By Dave Dahl
SPRINGFIELD – Many fans and scholars of Abraham Lincoln will tell you his Second Inaugural speech is one of his best, if not the best.
The speech, delivered as the Civil War was ending and a month before he was assassinated in 1865, holds meaning for U.S. Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie, who told reporters Wednesday at Camp Butler National Cemetery in Springfield, “Lincoln’s words as president need to be repeated over and over.” The commitment Lincoln had to soldiers – and their widows and orphans – is leading VA to place plaques at all federal military cemeteries, starting with the one in Lincoln’s hometown.
During his address at the dedication, Wilkie quoted then-President Harry Truman’s remarks at Christmas 1945 – the first since the end of World War II – “During these times of great concern, when we think about our destiny, we only have to look to Washington and Lincoln.”
Added Don Monroe, an historian at Millikin University in Decatur, “His death marked the beginning of a difficult and ongoing struggle for civil rights for all Americans; a struggle in which we are continuously engaged and for which Lincoln contended. He supported – and died supporting – what Frederick Douglass called ‘the saving principles of the Declaration of Independence.’”
Monroe also said Lincoln found the Civil War to be the result of some people’s refusal to accept the results of an election.
Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected]
