Lincoln's First Inaugural

One hundred fifty years ago today, March 4, 1861, Abraham Lincoln stood at the Capitol of the United States, and took the oath of office making him president.

Lincoln faced a huge crisis. As he said that day, disunion was "formidably attempted." A belt of states from South Carolina to Texas had passed secession ordinances, and had already set up their own republic, the Confederate States of America. James Buchanan, the outgoing president, had done nothing to hinder them.

Lincoln insisted in his inaugural address that the union established a century earlier was unbroken. He said the new administration would continue to enforce the laws of the United States and continue to occupy federal property in the rebellious parts of the country. He did acknowledge that some disruption must be accepted.

What is worth noting today is the wonderfully eloquent last paragraph of the speech. Unable to improve upon it or paraphrase it, I just quote it here and let Lincoln speak for himself.

"I am loth to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battle-field, and patriot grave, to every living heart and hearth-stone, all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature."