One by one they came. Parents hoisting toddlers on their hips. Two women from St. Louis, in town for a neonatology conference, reports New York Times.
A doctor from Washington whose grandmother had worked in housekeeping in the White House complex. Military generals and diplomats, CIA chiefs and sports stars. And Sully the service dog.
As the body of former President George Bush lay in state in the Capitol Rotunda on Tuesday, luminaries and unknown mourners from across the country poured into the Capitol to pay tribute to a man whose inaugural vision of a "kinder" and "gentler" Republicanism has become a relic of another era.
Tuesday's somber procession in the Capitol was a prelude to Bush's state funeral Wednesday morning at Washington National Cathedral, where current and former heads of state from around the world are expected.
Among them are Prince Charles, representing Queen Elizabeth; King Abdullah II of Jordan and his wife, Queen Rania; and Lech Walesa, the former president of Poland. All four living former presidents - Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, George W Bush and Barack Obama - will attend, as will President Donald Trump.
In a nod to his complicated relationship with the Bushes, Trump will not speak Wednesday.
But Tuesday, he and his wife Melania took the presidential motorcade from the White House across the street to Blair House, the official guesthouse, to meet with George W Bush and his wife Laura, who have been staying there at Trump’s invitation.