First Inauguration Of Abraham Lincoln
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The first inauguration of Abraham Lincoln as the 16th
president of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...
was held on Monday, March 4, 1861, at the East Portico of the
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in
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This was the 19th
inauguration In government and politics, inauguration is the process of swearing a person into office and thus making that person the incumbent. Such an inauguration commonly occurs through a formal ceremony or special event, which may also include an inau ...
and marked the commencement of the first, and eventually only full term of
Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...
as president and the only term of
Hannibal Hamlin Hannibal Hamlin (August 27, 1809 – July 4, 1891) was an American politician and diplomat who was the 15th vice president of the United States, serving from 1861 to 1865, during President Abraham Lincoln's first term. He was the first Republi ...
as
vice president A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...
. The presidential oath of office was administered to Lincoln by Chief Justice
Roger B. Taney Roger Brooke Taney ( ; March 17, 1777 – October 12, 1864) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the fifth Chief Justice of the United States, chief justice of the United States, holding that office from 1836 until his death in 186 ...
. John C. Breckinridge became the first outgoing vice president to administer the vice-presidential oath of office to his successor. This was the first time Lincoln appeared in public with a beard, which he had begun growing after being elected president, in response to a written request by 11-year-old Grace Bedell. This effectively made him the first president to have any
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beyond sideburns. On Inauguration Day, Lincoln's procession to the Capitol was surrounded by heavily armed cavalry and infantry, providing an unprecedented amount of protection for the President-elect as the nation stood on the brink of
war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...
. During the weeks between Lincoln's victory in the
1860 presidential election United States presidential election, Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 6, 1860. The History of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party ticket of Abraham Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin emerged victoriou ...
and Inauguration Day, seven slave states had declared their
secession Secession is the formal withdrawal of a group from a Polity, political entity. The process begins once a group proclaims an act of secession (such as a declaration of independence). A secession attempt might be violent or peaceful, but the goal i ...
from the Union and formed the
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.


Train ride to Washington

An entourage of family and friends left
Springfield, Illinois Springfield is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Illinois. Its population was 114,394 at the 2020 United States census, which makes it the state's List of cities in Illinois, seventh-most populous cit ...
, with President-elect Abraham Lincoln on February 11 to travel by train to Washington, D.C. for the inauguration. This group including his
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, three sons, and brother-in-law, as well as John G. Nicolay, John M. Hay, Ward Hill Lamon, David Davis, Norman B. Judd,
Edwin Vose Sumner Edwin Vose Sumner (January 30, 1797March 21, 1863) was a career United States Army Commissioned officer, officer who became a Union Army General officer, general and the oldest field commander of any Army Corps on either side during the American ...
, as well as his African-American valet and bodyguard, William Henry Johnson. Just before leaving, he gave his farewell address, which was one of Lincoln's most emotional as he and the public knew that he might be killed before he could return to Springfield. Such fears would be realized in 1865 when he was assassinated; he never would return to Springfield alive after his address. For the next ten days, he traveled widely throughout the country, with stops in
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, Columbus,
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,
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, Buffalo, Albany,
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, and south to
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, where on the afternoon of February 21, he pulled into Kensington Station. Lincoln took an open carriage to the Continental Hotel, with almost 100,000 spectators waiting to catch a glimpse of the President-elect. There he met
Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...
Alexander Henry, and delivered some remarks to the crowd outside from a hotel balcony. Lincoln continued on to
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. Then, because of an alleged assassination conspiracy, Lincoln traveled through
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,
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, on a midnight train from Philadelphia, transferring from Baltimore's President Street Station to Camden Station at 3:30 a.m. before finally completing his journey in Washington. Johnson was the only person from the Illinois entourage to travel with Lincoln from Baltimore to Washington.


Plot to seize the District of Columbia and install Breckinridge as president

Stephen Douglas, Lincoln's rival from Illinois, who defeated him for Senator and was defeated by him in the 1860 U.S. presidential election, warned in January 1861 that "a widespread and intricate conspiracy" was planning to seize the District of Columbia and install Breckinridge as president (Lincoln having never arrived in Washington).


See also

* Presidency of Abraham Lincoln * Second inauguration of Abraham Lincoln *
1860 United States presidential election Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 6, 1860. The Republican Party ticket of Abraham Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin emerged victorious in a four-way race. With an electoral majority composed only of Northern states ...
* Lincoln Bible * Abraham Lincoln's first inaugural address


References


External links


More documents
from the ''
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...
''
Text of Lincoln's First Inaugural Address
* {{US inaugurations Inauguration 1861 Lincoln inaug Lincoln inaug Hannibal Hamlin Inauguration addresses by Abraham Lincoln March 1861