Why did Obama skip Scalia’s funeral?
Here are some excuses leaders have used in the past. Maybe the White House can feel inspired?
President Barack Obama will not be attending Justice Antonin Scalia’s funeral mass today. Earlier in the week, White House press secretary Josh Earnest said that the president and his wife will pay their respects to Scalia on Friday as he lies in repose in the Great Hall. Earnest also added that Vice President Joe Biden will be representing the administration at the funeral, citing Biden’s long relationship with Scalia’s family. The vice president’s “security footprint,” he added, “is at least a little bit lighter.”
The press secretary, however, was unable to satisfy the media’s curiosity about why the president is skipping the funeral. When asked if it could be ruled out that the president would be going golfing on Saturday, Earnest said “I don’t have a sense of what the president’s plans are.” To help the White House, we looked up excuses other leaders have used when missing funerals.
- Lincoln did not attend the funeral of his own father, Thomas Lincoln, in January 1851. Four days before his death, however, Lincoln did send him a message that helps us understand why:
“Say to him that if we could meet now, it is doubtful whether it would not be more painful than pleasant.”
2. Lyndon Johnson didn’t attend Winston Churchill’s funeral in January 1965. His excuse?
“I don’t have the bouncy feeling that I usually have.”
3. Benjamin Netanyahu was missing from Nelson Mandela’s funeral in December 2013. His reason? Plane fare. Netanyahu canceled the trip because it would cost too much.
4. President George W. Bush couldn’t make it to Gerald Ford’s funeral in December 2006 since, according to the The Washington Post, “he was cutting cedar and riding his bike on his ranch in Texas.” He did, however, send his regrets.
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