This week America mourns the death of Ronald Reagan

The 40th President of the United States Ronald Reagan died on Saturday, June 5th at his LA estate with family members by his side. He was 93.

A coffin draped in American flag with the president's body was placed in a catafalque and brought to the funeral home in Santa-Monica, CA.

On Monday, at 10:00 AM local time, the cortege consisting of the catafalque and limousines with the president's family members will travel to the  presidential Reagan Library in Simi Valley where a private ceremony will take place for family and close friends. The body will remain there until Tuesday evening. People will have a chance to say “Farewell” to their National icon.

Wednesday morning the coffin will be transported to a military airfield; it will then be flown to airbase Andrews in Washington D.C. (at 5:00 pm local time). The funeral procession will start from there and end at the Washington's Capitol.

National funeral service will take place in the Capitol’s Rotunda at 7:00 pm. This will be the first funeral service there since 1973; since president Lyndon B. Johnson's died.

Reagan was the ninth president in the history of the United States to be honored with public funeral. Richard Nixon, who died 10 years ago, did not have a ceremony in Washington D.C. The service took place in Yerba-Linda, CA where he was also buried.  

All living former US presidents will be present at the funeral services—Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, George Bush Sr., and Bill Clinton. They will also be joined by the US president George Bush Jr., who is expected from the G8 summit.

On Wednesday at 8:30 pm local time, public will have a chance to say the last “farewell” to their beloved president. The public funeral will last till Thursday. Friday morning the coffin will be flown back to California, “where a private sunset burial will be held on a hillside overlooking the ocean at the Reagan Library,” reports Reuters.

One of the greatest politicians of the XX century, former US president Ronald Reagan died at the age of 93 in his LA home. Lately, he was suffering from pneumonia; he was also battling Alzheimer's for 10 years. His wife Nancy was with Ronald Reagan at the moment of his death. They have been together for 52 years, reports BBC. Reagan was the oldest of all the US presidents.

Roman Pope John Paul II was immensely saddened by the news of Ronald Reagan's death, stated official spokesman Joaquнn Navarro-Valls Sunday.

Ronald Reagan's major contribution was the fact that he laid the beginning to the end of the Cold War, stated president of the USSR Mikhail Gorbachev in his interview to radio “Echo of Moscow.”

“To me, Ronald Reagan was a great president; we've managed to establish an important, difficult dialog between our countries,” said Gorbachev.

“I do not know how other government officials would have reacted in his place, for it was a difficult situation indeed. Reagan, who was considered extreme rightist, have made such move and that is his main contribution,” states Gorbachev with assurance.