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How to watch President George H.W. Bush’s funeral services

The 41st president will be honored at the Washington National Cathedral on Wednesday.

Former US President George HW Bush speaks in Texas in 2002.
Former US President George H.W. Bush speaks in Texas in 2002.
Ronald Martinez/Getty Images
Emily Stewart covers business and economics for Vox and writes the newsletter The Big Squeeze, examining the ways ordinary people are being squeezed under capitalism. Before joining Vox, she worked for TheStreet.

Memorial services for President George H.W. Bush began on Monday and will take place for four days until he is laid to rest in Texas on Thursday.

Bush died on Friday at the age of 94 and this week will be honored in Washington, DC, and his home state of Texas. He laid in state in the US Capitol Rotunda starting on Monday evening.

A funeral at the Washington National Cathedral for him will take place on Wednesday at 11 am Eastern. It will be aired live on C-SPAN and major television networks.

On Thursday, a separate funeral service will take place for him at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church in Houston before he is buried a family plot at the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library in College Station, Texas, alongside his wife, Barbara, and his daughter, Robin.

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump are expected to attend Wednesday’s Washington funeral for Bush, as are a number of other prominent politicians.

At least four people will deliver eulogies at Bush’s Wednesday service, according to CNN: President George W. Bush, former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, former Sen. Alan Simpson, and presidential historian Jon Meacham. In Houston on Thursday, Bush’s grandson George P. Bush and former Secretary of State James Baker are expected to speak.

Information about the schedule and logistics of the weeks honoring Bush can be found here.

As Vox’s Matt Yglesias wrote, Bush is a sort of “political orphan” whose achievements are often overlooked. He served only one term, dragged down by economic turmoil that was largely beyond his control, and he is often overshadowed by the legacy of his predecessor, Ronald Reagan, and his son, George W. Bush. His legacy has been further complicated by allegations from multiple women who say Bush groped or grabbed them inappropriately while taking photographs.

In terms of policy, however, Bush largely met his moment, Yglesias writes:

From domestic affairs — where he was the last president to sign a truly bipartisan “grand bargain” — to his deft foreign policy, Bush aimed for competent management rather than ideological transformation. He had a cautious outlook, but in hindsight, his presidency was marked by acts of political courage.

Details on how to watch George H.W. Bush’s Washington, DC, funeral are below:

When: 11 am Eastern

Where: Washington National Cathedral in Washington, DC

Watch: C-SPAN, major television networks

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