Presidential Documents

21151 

Federal Register 

Vol. 80, No. 74 

Friday, April 17, 2015 

Title 3— 

The President 

Proclamation 9256 of April 14, 2015 

Day of Remembrance for President Abraham Lincoln 

By the President of the United States of America 

A Proclamation 

President Abraham Lincoln believed that we are, at heart, one Nation and 

one people. At a time when America was torn apart and our very future 

was in doubt, he knew our country was more than a collection of States, 

and that we shared a bond that would not break. One hundred fifty years 

after President Lincoln’s death, Americans join together across the Union 

he saved to honor his memory and celebrate the freedom for which he 

gave his last full measure of devotion. 

A self-taught man, rugged rail-splitter, and humble lawyer from Springfield, 

Illinois, President Lincoln believed in the fierce independence that lies 

at the heart of the American experience. But he also knew that together, 

we can do great things—that it is through the accumulated toil and sacrifice 

of ordinary women and men that our country is perfected and our liberty 

preserved. 

President Lincoln understood the immense sacrifices required to give meaning to our founding principles. With enduring faith and steady resolve, 

he led our Nation through Civil War, knowing the blood shed was in 

painful service to those same ideals. He sought to reunite our people not 

only in Government, but also in a freedom that knew no bounds of color 

or creed. It was in this spirit that he issued the Emancipation Proclamation, 

forever joining the cause of our Union with the advancement of liberty. 

As our Nation gave birth to a new era of freedom, President Lincoln charted 

a course that would help bind the wounds of a divided country and bring 

healing to a people who desperately needed it. 

Even while his Presidency was characterized by war, his ambition was 

a just and lasting peace. Amid the discord of great conflict, President Lincoln 

demonstrated the wisdom to look forward. He knew a united America could 

serve the hopes of all its people if they seized the opportunity of their 

time. He established land-grant colleges and committed to a railroad connecting East to West, even as he fought to hold together North and South. 

He fueled new enterprises with a national currency, spurred innovation, 

and ignited America’s imagination with a National Academy of Sciences. 

As we reflect on the Great Emancipator, we are reminded that we will 

be remembered for what we choose to make of the moment we are given. 

President Lincoln has passed on a tremendous legacy to us, and we too 

are called to do great things. His example gives us confidence that whatever 

trials await us, this Nation and the freedom we cherish can, and will, 

prevail. Today, we reflect on the extraordinary progress he made possible, 

and with one voice, we rededicate ourselves to the work of ensuring a 

Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish 

from the earth. 

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States 

of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution 

and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim April 15, 2015, 

as a Day of Remembrance for President Abraham Lincoln. I call upon all 

Americans to honor his life and legacy with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities. I also call upon the Governors of the United States 


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21152 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 74 / Friday, April 17, 2015 / Presidential Documents 

and its Territories, and appropriate officials of all units of government, 

to direct that the flag be flown at half-staff on the Day of Remembrance 

for President Abraham Lincoln. I further encourage all Americans to display 

the flag at half-staff from their homes and businesses on that day. 

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this fourteenth day 

of April, in the year of our Lord two thousand fifteen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-ninth. 

[FR Doc. 2015–09018 

Filed 4–16–15; 8:45 am] 

Billing code 3295–F5 


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