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Short Stuff: Lying in State · Stuff You Should Know

• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Hey, and welcome to the short Stuff. I'm Josh, there's
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: Chuck and this is short stuff, and uh, it's a
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: very solemn edition of short stuff. In fact, that's right
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: recently in real time, in semi recently in podcast time. Uh.
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away on September. I think
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: she deserves a full show on her, which we'll get
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: around too soon enough. But she died at seven from
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: complications from pancreatic cancer, and after serving for twenty seven
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: more than twenty seven years on the Supreme Court, she
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: became the first woman in American history to lie in
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: state in the US Capitol Building. Yeah, on Friday, September.
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: Like you said, our our time is a little off,
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: but as we're recording now, that's tomorrow she will be
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: the first woman to everly in state. UM and PEP,
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: we'll be able to um visit and they will hold
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: a UM a whole ceremony that we'll talk about. Um
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: and ceremony is the right word, because this is a
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: it's it's meant to be a very solemn, very ceremonial
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: occasion where the the nation is basically called to more
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: in a very important person who gave to the country
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: with all of her might, with with all of her will,
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: with all of her strength. Um, somebody like that is
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: important enough to say, Hey, as a country, no matter
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: how divided we are, we're going to more in this person.
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: And that is the entire point of lying in state.
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: That's right. Uh. And and now I'm confused whether we
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: should talk in past tense or future tense. We'll just
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: flip flop back and forth. It'll be like that movie Looper.
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: But she she also will lie in repose at the
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: Supreme Court, which is a different thing. Um, But lying
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: in state at the Capitol is quite an or. The
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: last time it happened was UM, Representative John Lewis right
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: here from Georgie's fifth district. Before that, it was Representative
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: Elijah Cummings. UM, I believe John McCain was only the
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: Senator to ever lie in state. So and he was
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: the last person from Congress to lie in state before
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: Cummings and Lewis, I believe. Yeah. And And the point
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: here is it's not like any politician that served the country,
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: uh is worthy of this honor, considering McCain was only
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: the thirteenth Senator. UM, I think only a handful of
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: private citizens, including Rosa Parks, have ever been honored as such,
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: and that was in two thousand five. Yeah, and being
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: a private citizen, Rosa Parks lied in um honor, which
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: is different, as we'll see, but lying in state is
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: a very distinct honor. UM. And it's actually, I don't
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: want to say fairly new. Was the first time, um,
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: it was done in the United States in the capital
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: was July one, eighteen fifty two, UM with Henry Clay
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: Um who was a Congressman from Kentucky and known as
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: the Great Compromiser. And he was honored because he had
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: um worked basically his entire political life to stave off
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: Civil War. UM. He failed posthumously, but during his lifetime
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: he managed to keep it from happening. And so he
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: was the first person to lie in state in the
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: United States capital. Right, So, uh, maybe we should take
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: a break. It's a little cliffhanger and tell everyone who
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: actually makes the decision on when this happens right after this,
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: all right, so drumroll please, it's Congress. They're nice. I
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: hope there was a high hat too when you said Congress.
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: I can't do a high hat. Although Uh, ironically, I
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: do have a drum set behind me in the day.
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: You go, just turn around, Chuck, this is a whole
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: other dimension we're just incorporate here. So Congress has to
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: propose this and approve of this. It could come by resolution.
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: Usually you don't have to have a resolution. Usually they
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: can just say, come on, can we just agree on
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: this one thing and not have to have an official
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: vote on this? Right, Congressional leadership just goes, hey, this
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: is what we're going to do, and nobody objects. Um Man.
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: There's so many political jokes I'm just avoiding right now.
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: But yes, that's exactly what happens for sure. But you
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: said something, Um, you said something before that. Not not
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: everybody gets this honor. Um, Lying in state, lying in
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: lying in honor are basically the same thing. It just
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: depends on whether you're an elected official and whether you're
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: a private citizen. It's much rare for a private citizen
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: to get it. But the only people who automatically are
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: offered the opportunity to have their remains lie in state
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: at the U. S. Capitol are presidents and ex presidents.
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: Isn't that right? Is that true? Yeah? Yeah, so um,
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: Congress can decide, hey, you're significant enough to to lie
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: in state. UM, but it's not automatic, right right unless
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: you're a president right right. So UM, So, like you said,
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: Congress has to propose it, and UM, when they do,
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: they alert UM this agency called the Architect of the Capital,
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: which I had not heard of before, UM until researching
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: this said do you uh, well, it's a different AOC,
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: that's for sure, right, Yeah, that's what they're known as,
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: is AOC, which I'm sure can be confusing, especially when
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: AOC eventually dies in office fifty years from now, um
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: and is lying in state. When the a o C
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: takes care of AOC's state funeral, that's right, the Architect
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: of the Capital in this case is notified. And basically, UM,
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: it's sort of like just like any event that you're
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: going to plan, UM, a lot of cleaning has to happen.
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: They like power washed the front of the building. They
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: wax and buff the floors. They want everything to look
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: top notch. They you know, they fabricate, Uh wouldn't stand
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: to hold the casket and polish everything up and they
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: just you know, you gotta get all the cobwebs out
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: of there. For something like this, that's all right. You
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: know you've arrived when their powerwashing the capital for your um,
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: your funeral you're viewing, you know. Yeah, And I also
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: wonder what that government contract looks like. Right, So the
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: the the stand that they put your coffin on. Sometimes
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: they construct them, for sure, but they also have one.
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: Those things are called um catafalt, and a cattle falk
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: is just that it's a decorative, ornamental stand that a
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: coffin is resting on. And so when you see um
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: images of somebody lying in state, look at what their
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: coffin's on. And if they're a president, there's a really
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: good chance that that's a pine cattle falque that was
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: first built to hold Lincoln's remains uh in eighteen sixty five, which,
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: my goodness, I can't imagine too many higher honors than
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: being placed having your coffin placed on the cattle folk
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: that was originally constructed for Abraham Lincoln. Yeah, what I'm
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: curious about is, UM, if the wishes of the person
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: or the president is to be cremated post taste, what
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: they do, I don't know. I would guess that they
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: would probably revise the you know, build a different cattle
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: falque or you know whatever. I would hope that they
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: would they would UM acknowledge that the dying persons who
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: is lying in state's final wish, no matter what it is,
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: is UM. But I think you have to you would
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: think so. But the I would guess that they would
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: do that for sure. UM, they would just adjust their
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: their um their m O basically. But they The thing
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: is is, you can also say I don't want to
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: lie in state in any form, whether cremated or anything
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: like that, or your family can say that. And in fact,
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: Truman's family and Nixon's family both declined the honor of
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: lying of having the remains of those former presidents lying
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: in state in the capital and instead, I know Nixon
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: for sure was just lying in repose in his library
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: and your Belinda, And the only difference between lying and
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: repose and lying in state is whether you're basically on
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: public display as part of a state funeral or not.
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: If it's part of a state funeral, you're lying in state.
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: If it's not, you're lying in repose. And so UM
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: Justice renquests. Um family also declined the offer, and in
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: dead he lay in repose at in the Supreme Court building.
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: That's right. And I don't think we mentioned this all
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: takes place at the rotunda. Uh, that's the floor they're
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: buffing and shining up. UM. There's obviously got to be
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: a spot for media. They set up these risers because
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: there's an actual ceremony hosted by congressional leadership, and you know,
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: you've got to have all the just the nuts and
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: bolts in place, the lighting and the microphones, and like
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: I said, it's like any other event. They just wanted
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: to go down very smoothly and very respectfully and by
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: all accounts, very cleanly. Yeah, power washed and everything. Right.
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: So there was this anthropologist that this house stuff Works
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: article UM interviewed and UM her name is Shannon Lee Doughty,
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: and she is an anthropologist at University of Chicago, and
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: she puts this really beautifully. She said that the ceremonies
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: like laying in state, lying in state, UM are meant
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: to embalm an idea that basically, this person, especially upon
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: their death, becomes like this electrified, um concentrated reminder of
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: national spirit of you know, America itself, of UM, all
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: of the things that are good about America that that
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: like their work in life and everything they did, especially
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: in death, when people, you know, forget about everything else
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  Speaker 1: and really focus on the good things that the person did,
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: that those good things are really about pushing the country
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  Speaker 1: forward or keeping the country in a good, good state,
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  Speaker 1: and that that's one of the reasons the main reason
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: for for lying in state is to really just kind
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: of say, hey, everybody, just let's remember all this, let's
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: focus on that. To embalm an idea, I thought that
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: was a really good way to put it. Yeah, to
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: unite the country for for to twelve hours tops tops.
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: I know that's a cynical view, but that's kind of
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: the truth. Cynicism and um rationalism are basically interchange bull
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: these days, it feels like that's a good quote too. Thanks, Chuck,
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: I appreciate that. Um you got anything else about lying
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: in state? I got nothing else. I look forward to
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: doing so myself. Yeah, me too. I'll be sitting there
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: weeping over your casket, wailing for days on and Chuck,
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: I appreciate that. Well, that's it for us, that's it
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: for lying in state. That's it for short stuff. Short
• 11:21
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• 11:27
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