President Thomas S. Monson, second counselor in the First Presidency, and his wife, Frances, represented the Church at services April 27 in memory of former U.S. President Richard Nixon, who died April 22.
President Monson was among 4,000 specially invited guests attending the memorial service for the 37th President of the United States. The service, which lasted more than an hour, was held outside the Nixon Library and Birthplace in Yorba Linda. Dignitaries from 55 countries attended the service. Also present were President Bill Clinton and four former U.S. presidents: Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan and George Bush.The Rev. Billy Graham, a longtime family friend, conducted the service and delivered a sermon. President Clinton delivered the eulogy. Other tributes were delivered by Sen. Robert Dole of Kansas; Pete Wilson, governor of California; and Henry Kissinger, President Nixon's national security adviser and Secretary of State.
More than 30,000 people filed past the closed casket during the night and morning before the service.
Mr. Nixon died in New York at the age of 81 after a stroke. His body was carried home aboard Air Force One, the jet reserved for the President of the United States. The jet was piloted by Lt. Col. Stephen J. Snow, a counselor in the Sunday School presidency of the Springfield Ward, Annandale Virginia Stake.