[United States Statutes at Large, Volume 125, 112th Congress, 1st Session]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

 
Proclamation 8636 of March 4, 2011

150th Anniversary of the Inauguration of Abraham Lincoln
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
President Abraham Lincoln is revered in American history as the leader
who held together a fractured country and liberated millions from
slavery. His words are memorized by America's schoolchildren, and his
name is synonymous with freedom and unity. One hundred fifty years ago,
on March 4, 1861, this self-taught man, rugged rail-splitter, and humble
lawyer from Springfield, Illinois, was sworn in as our Nation's 16th
President under an unfinished dome of the United States Capitol, with
the storm clouds of civil war gathering.
President Lincoln reminded us in his Inaugural Address that America's
Union was much older than the Constitution itself, and that our national
fabric had been stitched together by shared memories and common hopes.
As we observe the 150th anniversary of his Inauguration, we reflect on
his unceasing belief and our enduring faith that we remain one Nation
and one people, sharing a bond as Americans that will never break.
Through simple eloquence and humble leadership marked by profound
wisdom--both on his Inauguration day and throughout the coming
conflict--President Lincoln charted a course to transcend our discord
and bind the wounds of a severed country. From the principles he set
forth in the Emancipation Proclamation to his transformative address on
the fields of Gettysburg, President Lincoln showed us how to preserve
and perfect ``the last, best hope of Earth.'' His actions and his memory
enabled America to move beyond a young collection of States

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to become a free and unified Nation, striving for the promises and
principles for which so many fought and died.
Our revered 16th President taught us that we are more than North and
South, black and white--we are one, and we are all Americans. The forces
that divide us are not stronger than the forces that unite us, and the
``new birth of freedom'' President Lincoln called for still echoes in
each of our hearts. Today, we live in the Union he saved, inheritors of
the freedoms and progress for which he served. Through the ages, Abraham
Lincoln calls us to take a renewed devotion to the unfinished work
remaining before our Nation--joining together across all divides to
ensure that ``government of the people, by the people, for the people''
endures in our time.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of
America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and
the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim March 4, 2011, as a
day to celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the Inauguration of Abraham
Lincoln. I call upon all Americans to observe this day with appropriate
programs, ceremonies, and activities that honor his memory and uphold
the principles he so nobly advanced.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this fourth day of
March, in the year of our Lord two thousand eleven, and of the
Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-
fifth.
BARACK OBAMA