CNN announced on September 7 that Vice President Kamala Harris will attend former PM of Japan Abe Shinzo’s funeral, which will be on Tuesday, September 27. Recently, President Joe Biden attended the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II.
I did not find any official protocol for US Presidents or Vice Presidents attending foreign state funerals.
Below, find a list of US attendance of state funerals ordered by the ranking of the US officials in attendance. This list is not exhaustive, but should be informative.
Sitting US Presidents (very rare)
- 1970: Richard Nixon attended the funeral of Charles de Gaulle in France (NYTimes)
- 1989: George H.W. Bush attended the funeral of Showa Emperor Hirohito in Tokyo (Washington Post, AP and BUSH LIBRARY VIDEO OF BUSH’S REMARKS IN TOKYO AFTER THE FUNERAL)
- 2013: Barack Obama and former president George W. Bush together attended the funeral of Nelson Mandela in South Africa (WH press release photos)
- 2022: Joe Biden attends the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II. [NOTEWORTHY] Of Biden attending Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral, CNN wrote “Plans for the Queen’s funeral have been in place for years, allowing American advisers greater insight into precisely what will happen over the coming days as they make security arrangements. The White House said it received an invitation only for the President and first lady, making for a slimmed-down American footprint.” [Aidan’s questioned: slimmed down compared to what?]
Former US Presidents
- 1965: former president Eisenhower attended the funeral of former British PM Winston Churchill. (Eisenhower post-presidential papers) Apparently, the sitting president Lyndon Johnson wanted to attend, but could not due to severe illness. (Blog post from the International Churchill Society)
- 2015: Barack Obama sent former president Bill Clinton, and former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, to attend the state funeral of the founding Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Kuan Yew in 2015 (WH press release)
- 2016: Barack Obama sent a delegation to Israel for the funeral of former PM Shimon Peres led by former president Clinton and featuring dozens of congresspeople (Politico)
Sitting US Vice Presidents or Secretaries of State
- 2012: Barack Obama sent a delegation led by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Ghana for the funeral of sitting president John Evans Atta Mills (WH press release)
- 2014: Vice President Biden attended the funeral of former Israeli PM Ariel Sharon in 2014 (WH press release)
Ambassadors, congresspeople, and mid-level officials attending as leaders of a presidential delegation
- 2004: George W. BUSH sent Arnold Schwarzenegger to the funeral of Austrian President Thomas Klestil in 2004 (LA Times)
- 2007: George W. Bush sent a presidential delegation led by congressman Hastert (R-IL) and ambassador Schieffer to the funeral of former Japanese PM Miyazawa Kiichi (WH press release).
- 2019: Donald Trump sent the US ambassador to France to France for the funeral of former French President Jacques Chirac (US Embassy to France press release)
- 2021: Joe Biden sent a delegation including US ambassador to the UN Thomas-Greenfield to Haiti for the funeral of the assassinated PM Jovenel Moïse in 2021 (Yahoo! Finance)
US Presidents respond with condolences or similar, but does not send a delegation
- 1901: On the death of Queen Victoria in 1901, William McKinley sent condolences to the new King Edward VII, and flags in Washington DC were lowered. The New York Times reported, “Such a Mark of Respect Had Never Been Before Paid on the Death of a Monarch”
- 1984: When Indian President Indira Gandhi was assassinated in 1984, the US did not send a high-level delegation (NYT). Ronald Reagan only issued a statement (WH press release)
- 1997: Deng Xiaoping had requested to have no state funeral, and to not have foreign leaders attend. But Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Albright both issued condolences on his death (CNN)
- 2019: Donald Trump only sent condolences on the death of Nakasone Yasuhiro (JapanTimes)
Aidan Lilienfeld, research for The Asahi Shimbun, September 22, 2022
Haus Lilienfeld 