and recommended the formation of an agency with a similar role to the Department of Homeland Security. He was treated for cancer in the last years of his life, although he claimed in 2003 that it wasn't "highly malignant". Exon died of natural causes at Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital in Lincoln, Nebraska on June 10, 2005. He was the first person to lie in state for public viewing in the rotunda of the State Capitol building. References Further reading Duane Hutchinson, Exon: Biography of a Governor Foundation Books 1973 External links The Exon Library Exon's Congressional biography New York Times article on Exon's death Los Angeles Times article on Exon's death Political Graveyard article on James Exon at the Nebraska State Historical Society 1921 births 2005 deaths Democratic Party governors of Nebraska People from Charles Mix County, South Dakota United States Army personnel of World War II United States Army soldiers Democratic Party United States senators from Nebraska 20th-century American politicians University of Nebraska Omaha alumni United States Army reservists 20th-century American Episcopalians