First inauguration of Abraham Lincoln

The first inauguration of Abraham Lincoln as the 16th President of the United States was held on Monday, March 4, 1861, at the East Portico of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. This was the 19th inauguration and marked the commencement of the first term of Abraham Lincoln as President and the only term of Hannibal Hamlin as Vice President. The presidential oath of office was administered to Lincoln by Roger B. Taney, the Chief Justice of the United States.[2] John C. Breckinridge became the first outgoing vice president to administer the vice-presidential oath of office to his successor.

First Presidential Inauguration of Abraham Lincoln
Lincoln swearing-in at the partly finished Capitol building.
DateMarch 2, 1861 (1861-03-02) (Hamlin)[1]
March 4, 1861 (1861-03-04) (Lincoln)
LocationUnited States Capitol,
Washington, D.C.
ParticipantsAbraham Lincoln
16th President of the United States
— Assuming office
Roger Brooke Taney
Chief Justice of the United States
— Administering oath
Hannibal Hamlin
15th Vice President of the United States
— Assuming office
John Cabell Breckinridge
14th Vice President of the United States
— Administering oath
This article is part of
a series about
Abraham Lincoln
President of the United States
First term
Second term
Presidential elections
Assassination and legacy

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 facial hair 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. During the 16 weeks between Lincoln's victory in the 1860 presidential election and Inauguration Day, seven slave states had declared their secession from the Union and formed the Confederate States of America.

Train ride to Washington
Further information: Abraham Lincoln's Farewell Address

An entourage of family and friends left Springfield, Illinois with Lincoln on February 11 to travel by train to Washington, D.C. for the inauguration. This group including his wife, 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,[3] as well as his African-American valet and bodyguard, William Henry Johnson.[4]

For the next ten days, he traveled widely throughout the country, with stops in Indianapolis, Columbus, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Buffalo, Albany, New York City, and south to Philadelphia, 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 Alexander Henry, and delivered some remarks to the crowd outside from a hotel balcony.[3] Lincoln continued on to Harrisburg. Then, because of an alleged assassination conspiracy, Lincoln traveled through Baltimore, Maryland on a special train in the middle of the night transferring from the President Street Station to the Camden Station at 3:30 a.m., [5][6][7] before finally completing his journey in Washington. Johnson was the only person from the Illinois entourage to travel with Lincoln from Baltimore to Washington.[4]

See also

References
  1. "A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774-1875. Senate Journal --SATURDAY, March 2, 1861". American Memory. Library of Congress. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
  2. "The 19th Presidential Inauguration: Abraham Lincoln, March 04, 1861". United States Senate. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
  3. Hoch, Bradley R. (2001). The Lincoln Trail in Pennsylvania: A History and Guide. Penn State University Press. ISBN 978-0-271-02119-5.
  4. Paradis, James M. (August 7, 2012). African Americans and the Gettysburg Campaign. Scarecrow Press. p. 82. ISBN 978-0-8108-8336-9.
  5. The Thwarted Plot to Kill Lincoln on the Streets of Baltimore, Boundary Stones, WETA's Washington DC History Blog
  6. The Unsuccessful Plot to Kill Abraham Lincoln, Smithsonian magazine, Daniel Stashower
  7. The Baltimore Plot, The First Conspiracy to Assassinate Abraham Lincoln, Michael J. Kline, Chapter 16, An Unexpected Arrival, pg. 258-259
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.