Can Presidents Be Buried at Arlington National Cemetery?

Presidents buried at Arlington National Cemetery are a small club: only William Howard Taft and John F. Kennedy, out of 46 presidents. Federal regulation permits it, but with a catch that surprises most readers. Under 32 CFR 553.12, a former president qualifies for in-ground burial at Arlington only if he also served on active duty in the military. The presidency alone, under the current text of the rule, does not open the gate.

What the Eligibility Rule Actually Requires

Arlington’s eligibility rules sit in 32 CFR 553.12, which divides eligible people into two groups. Primarily eligible persons get their own gravesite. Derivatively eligible persons, such as spouses and minor children, may be interred in the same gravesite as the primarily eligible person.¹

The regulation lists the usual categories of primarily eligible persons: service members who die on active duty, retired veterans receiving military retirement pay, veterans awarded high decorations such as the Medal of Honor or Silver Star, and former prisoners of war. A separate category covers veterans who held certain senior government positions, and this is where the presidency appears. The listed positions include President or Vice President, member of Congress, Supreme Court Justice, and senior executive branch officials at the top two levels of the Executive Schedule.¹

The trap is in the opening clause. The regulation applies this category to “any veteran who served on active duty (other than active duty for training)” before listing the qualifying positions. A former president who never served in the military does not fit this specific eligibility category as written. Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump did not serve on active duty, which raises a real question about their eligibility under the regulation as currently drafted.¹

Congress has recognized the gap. A proposed bill, the Arlington National Cemetery Burial Eligibility Act (H.R. 4940), would have added “The President or any former President” as a standalone eligibility category with no military-service requirement. The bill also would have explicitly extended columbarium eligibility to anyone qualifying for in-ground burial.² The regulation still ties presidential eligibility to active-duty service.

The Two Presidents Who Rest at Arlington

Of 46 presidents, only Taft and Kennedy chose Arlington.³

William Howard Taft

Taft is the only person to serve as both President (1909–1913) and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (1921–1930). He died on March 8, 1930, lay in state at the U.S. Capitol Rotunda for three days, and was buried in Section 30 of Arlington on a large family plot.⁴ Taft had no active military service. His burial predates the current eligibility regulations, which have changed substantially since 1930.

John F. Kennedy

Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963, and buried at Arlington shortly afterward. He had served in the U.S. Naval Reserve during World War II, commanding a patrol torpedo boat in the Pacific, so he qualified on both his military record and the presidency. His original plot sat on a hillside along an axis between Arlington House and the Lincoln Memorial, ringed by a white picket fence.⁵

Construction of a permanent memorial began in 1965 and finished on July 20, 1967, when Kennedy’s remains were moved to the new site. An eternal flame, lit by Jacqueline Kennedy at the original funeral, burns from the center of a five-foot circular granite stone at the head of the grave. The federal government funded construction and continues to appropriate money for upkeep. The site is one of the most visited in the cemetery.⁵

Why Nearly Every Other President Is Buried Elsewhere

The dominant pattern is burial at home. George Washington rests at Mount Vernon, Thomas Jefferson at Monticello, Andrew Jackson at the Hermitage in Nashville. In the modern era, the presidential library has become the standard choice. Dwight Eisenhower is buried at his library in Abilene, Kansas. Richard Nixon is at his library in Yorba Linda, California. Ronald Reagan is at his library in Simi Valley. George H.W. Bush is on the library grounds in College Station, Texas. Jimmy Carter is in Plains, Georgia, his lifelong hometown.

The reasons are practical. A library or family estate gives the family permanent control over the site and ties the president’s legacy to a specific place that draws visitors. Arlington is a working military cemetery run by the Army. Families do not control the plot, and the site’s identity belongs to military service rather than any single presidency.

Spouses and Family Members

When a former president qualifies, the spouse and certain dependents become derivatively eligible for interment in the same gravesite. That covers the spouse of a primarily eligible person, minor children, and in some cases unmarried adult children who meet dependency criteria. A former spouse is not eligible.¹

Military honors differ. A spouse’s burial includes a casket team and a military chaplain if requested. Full armed forces honors with escort platoons from each service branch are reserved for the president, the secretary of defense, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and officers with multiple-service command authority. The president is the only individual entitled to a 21-gun salute.

Disqualifications That Override Eligibility

Meeting every eligibility requirement is not always enough. Under 38 USC 2411, the Secretary of the Army cannot approve burial at Arlington for anyone convicted of a federal or state capital crime, meaning an offense punishable by life imprisonment or death, unless the sentence was commuted by the President or a state governor.⁶

The bar also applies to certain serious sex offenses carrying a minimum sentence of life imprisonment or 99 years or more, and it extends to people who committed a qualifying crime but were never convicted because they died or fled prosecution. In those cases the Secretary of the Army can make a determination based on clear and convincing evidence after a hearing.⁶ For convictions, the prohibition kicks in only if the Secretary of the Army receives written notice before the burial takes place.

If Arlington Is the Chosen Site

A former president is entitled to a state funeral regardless of burial location. The Secretary of Defense designates U.S. Northern Command as the responsible combatant command, which activates the Joint Task Force–National Capital Region to coordinate every ceremony.⁷ A state funeral typically runs seven to ten days across three stages: ceremonies in the state where the former president lived at the time of death, ceremonies in Washington, D.C. (which may include lying in state at the Capitol Rotunda), and ceremonies in the state where the president will be buried.

If Arlington is the burial site, the cemetery’s scheduling staff coordinates the interment, and no service is scheduled until all documentation verifying eligibility has been received and reviewed.⁸ Arlington does not charge for the gravesite. Preparing the remains, the casket or urn, and transport to the Washington, D.C. area are borne by the estate, with an exception for service members who die on active duty.⁹

1
eCFR. 32 CFR 553.12 – Eligibility for Interment in Arlington National Cemetery
2
U.S. Government Publishing Office. Arlington National Cemetery Burial Eligibility Act
3
Arlington National Cemetery. Presidents
4
Arlington National Cemetery. President William Howard Taft Memorial Grave
5
Arlington National Cemetery. President John F. Kennedy Gravesite
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 38 USC 2411 – Prohibition Against Interment or Memorialization in the National Cemetery Administration or Arlington National Cemetery of Persons Committing Certain Federal or State Crimes
7
Joint Task Force-National Capital Region. State Funerals
8
Arlington National Cemetery. Scheduling a Funeral
9
Arlington National Cemetery. Costs