Sen. Coverdell Remembered for Quiet Strength

ATLANTA —  Georgia honored the late Sen. Paul Coverdell in a solemn Statehouse ceremony Friday, but a former colleague said the slightly built, self-effacing Republican might have been a bit embarrassed by all the fuss.

Coverdell died Tuesday of a brain hemorrhage at the age of 61. Public and private funeral services were planned for today.

As a bagpiper slowly played “Amazing Grace” early Friday, Coverdell’s flag-draped coffin was carried by an honor guard of state troopers into the Capitol’s rotunda.

More than a dozen current and former state officials, led by Gov. Roy Barnes, escorted the coffin inside, followed later in the day by more than 4,800 people who filed through the Capitol to pay their respects.

Among those in the official entourage was former Gov. Zell Miller, a Democrat who has been mentioned as Barnes’ top choice to fill Coverdell’s Senate seat pending a special election. He has declined to discuss the speculation.

Coverdell would have been a little uncomfortable with all the attention, said former Lt. Gov. Pierre Howard, a Democrat who counted Coverdell as a friend.

“He was not the typical politician always out trying to get attention. If he got the job done, that was enough,” Howard said.

Coverdell built a reputation in the Senate as an effective, behind-the-scenes operative who worked long hours to organize his colleagues into a unified voice. Before his election to the Senate in 1992, he served as Peace Corps director in the Bush administration and spent 16 years in the Georgia Senate.

“Paul never was mean-spirited about his politics and never let his ego get in the way of his judgment,” said Sen. Max Cleland, a Democrat.

“He was a very calm and patient human being, with other people and with life,” Cleland said.

A private ceremony was planned today with Texas Gov. George W. Bush, Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) and members of Georgia’s congressional delegation among those expected to attend.

Barnes and many politicians considered likely candidates to succeed Coverdell have refused to discuss his Senate seat until after the funeral.

The Democratic governor can appoint a temporary successor, and a nonpartisan special election will be held Nov. 7. The winner will serve the final four years of Coverdell’s term.