WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush bowed his head in silence on Monday before the flag-draped casket of Gerald R. Ford, joining thousands of mourners who paid their respects to the man who guided the nation after the tumultuous Watergate years.

Silence fell under the Capitol dome when the president and his wife, Laura, walked toward the casket, illuminated by spotlights and guarded at each corner by members of a military honor guard. The president, who will eulogize Ford on Tuesday, said nothing during the brief, one-minute visit Monday.

As three days of public viewing drew to a close, Ford