Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Inaugural Ceremony
February 12, 2008
Hodgenville, Kentucky
The Honorable Steve Beshear
Governor of Kentucky
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A native of Dawson Springs, Kentucky, Governor Steve Beshear is dedicated to achieving the priorities of sustainable economic growth, lifelong learning opportunities, and affordable health care for America’s “first frontier.” |
Remarks of
The Honorable Steve Beshear
Governor of Kentucky
Prepared for delivery
February 12, 2008
Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site
Hodgenville, Kentucky
Welcome to the Commonwealth of Kentucky for the opening of the nation’s two-year celebration of the man many people call our greatest president.
The setting is fitting.
An array of states claim Abraham Lincoln as their own. Here in Kentucky, we’re proud to be considered first.
President Lincoln’s Kentucky ties are numerous and strong:
Here in tiny Hodgenville – then Hodgen’s Mill – Lincoln was born in 1809 in humble surroundings on Sinking Spring Farm, in a rude cabin similar to the one enshrined here.
Years earlier Kentucky’s soil had absorbed the spilled blood of Lincoln’s grandfather, the captain after whom the president was named, when he was killed in an Indian attack.
Here too was later buried his younger brother, Thomas, who like many frontier children never made it out of childhood.
Here in Kentucky the young Abe Lincoln first attended school in a log building, before the demands of a hard-scrabble farm life interfered and he was kept home to till the rich Kentucky earth.
Here the Lincolns attended church, Little Mount Baptist Church, and saw firsthand the evils of slavery.
From Kentucky came Lincoln’s wife, Mary Todd, and his wife’s family, the wealthy and highly respected Todds … a family whose division during the agonizing Civil War was a microcosm of the split that rent the entire nation.
Here was born Lincoln’s best friend and confidant, Joshua Speed, and Speed’s brother James, who later became Lincoln’s attorney general.
From Kentucky too came his three law partners, John Todd Stuart, Stephen T. Logan and William H. Herndon.
And from Kentucky came Lincoln’s political idol, Henry Clay, whom Lincoln borderline worshipped and whom he once famously called a “beau ideal of a statesman.”
In short, here in the Bluegrass State were cast the first molds that shaped the life of the man the nation, indeed the world, now reveres.
Later today we will unveil the first marker on a new Heritage Trail that will pay homage to the various places, people, events and social forces in Kentucky that influenced Lincoln.
The trail and Kentucky’s signature Lincoln historic sites recognize that, as Lincoln himself wrote, “I, too, am a Kentuckian.”
But Kentucky gladly shares him.
For no one state can rightfully claim sole ownership of the president whose bold leadership and undaunted courage guided this country through some of its darkest and most difficult days.
Lincoln belongs to all of us.
And our reverence remains strong.
From his humble birth to his violent death, the legends surrounding our nation ’s 16th president – legends that as we know have sometimes been buoyed by utter myth – have over the years only increased in intensity.
Honest Abe. … The rail-splitter. … The Great Emancipator who freed the nation of its social shame. … The passionate orator. … The boy who worked to pay for a borrowed book ruined by the rain.
Lincoln’s different faces resonate inside each of us.
Kentucky is proud and honored to have been chosen to kick off this two-year commemoration, a commemoration that will include symposiums, TV programs, exhibits, re-enactments, music and an array of other events.
May these events rejuvenate Lincoln’s legacy.
May his memory shine bright, his ideals stand firm and his achievements never be forgotten.
Lincoln’s words – from the Gettysburg Address to his inaugural addresses – have long inspired this nation.
I find his words at Cooper Union in New York, in an 1860 speech that propelled him to the presidential nomination, to be a fitting prayer of guidance for those of us called to lead in difficult times.
Said Lincoln: “Let us have faith that right makes might, and in that faith let us, to the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it.”
Thank you for listening, and for coming.
