File video of former Gov. Earnest Vandiver speaking to supporters S. Earnest Vandiver Vintage Portrait S. Earnest Vandiver

The public viewing is part of a series events to remember the life of the man who won office vowing "no, not one" black child would integrate a Georgia classroom, but went on to preside over peaceful desegregation.

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Former governors Jimmy Carter, Roy Barnes and Carl Sanders attended the memorial, which prompted lawmakers to suspend their daily business while they viewing was going on.

Members of the Georgia State Patrol carried the casket into the rotunda, which was then guarded by state patrol troopers and units from the Georgia Army National Guard and Georgia Air National Guard.

His wife, Betty, watched the casket as it was taken into the Capitol.

Vandiver's passing prompted kind words from those who knew him or his political legend.

"I admired his political ability," Carter said. "I don't think any other governor has done as well as he did when he ran for governor."

"All our thoughts are going toward the family members," said Rep. Brian Thomas. "

Vandiver, 86, died Monday evening, the family said Tuesday through Gov. Sonny Perdue's office.

Perdue ordered state flags lowered to half-staff.

Governor from 1959 to 1963, Vandiver had been elected on an anti-integration platform, but at a critical moment persuaded lawmakers to repeal a law requiring schools to be closed rather than desegregated.

The Democrat's stand was credited with sparing Georgia the turbulence that swept much of the rest of the South in that period, but it cost him political support. He left office when his four-year term ended, and said later that keeping the schools open was "my political suicide."

His "no, not one" phrase had been devised by Vandiver's strategists to counter criticism from pro-segregation voters after he had said integration of Georgia's schools should "evolve." Years later, he acknowledged the speech was probably unnecessary, since he was virtually assured of election as the front runner against a weak field.

Once elected, Vandiver quickly found himself facing a series of federal court rulings that forced the integration first of Atlanta public schools and then of the University of Georgia.

Complying with the integration orders, however, meant schools would be closed because of a 1955 law requiring state funds to be cut off to any college or school admitting a black student.

To cool charged emotions, Vandiver appointed a special commission that held hearings throughout the state.

Then, days after the courts ordered the desegregation of the University of Georgia in 1961, Vandiver called a special nighttime session of the Legislature and persuaded lawmakers to repeal the 1955 antidesegregation law.

"His decision in the early 1960s to keep the University of Georgia open -- when overwhelming public sentiment was to close it because of integration -- was an act of courage," former Democratic Gov. Roy Barnes said Tuesday.

The body of former Gov. Earnest Vandiver lies in state at the Capitol. Earnest Vandiver Lies in State Close up

Vandiver, a courtly man with a distinctive drawl and wavy hair, put things in a slightly different light.

"I never thought the majority of the people fully supported our (open schools) position, but I figured I was through in politics anyway," he said years later.

Vandiver ran unsuccessfully for the Senate in 1972, and he blamed his defeat on the "No, not one" statement. "I don't think blacks ever got over the statement I made in the 1958 gubernatorial race," he said.

In 2001, at a ceremony marking the 40th anniversary of the University of Georgia's integration, Vandiver declared, "When I ran for governor, I made some intemperate remarks. They shouldn't have been made."

After leaving the governor's office, Vandiver served as chairman of a Lavonia bank and farmed cattle.

Survivors include his widow, Betty; a son and two daughters, including state Rep. Jane Vandiver Kidd; and four grandchildren.

List of Events to Honor Vandiver:

Wednesday 11 a.m., casket is received at the west entrance of the state Capitol by Gov. Sonny Perdue, other state officials and an honor guard and is taken to the Capitol Rotunda, where a brief memorial service will be conducted. 11 a.m. to 2 p.m, the former governor will lie in state, guarded by units of the Georgia Army National Guard, Georgia Air National Guard and Georgia State Patrol. 2 p.m., the casket is taken to a waiting motorcade at the west entrance for a return to Hamby Funeral Home in Lavonia. 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., the Vandiver family receives mourners at the Hamby Funeral Home. Thursday 11 a.m., funeral services will be held at Lavonia First Baptist Church, 5681 Vickery St., Lavonia, led by the church's pastor, Dr. Larry Finger, and former pastor, Rev. Richard Bilski. Interment will be at the Lavonia City-Burgess Cemetery. Memorials

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations in his memory to Lavonia First Baptist Church, PO Box 47, Lavonia, Ga., 30553, or Lavonia Carnegie Library, 28 Hartwell Rd., Lavonia, Ga., 30553.

Channel 2 Action News reporter Carrie Edwards contributed to this report.