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The final honor of lying in state in the Capitol Rotunda is reserved for presidents, war heroes, and other respected dignitaries. Few members of Congress have received the tribute. One who did was Florida Democrat Claude D. Pepper, who died May 30, 1989. He was the first incumbent House member so honored since Pennsylvanian Thaddeus Stevens, in 1868. Stevens, though not the Speaker, won respect after the Civil War as the House leader and as a champion of equal rights. Former senator Pepper had spent the last of his eighty-eight years as a champion of the elderly. more... |
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