McClellan said the White House "reached out" to Carter, but he would not explain why Carter was not going along.

A spokesman at The Carter Center in Atlanta, Jon Moore, said Carter — relishing the memories of two visits as president with the pontiff — had told the White House he wanted to go to the funeral. Upon learning that the Vatican was limiting the U.S. delegation to five people and that "there were also others who were eager to attend," Carter was "quite willing" to withdraw his request, Moore said.

"He and his wife Rosalynn are very pleased with the official delegation," Moore said of Carter.

Former President Ford, who lives in California, is 91 and no longer travels extensively.

Bush talked about the pope at both his public appearances Tuesday, during a Social Security speech in Parkersburg, W.Va., and later after a Cabinet meeting at the White House.

"What a great man," Bush said. "It will be my honor to represent our country at a ceremony marking a remarkable life — a person who stood for freedom and human dignity."

Clinton spokesman Jim Kennedy said the former president's doctors had given him clearance to fly to Rome. Clinton had surgery a month ago in New York to deal with a rare complication from a heart bypass operation six months earlier. His doctors originally told him he would need four to six weeks at home, but he traveled by train to Washington last week to collect an award for his work on AIDS.

Bush is leaving Washington for Rome on Wednesday, and was to spend Thursday meeting with Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi and Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi. The president planned to leave Italy immediately after the funeral to spend the weekend at his ranch in Texas.

Bush will be the first sitting president to attend a pope's funeral. The pontiff died on Saturday, ending more than a quarter-century as leader of the Catholic Church.

Bush met with the pope three times during his presidency. The pontiff was quick to tell Bush about his deep disagreement with the war in Iraq, the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. troops and Bush's support for the death penalty. During their final meeting last June, Bush presented the pope with the Medal of Freedom and the pope responded by reading a statement that said he had "grave concern" about events in Iraq.

© 2005 Associated Press.

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