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Nancy Reagan Dead at 94: There's Little Protocol for Honoring a First Lady's Passing

When a former first lady dies, the sitting president decides the appropriate way to mourn her. It's not always the same.
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When first ladies pass away, they typically don't get the pomp, ceremony and spectacle that their spouses receive.

There is no set protocol to mourn them. Instead, federal and local governments — including the sitting president — decide what's appropriate. And first ladies' funerals are generally private affairs, in contrast with the highly scripted state funerals given to former chief executives.

Nancy Reagan, who died Sunday, likely appreciated that distinction. When her husband, Ronald Reagan, died in 2004, she presided over the services with careful attention to detail, making sure nothing was overlooked.

Image: Monika Poach arranges flowers left in memory of former first lady Nancy Reagan
A mourner arranged flowers left in memory of former first lady Nancy Reagan near the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Center for Public Affairs in Simi Valley, California.David McNew / Getty Images

She will lie in repose at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California on Wednesday and Thursday. On Friday, she will be buried alongside her husband on the library grounds, officials there said. The public will have a chance to pay their respects at the library, the late first lady's spokeswoman said.

President Obama on Monday ordered flags on government and military property flown at half-staff until Nancy Reagan's burial.

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But even that honor isn't always provided. It apparently wasn't done for Betty Ford, who died in 2011, according to an NBC News review of presidential proclamations. It was done for Lady Bird Johnson in 2007, but not for Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis in 1994 or Pat Nixon in 1993. (Onassis and Nixon did get 30-day mourning periods at the White house, though.)

Image: The funeral procession of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis stretches out in front of the Lincoln Memorial
The funeral procession of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis stretches out in front of the Lincoln Memorial as it makes its way to Arlington National Cemetery on May 23, 1994.PAUL J. RICHARDS / AFP - Getty Images

"That's part of the problem with first ladies — what do you do with them?" said Michelle Gullion, archives director and curator at the First Ladies National Historic Site in Canton, Ohio.

The flag at the historic site will be lowered. And just inside the entrance, there will be a memorial, including a tribute case holding items that reflect Nancy Reagan's time in the White House — a "Just Say No" pin, one of the thimbles she handed out as gifts, a porcelain family plate. Gullion was rushing to assemble it all on Monday.

Image: Armed services body bearers remove the casket of Lady Bird Johnson
Armed services body bearers remove the casket of Lady Bird Johnson from the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum, on July 14, 2007, in Austin, Texas. In the background, following the casket are Mrs. Johnson's daughters, Lynda Bird Johnson Robb, with her husband, Chuck Robb, left, and Luci Baines Johnson with her husband, Ian Johnstone Turpin.Harry Cabluck / AP

Every first lady gets that treatment.

"That’s what people expect when they come here," Gullion said.