President Abraham Lincoln died April 15, 1865

One hundred fifty-two years ago today, on April 15, 1865, President Lincoln died shortly after 7:00 in the morning.  The President had been shot in the back of the head the night before while he attended a play at Ford's theater.  Then, as now, Christians around the world and in the United States were observing Holy Saturday.  President Lincoln had been shot on Good Friday.  With the shooting happening on Good Friday, there were some comparisons between Christ's death and President Lincoln's death.  Christ died to atone for the sins of the world and President Lincoln died to atone for the sins of his country.

The United States does not commemorate and/or remember either the day President Lincoln was shot nor the day he died in any special way.  There is no mention of either day on the calendar.   Perhaps those two days have faded from the collective memory of the country as those who had been alive at the time passed away.  Now only those groups dedicated to preserving the memory of the sixteenth President commemorate April 14 and April 15.  Perhaps the same will be said in the future of November 22, 1963, and the assassination of President Kennedy.  As those of us who were alive at the time of President Kennedy's death pass on, so too may the yearly recollections of that fateful day in Dallas.

Should the citizens of the United States still remember and/or commemorate either the day the President Lincoln was shot or died or both days?  Is there a reason to do so?  President Lincoln's election resulted in the secession of eleven southern States.  The United States had been torn apart and the President was faced with a choice: let the southern States go or accept a war to try to hold the country together.  The President chose to accept a war even though he knew the end result could be two separate countries.  Why did he choose war?  Why did he continue the war despite being deeply troubled and moved by the deaths and injuries sustained by the soldiers?

The answer is quite simple actually.  President Abraham Lincoln believed that the United States was just that, a united country.  He also believed that if the country could not remain whole and united, then democracy could not survive.  For the President, that was not an acceptable option.  The hopes enshrined in the Declaration of Independence must be preserved.  The government created by the Constitution must continue, bruised and battle tested and flawed though it might be, still the President believed it was the "last best hope of earth."

At Gettysburg he had called on his fellow Americans to join with him to ensure "that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from this earth."  He died for those beliefs and for that dedication to this country, its democracy and its promises of hope and equality.

Isn't that worth remembering?