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						Last Updated: Tuesday, 7 
						February 2006, 21:55 GMT
						 
						

							
						

 
						
					
				
				

					

						

						

							

								US presidents honour King widow 
						
						
					
					

						

						

							

								

								

									 
									

										President Bush delivered a eulogy at the 
										funeral of Coretta King
								
								
							
						
						Four US presidents are 
						among thousands of mourners attending the funeral of 
						Coretta Scott King, widow of US civil rights leader 
						Martin Luther King. 
						
President George W Bush paid tribute to Mrs King, 
						describing her as "one of the most admired Americans of 
						our time". 
						
In the past few days, tens of thousands of people 
						have filed past Mrs King's open casket to pay their 
						respects. 
						
Mrs King, who was 78, is the first African-American 
						and the first woman to lie in honour in Georgia state 
						Capitol. 
						
						
Former US presidents Jimmy Carter, George Bush Senior 
						and Bill Clinton also gathered to pay their respects.
						
						
Tributes 
						
The funeral is taking place at the New Birth 
						Missionary Church in Atlanta where Mrs King's daughter, 
						Bernice, is a minister. 
						

						
						

							

								

								
								

								

									

 We pray that we have someone to fill her shoes 

 
								
								

									

										Dwight MacMutay

										mourner 
								
								

									

 
								

									
									

 
									
								
							
						
						
						
"I've come today to offer the sympathy of our entire 
						nation at the passing of a woman who worked to make our 
						nation whole," President Bush said. "Coretta Scott King 
						not only secured her husband's legacy, she built her 
						own." 
						
The writer, Maya Angelou, also spoke of Mrs King's 
						legacy. 
						
"Those of us who have gathered here, we owe something 
						from this minute on, so this gathering is not just 
						another footnote on the pages of history," she said. 
						
Flags are being flown at half-mast at all US 
						government buildings, military posts and diplomatic 
						missions abroad. 
						
Mrs King - who died on 30 January - had carried on 
						her husband's work for racial equality after he was 
						assassinated in 1968. 
						
"She leaves us all a better America than the America 
						of her childhood," TV personality Oprah Winfrey said on 
						Monday. 
						
Others who paid their respects to Martin Luther 
						King's widow included the civil rights leaders Jesse 
						Jackson and Al Sharpton.