Did You Know?

When you come out of Union Station in Washington D.C., the first thing you see is the U.S. Capitol, beaming, across the sky.

At Christmas, it’s even lit up. 

During the American Civil War (1861-1865), President Abraham Lincoln insisted, the work on its unfinished dome should continue, for the sake of the Union as well as the country’s morale.

Statuary Hall, where the first House of Representatives met in 1815, is hallowed ground, the voice of Henry Clay, the southern Senator from Kentucky serving 16 years as well as an intermittent Speaker of the House, still thunders from the ether, while Clio, the muse of history stands guard.  (1857)

Daniel Webster, his northern rival from Massachusetts, too can be heard, that despite their opposing parties kept the Union together, while a young Abraham Lincoln sat quietly, bearing witness.

(2021)

It’s also where John Quincy Adams, son of John, 6th President of the United States and the only one to return to the House, nobly serving for 17 years.

When asked, “Mr Adams sir, what party do you belong to?” he said…

“I belong to no party, I represent the people,” earning the name…Old Man Eloquent.

A plaque rests on the spot where Mr. Adams fell in 1848, carried to a Senate state room where he died two days later, while Henry Clay held his hand.   On January 6th, 2021, that sacred space was disrespected by those who knew nothing of what it truly means to be an American, a Patriot, a Lover of “Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable!” to quote Mr. Webster.

But despite a very sad day that, to echo President Franklin D. Roosevelt, a date that will live in infamy, we still, had a new President at the end of it.

The United States Constitution, sired by the Founders, written by James Madison in 1787 after 234 years, though ruthlessly bloodied, still held.

God bless America! 

God bless us all!

The first time I had the privilege of gracing Statuary Hall, I wept.

SB

Recommended reading:  The American Spirit: Who We Are and What We Stand For  David McCullough (2017). 

Recommended Watching: The Congress  Ken Burns (1989).