Joint resolution to create a joint committee to commemorate the one hundredth anniversary of the first inaugural of Abraham Lincoln
PL 87-1 (H.J.Res.155), enacted 03/01/1961

Public Laws 
ENACTED DURING THE 
FIRST SESSION OF THE EIGHTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS 
OF THE 
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday, January 3, 1961, and adjourned 
sine die on Wednesday, September 27, 1961. 
Until noon January 
20, 1961, DWIGHT 
D. EISENHOWER, President; 
RICHARD M . NIXON, Vice President; 
SAM RAYBURN, 
Speaker of the House of Representatives; from January 20, 1961, JOHN F . KENNEDY, 
President; LYNDON B . JOHNSON, Vice President; SAM RAYBURN, Speaker of the House 
of Representatives. 
Public Law 87-1 
JOINT RESOLUTION 
March 1, 1961 
To create a joint committee to commemorate the one hundredth anniversary 
iH' J» Re». 155] 
of the first inaugural of Abraham Lincoln. 
Whereas Saturday, March 4, 1961, will mark the centenary of 
Abraham Lincoln's taking the oath of office as sixteenth President 
of the United States; and 
Whereas the anniversary will be widely observed and noted through-
out this land and overseas; and 
Whereas the occasion will coincide with exercises commemorative of 
the American Civil War of 1861-1865; and 
Whereas Mr. Lincoln stood at the head of the Government of the 
United States and its Armed Forces during those years of tragedy 
and travail; and 
Whereas he foresaw the difficulty of the task before him as "greater 
than that which rested on Washington"; and 
Whereas he sought the guidance of Almighty God, saying, "Without 
the assistance of that Divine Being . . . I cannot succeed. 
With 
that assistance I cannot fail."; and 
Whereas one who stood in the audience at his first inauguration would 
later write, "the shouts which have resounded for him at the Capitol 
are still ringing in my ears."; and 
Whereas from a wooden platform, projected from the eastern 
portico, beneath an unfinished dome, he pleaded and reasoned that 
day for reconciliation and the preservation of the Union, saying: 
PUBLIC LAW 87.1-MAR. 1, 1961 
[75 ST A T . 
Abra h a m 
L1 n-
coln's first inau-
guration. 
Centennial. 
Committee on ar-
rangements. 
Planning of cere-
mony. 
"I take the official oath today, with no mental reservations, and 
with no purpose to construe the Constitution or laws, by any hyper-
critical rules . . . . 
I hold, that in contemplation of universal law, 
and of the Constitution, the Union of these States is per-
petual . . . . 
It is safe to say that no government proper, ever 
had a provision in its organic law for its own termination 
. . . . 
Before entering upon so grave a matter as the destruction of our 
national fabric, with all its benefits, its memories, and its hopes, 
would it not be wise to ascertain precisely why we do it ? Will you 
hazard so desperate a step, while there is any possibility that any 
portion of the ills you fly from, have no real existence ? Will you, 
while the certain ills you fly to, are greater than all the real ones 
you fly from ? Will you risk the commission of so fearful a mis-
take? . . . Physically speaking, we cannot separate. We cannot 
remove our respective sections from each other, nor build an im-
passable wall between them. A husband and wire may be divorced, 
and go out of the presence, and beyond the reach of each other; but 
the different parts of our country cannot do this. They cannot but 
remain face to face; and intercourse, either amicable or hostile, must 
continue between them . . . . 
We are not enemies, but friends. 
We 
must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must 
not break our bonds of affection. 
The mystic cords of memory, 
stretching from every battlefield, and patriot grave, to every living 
heart and hearthstone, all over this broad land, will yet swell the 
chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by 
the better angels of our nature."; and 
Whereas the better angels do, in fact, touch us: Now, therefore, be it 
Resol'ved hy the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled^ That on Saturday, March i 
next, the one hundredth anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's first in-
auguration shall be commemorated by such observance as may be de-
termined by the committee on arrangements in cooperation with the 
national Civil War Centennial Commission, the Civil War Centennial 
Commission of the District of Columbia, and the Lincoln Group of the 
District of Columbia. 
Immediately uj)on passage of this resolution, the President of the 
Senate shall appoint four Members of the Senate and the Speaker of 
the House shall appoint four Members of the House of Representa-
tives jointly to constitute a committee on arrangements. 
Immediately upon passage of this resolution and after the Members 
of the Senate and House have been appointed, the Speaker shall direct 
the committee on arrangements to meet and select a chairman from 
one of their own group and such other officers as will be appropriate 
and needed who will immediately proceed to plan, in cooperation 
with the national Civil War Centennial Commission, the Civil War 
Centennial Commission of the District of Columbia and the Lincoln 
Group of the District of Columbia, an appropriate ceremony, issue 
invitations to the President of the United States, the Vice President 
of the United States, Secretaries of departments, heads of independent 
agencies, offices, and commissions, the Chief Justice and Associate 
Justices of the Supreme Court, the diplomatic corps, assistant heads 
of departments, Commissioners of the District of Columbia, members 
of the Lincoln Group of the District of Columbia, centennial com-
missions from the various States, Civil War roundtables, State and 
local historical and patriotic societies, and such other students and 
75 S T A T . ] 
PUBLIC LAW 87-3-MAR. 22, 1961 
scholars in the field of history as may have a special interest in the 
occasion, organize a reenactment of Mr. Lincoln's first inauguration 
on the eastern portico of the Capitol, select a speaker and other par-
ticipants, prepare and publish a program and submit a report not 
later than June 1,1961. 
Approved March 1, 1961. 
Report. 
Public Law 87-2 
AN ACT 
To authorize the distribution of copies of the Congressional Record to former 
Members of Congress requesting such copies. 
March 21, 1961 
[S. 45 I] 
Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the 
United States of America in Congress assemhled^ That section 73 of 
the Printing Act, approved January 12, 1895, as amended (44 U.S.C. 
183), is amended by inserting after the paragraph relating to 
ex-Presidents and ex-Vice Presidents a new paragraph as follows: 
"To each former Senator, Kepresentative in Congress, Delegate 
from a territory, or Commissioner from Puerto Rico, upon request 
to the Public Printer, one copy of the daily." 
Approved March 21, 1961. 
Congres a I o n a 1 
Record. 
Distribution to 
former Members of 
Congress. 
49 Stat. 1549. 
Public Law 87-3 
AN ACT 
To authorize the appointment of Dwight David P^isenhower to the active list 
of the Regular Army, and for other purposes. 
March 22, 1961 
[S. 1173] 
Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the 
United States of Atnerica in Congress assembled, That the President 
of the United States is authorized to appoint former President Dwight 
David Eisenhower to the active list of the Regular Army in his former 
grade of General of the Army with his former date of rank in such 
grade. 
Dwight David Eisenhower, as a former President entitled to 
a monetary allowance and other benefits by the Act of August 25, 
1958 (Public Law" 85-745), shall not be entitled to the pay or allow-
ances of a General of the Army. 
SEC. 2. The Secretary of Defense is authorized to assign military 
assistants to Dwight David Eisenhower as General of the Army. The 
amount authorized to be expended per annum by the Administrator 
of General Services under section (b) of the Act of August 25, 1958 
(Public Law 85-745) to provide an office staff for a former President 
of the United States shall be reduced by the sum of the pay and 
allowances of any such military assistants so assigned. 
SEC. 3. Nothing herein contained shall be construed as in any way 
affecting or limiting the benefits provided the widow of any former 
President under the Act of August 25, 1958 (Public I^w^ 85-745). 
Approved March 22, 1961. 
Dwlgfat I>. Elsen-
hower. 
Regular 
Army, 
active list. 
72 Stat. »38. 
3 u s e 102 note.