Previous Post: A Somber Trip

Part of our visit to D.C. this past weekend included stops at the monuments for the various American leaders. This was Giles' idea as she knew how much the experience of visiting the Lincoln Memorial would mean to me. For some unknown reason, I was cool to the idea.

We also visited the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial while we were there. The incredible aspect of this Memorial is the subdued facade. When you enter off of the street, you simply see three rock formations, nothing else. No quotations, no hints of what is on the other side of the formations.

The actual carving of Dr. King is breathtaking. From the details of his eyes to the power of his pose, it literally took the words away. What an incredible monument to peace.

We visited the Lincoln Memorial before the King Memorial in part because of this next picture. On the north wall is inscribed the text of Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address, an important speech at a dark time in America's history. Lincoln gave the address just weeks before the end of the Civil War and not long before his assassination.

President Lincoln concluded his Inaugural address with the following words:

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.

To me, this image sums up the lasting legacy of Lincoln's presidency.