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It has been announced that President Barack Obama will not attend the funeral of former First Lady Nancy Reagan on March 11, but instead will attend popular tech/music conference South By SouthWest – and the internet went crazy. Accusations of disrespect and dishonor are being thrown around by people who feel it is a snub to not change plans.
But apparently sitting Presidents do not typically attend the funerals of former First Ladies. It is in fact customary for the current First Lady to do so. It is reported that First Lady Michelle Obama is scheduled to attend.. History provides reference. President Bush did not attend Lady Bird Johnson’s funeral. President Reagan also did not attend Bess Truman’s funeral. When First Lady Betty Ford died in 2011, Rosalynn Carter, Michelle Obama, Hillary Clinton and Nancy Reagan all attended. The only First Lady funerals attended by a sitting President in the last 70 years were Eleanor Roosevelt in 1962 by President Kennedy, and Jacqueline Kennedy in 1994 by President Bill Clinton.
There is also angry reference to the President not attending Justice Antonin Scalia’s service. It has been reported that Vice President Biden attended Scalia’s funeral because they were friends. Security and safety protocol precludes the Vice President and President from attending public events together, so President Obama attended the viewing the day before.
In spite of angling that President Obama with be “hanging at a music festival”, he is the scheduled keynote at the Interactive tract at SXSW and will sit down with Evan Smith, CEO / Editor in Chief of The Texas Tribune, for a conversation about civic engagement in the 21st Century. The audience is a cast of creators, early adopters and entrepreneurs. The President will call on the audience to apply their ideas and talents to make technology work for us – especially when it comes to tackling big challenges like increasing participation in the political process and fighting climate change. The Interactive portion of the festival begins on March 11 – the day he is scheduled to attend. The Music portion of the festival begins on March 15.
