The Concert

2009 Features

Lincoln's Legacy

The United States Capitol, or “the people’s house”, is where our diverse country comes together, as one union, indivisible. This year, we celebrate the 200th birthday of the man most responsible for preserving that union.  So immense were Abraham Lincoln’s achievements that he has become an iconic, almost mythic hero.  But Lincoln’s own words reveal a very human man – weary but wise, vulnerable but determined.

On this year’s National Memorial Day Concert, co-host Joe Mantega, award-winning actor Laurence Fishburne, acclaimed opera singer Denyce Graves and the National Symphony Orchestra pay tribute to Abraham Lincoln and his legacy.

Abraham Lincoln overcame great personal obstacles in his rise from backwoods boy to President – only to be confronted with an entire nation on the verge of disaster. He had hoped to save the Union without war – he hated war – but “the war came.”

On March 4, 1865, the day of Abraham Lincoln’s second inauguration, fully half of the crowd was African-American -- freed slaves. In his short speech, the re-elected President focused not on victory, but on compassion:

“With malice toward none, with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan – to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations.”

These powerful words have been a primary inspiration for the National Memorial Day Concert since its inaugural 20 years ago. Please join us in reaching out to our service men and women, wounded veterans, their families and the families of the fallen.

Discover practical ways to put Lincoln’s words and legacy into action.