Remarks as Prepared for Delivery
The Honorable Ken Salazar, Secretary of the Interior
Ford’s Theater, Feb. 11, 2008
Thank you, Paul. It is an honor to be here today with leaders of the District of Columbia, Ford’s Theater Society, Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Campaign and Interior’s own National Park Service.
I’d like to think that the spirit of President Abraham Lincoln is here with us today to celebrate not only his 200th birthday but the re-opening of Ford’s Theater. I think he would have liked to experience how a wonderful partnership has brought this theater and its educational programs into the 21st century.
Whether or not one believes in the often-told story of The Lincoln Ghost in
the White House, it’s fair to say that a number of past Presidents have
felt his presence in the White House or even here at Ford’s Theatre.
At least one President—President John F. Kennedy—admitted to seeking
Lincoln’s counsel in his thoughts. Our new President, whose friendship
I have cherished since we joined the Senate together, has long studied Abe
Lincoln’s life and leadership.
His admiration of Lincoln stems not only from shared Illinois roots but also from great respect for his wisdom in a time of great turmoil.
President Obama, as you know, retraced Lincoln’s train trip to Washington before his Inauguration and then took his oath of office on the same Bible used by President Lincoln.
On display here in this lobby is the Great Coat made by the Brooks Brothers for President Lincoln. The coat helps us imagine just a bit of the larger-than-life stature of President Lincoln. Although he wore the Great Coat on the night he was assassinated here at Ford’s Theater, the garment symbolizes much more than his martyrdom for a united nation.
President Lincoln also wore the coat on the occasion of his second Inauguration where he gave his famous “With malice toward none, with charity for all” speech.
In a call for unity that could apply to current politics as much as it did to those in the 19th century, President Lincoln called for binding up the nation’s wounds and “doing all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.”
On the heels of our nation’s bloody Civil War, Lincoln called for unity
and change. He called for former enemies to become partners in rebuilding our
nation.
Like Lincoln, President Obama faces the challenges of war and economic
turmoil. But he is also calling for unity. He is also calling for change.
“On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear,
unity of purpose over conflict and discord,” President Obama
said in his Inaugural speech on Jan. 20 of this year..
President Obama also said these words that may one day be considered as historic
as those of Lincoln:
“We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of
this Earth and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation,
and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help
but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that …our common
humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering
in a new era of peace.”
The understanding of our common humanity and how unity and needed change go
hand-in-hand is part of understanding Lincoln. Thus, it is part of the
educational mission of Ford’s Theater.
It is the reason that preservation and renovation of Ford’s Theatre represents
an integral part of the tapestry of our nation’s heritage.
For more than 40 years, the National Park Service and the Ford's Theatre Society
have worked together in partnership to manage, develop and present innovative
and informative education programs and productions for people of all ages.
This latest 18-month theatre renovation of the American treasure before us
today has been an investment by both the federal government and the society.
Today, the National Park Service is as equally invested in this partnership
as we were when it began in 1967.
In October 2008, the NPS restructured its organizational hierarchy identifying
Ford’s Theater National Historic Site as an independent unit of the National
Park System to be managed by an on-site superintendent. Kym Elder, the first
superintendent, is here with us today.
This public private partnership has proved to be beneficial to its stakeholders
and more importantly to the American public. Let us work to use this
partnership as a model for others to follow in helping the Department of the
Interior become the Department of America.
As President Obama says, leaders are only as good as the people whose work
they depend on. In the 21st century, the public and private sectors need
to work together, to bring about change through unity. Once again, we must
all become partners in rebuilding our nation.