Obama to announce at Illinois' Old State Capitol: Lincoln associations but others too
By announcing his presidential intentions on Saturday at the Old State Capitol in Springfield, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama is wrapping himself in the mystique of Abraham Lincoln.
The crimson-domed Old State Capitol, just east of the present Illinois capitol, is where Lincoln served his fourth and final term as a state representative in 1840-41. And it's where, in 1858, in a debate with Stephen Douglas during their campaign battle for the U.S. Senate, Lincoln gave his "House Divided" speech...
Such Lincoln associations are golden in American politics.
But the Old State Capitol has other, less attractive associations as well.
A plaque, on a kiosk in the plaza just south of the building, commemorates the spot as "the departure point of the Donner Party on April 15, 1846, for their ill-fated trip to California."...
Read entire article at Chicago Tribune
The crimson-domed Old State Capitol, just east of the present Illinois capitol, is where Lincoln served his fourth and final term as a state representative in 1840-41. And it's where, in 1858, in a debate with Stephen Douglas during their campaign battle for the U.S. Senate, Lincoln gave his "House Divided" speech...
Such Lincoln associations are golden in American politics.
But the Old State Capitol has other, less attractive associations as well.
A plaque, on a kiosk in the plaza just south of the building, commemorates the spot as "the departure point of the Donner Party on April 15, 1846, for their ill-fated trip to California."...