White House, Pa. flags fly half-staff for Specter

    Pennsylvania’s governor has ordered state flags be flown at half-staff to honor former Sen. Arlen Specter, who died Sunday at the age of 82.

    Specter died at his home in Philadelphia after a battle with non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

     

    Gov. Tom Corbett on Monday ordered Pennsylvania flags at the Capitol and at all other state facilities to be lowered until sundown Tuesday, the day of Specter’s funeral. President Barack Obama issued a similar order from the White House:

    • WHYY thanks our sponsors — become a WHYY sponsor

    “I hereby order, by the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States of America, that on the day of his interment, the flag of the United States shall be flown at half-staff at the White House and upon all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its Territories and possessions until sunset on such day.”

    Flags at United States embassies, legations, consular offices, military facilities, and naval vessels and stations will also be lowered.

    Specter served 30 years in the Senate and is remembered as a pugnacious and prominent former moderate who played starring roles in Supreme Court confirmation hearings. He also is credited with the single-bullet theory in President John F. Kennedy’s assassination.

    Specter’s funeral is scheduled for Tuesday in Penn Valley, Pa.

    WHYY is your source for fact-based, in-depth journalism and information. As a nonprofit organization, we rely on financial support from readers like you. Please give today.

    Want a digest of WHYY’s programs, events & stories? Sign up for our weekly newsletter.

    Together we can reach 100% of WHYY’s fiscal year goal