The Abraham Lincoln Center
for Leadership and Public Policy

Matthew Brady, Mary Lincoln. Glass negative, c. 1860-1864. Brady-Handy Photograph Collection. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Journalist and author of An Inconvenient Widow: The Torment, Trial, and Triumph of Mary Todd Lincoln, Lois Romano, provides this week's In Pursuit Lesson from the American Experiment by examining Mary's resilence in light of the unfathomable burdens she carried in a life marked by great loss and pain. To access Romano's Lesson on Ma

Lincoln Memorial, Washington, D.C. Former President Barack Obama has penned a recent entry on Abraham Lincoln for In Pursuit's "Lessons from the American Experiment" as part of its educational initiative in commemoration of America's Semiquincentennial. To access President Obama's Lincoln Lesson, click here.

Cover Image from In Pursuit, Lessons from the American Experiment America's Semiquincentennial not only marks the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 2026, but also serves as a nationwide milestone to celebrate lessons from the American experiment. One of the many initiatives that seeks to engage Americans over the course of this multi-year celebration of American history is "In Pursuit," a new initiative from More Perfect. Led by th

Freedmen's Memorial, Lincoln Park, Washington, D.C. This April 11th marked the 150th anniversary of the dedication of the Freedmen's Memorial located in Lincoln Park, just east of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. This statues was funded by former slaves to honor President Abraham Lincoln for breaking the chains of slavery and gave them their freedom. At the dedication in 1876, Frederick Douglass was the keynote speaker and, in attendance, was President Ulysses S.

Historian Kenneth W. Noe and his most recent book, Abraham Lincoln and the Heroic Legend: Reconsidering Lincoln as a Commander In Chief Each year, Abraham Lincoln's birthday coincides with the release of a number of new books on numerous aspects of the nation's sixteenth president. One of the more interesting titles published this year includes historian Kenneth W. Noe's, Abraham Lincoln a

The first known photograph of Abraham Lincoln taken by Nicholas H. Shepherd in 1846. 188 years today, 28-year-old state legislator and lawyer, Abraham Lincoln, delivered his first significant speech to the Young Men's Lyceum in Springfield, Illinois. Lincoln's Lyceum Address was titled, "The Perpetuation of Our Political Institutions." The young Whig added his voice to a swelling chorus of Americans denouncing mob violence in the nation. The principal cause of this violence w