Announcing the Death of Gerald R. Ford

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Part IV

The President

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Proclamation 8093--Announcing the Death of Gerald R. Ford

Proclamation 8094--National Day of Mourning for Gerald R. Ford

Executive Order 13421--Providing for the Closing of Government
Departments and Agencies on January 2, 2007

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Title 3--
The President

Proclamation 8093 of December 27, 2006

Announcing the Death of Gerald R. Ford

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

TO THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES:

It is my sad duty to announce officially the death of
Gerald R. Ford, the thirty-eighth President of the
United States, on December 26, 2006.

President Ford was a great man who devoted the best
years of his life to serving the United States of
America. He was also a true gentleman who reflected the
best in America's character. Before the world knew his
name, he served with distinction in the United States
Navy and the United States House of Representatives. As
a congressman from Michigan, and then as Vice
President, he commanded the respect and earned the
goodwill of all who had the privilege of knowing him.
On August 9, 1974, he stepped into the presidency
without having ever sought the office.

During his time in office, the American people came to
know President Ford as a man of complete integrity, who
led our country with common sense and kind instincts.
Americans will always admire Gerald Ford's unflinching
performance of duty, the honorable conduct of his
Administration, and the great rectitude of the man
himself. We mourn the loss of such a leader, and our
thirty-eighth President will always have a special
place in our Nation's memory.

President Ford lived 93 years, and his life was a
blessing to America. Now this fine man will be taken to
his rest by a family that will love him always and by a
Nation that will be grateful to him forever.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the
United States of America, by the authority vested in me
by the Constitution and laws of the United States, in
honor and tribute to the memory of Gerald R. Ford, and
as an expression of public sorrow, do hereby direct
that the flag of the United States be displayed at
half-staff at the White House and on all buildings,
grounds, and Naval vessels of the United States for a
period of 30 days from the day of his death. I also
direct that for the same length of time, the
representatives of the United States in foreign
countries shall make similar arrangements for the
display of the flag at half-staff over their Embassies,
Legations, and other facilities abroad, including all
military facilities and stations.

I hereby order that suitable honors be rendered by
units of the Armed Forces under orders of the Secretary
of Defense.

In a further expression of our national grief, I will
appoint in a subsequent proclamation a National Day of
Mourning throughout the United States when the American
people may assemble in their respective places of
worship, there to pay homage to the memory of President
Ford.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
twenty-seventh day of December, in the year of our Lord
two thousand six, and of the Independence of the United
States of America the two hundred and thirty-first.