Posted by Christi Parsons at 2:45 p.m. CST
When he makes the official announcement in February that he will run for president, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) will do so at the Old State Capitol in Springfield, a venue rich with historic and political significance as the site where Abraham Lincoln delivered his famous “House Divided” speech.
The Obama campaign today confirmed the location of the Feb. 10 announcement, when Obama is expected to announce his run for the White House in 2008.
The building served as the center of Illinois government from 1839 to 1876, and Lincoln served there as a state legislator. He used the governor’s rooms as a political headquarters before and after the 1860 presidential election, and his final funeral service was held in the Representatives Hall in May of 1865.
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Comments
So, his last announcement was unofficial?
Posted by: huh? | January 31, 2007 4:46 PM
While the above article claims that Pres. Lincoln's "first funeral service" was held at the old state capitol building in Springfield, that is not true. A funeral service for the martyred president was held in Washington DC on April 19th. See http://showcase.netins.net/web/creative/lincoln/speeches/gurley.htm for the text of the sermon at that funeral.
If the "first funeral" information came from Obama's office, it is as truthful as Obama's pledge, made several times, that he would serve out his full term as senator.
Posted by: Bruce | January 31, 2007 4:58 PM
Bruce is correct about the funeral. The one in the Hall of Representatives was Lincoln's final funeral, not his first. The error was mine, not that of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, which provided the correct information in an interview today. The post has been corrected.
Posted by: Christi Parsons | January 31, 2007 6:42 PM
While it is welcomed that Ms Parsons corrected her first assertion that Lincoln's "first funeral service" was held in the old state house is incorrect, her correction--that Lincoln's "final funeral service" was held there--is also incorrect. Lincoln's body lay in state for visitors there, but on the day of the funeral the body was brought to the cemetery, where the funeral services actually took place. See http://members.aol.com/RVSNorton1/Lincoln51.html.
Posted by: Bruce | January 31, 2007 11:37 PM
Did Obama's folks mention what time this announcement will be made?
Posted by: Eric | February 1, 2007 11:24 AM
The subject is Obama is making his announcement on
Feb 10, 2007.
To further complicate things, "Were You There" when
Lincoln's funeral was held?
Posted by: Calvin Wright | February 1, 2007 12:18 PM
Bruce,
You make a valid point about the factual errors in her story. If a journalist gets the facts wrong (and reporting the facts is there main job, not changing the world), how much do these journalists get wrong when they try to draw conclusions?
Posted by: Terry | February 1, 2007 7:46 PM