=1969 Year in Review: Eisenhower, Judy Garland die|publisher=UPI|date=October 25, 2005|access-date=December 19, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161010085652/http://www.upi.com/Archives/Audio/1969/Eisenhower-Judy-Garland-Die/|archive-date=October 10, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>}}