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91_HJ0040
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1 HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION
2 WHEREAS, On February 12, 1809, Abraham Lincoln was born
3 in the most modest of circumstances in a log cabin near
4 Hodgenville, Kentucky; at the age of 21, he set out for a new
5 home located on the north bank of the Sangamon River, in New
6 Salem, Illinois, where he served as Deputy Surveyor and
7 Postmaster; his kindness, straightforward conduct, and
8 sympathetic character helped create in the popular mind the
9 stereotype of "Honest Abe"; and
10 WHEREAS, On August 4, 1834, Abraham Lincoln, at age 24,
11 was elected to the Illinois General Assembly as a State
12 Representative from the Whig party; he was reelected 3 more
13 times, serving until 1842; through his bold leadership and
14 forward thinking, he was elevated by his peers to the elected
15 position of Whig floor leader and served as chairman of the
16 Finance Committee; he was a consistent supporter of
17 conservative business interests and brought about the
18 relocation of the State capital from Vandalia to Springfield;
19 when certain resolutions denouncing anti-slavery agitation
20 were passed by the House, he took a bold position through a
21 written declaration stating that slavery was "founded on both
22 injustice and bad policy, but that the promulgation of
23 abolition doctrines tends rather to increase than abate its
24 evils"; and
25 WHEREAS, Mr. Lincoln served in the United States House of
26 Representative as an Illinois Whig from 1847 through 1849,
27 serving on the Post Office and Post Roads Committee, as well
28 as the War Department Expenditures Committee; he opposed
29 United States involvement in the Mexican War but continued to
30 support appropriations to supply the troops involved in the
31 war; he continued to promote federally funded internal
32 improvements and worked unsuccessfully to abolish the slave
33 trade in Washington, D.C.; and
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1 WHEREAS, On May 29, 1856, Mr. Lincoln helped organize the
2 new Republican Party of Illinois, speaking with a new
3 authority gained from self-imposed intellectual discipline in
4 behalf of the anti-slavery cause; and
5 WHEREAS, On November 6, 1860, Abraham Lincoln was elected
6 the 16th President of the United States and the first
7 Republican; he received 180 of 303 possible electoral votes
8 and 40% of the popular vote, defeating Northern Democrat
9 Stephen A. Douglas and Southern Democrat John C.
10 Breckinridge; convinced that the United States was more than
11 an ordinary nation, that it was a proving ground for the idea
12 of democratic government, he displayed an unflinching
13 dedication to the preservation of the Union; he never wavered
14 in his "paramount object" to restore national unity despite
15 war-weariness and repeated defeats; he did what was
16 necessary, without regard to political objections in Congress
17 or personal popularity; and
18 WHEREAS, On January 1, 1863, President Lincoln issued the
19 Emancipation Proclamation that declared forever slaves free
20 within the Confederacy; with the possibility that his action
21 would not be sustained by the Supreme Court, he strongly
22 urged and succeeded in getting Congress to adopt the 13th
23 Amendment, forever abolishing slavery throughout the country;
24 realizing that minimal guarantees of civil rights for blacks
25 were essential, he began to advocate for equality by the end
26 of the war; and
27 WHEREAS, Partly because of his single-minded dedication,
28 the American people, in time, gave to Abraham Lincoln a
29 loyalty that proved to be another of his great assets; he
30 learned what ordinary citizens felt about their government by
31 making himself accessible to all who went to the White House;
32 his mastery of rhetoric further endeared him to the public;
33 he wrote clearly and succinctly in an age of pretentious
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1 orators; his 268-word address meant more than the preceding
2 2-hour oration by Edward Everett at the dedication of the
3 national cemetery at Gettysburg; the clear focus and
4 eloquent, sophisticated style of the Gettysburg address has
5 helped it survive for more than a hundred years as one of the
6 greatest speeches ever delivered; and
7 WHEREAS, Lincoln was inaugurated into his second term as
8 President on March 4, 1865, overwhelmingly defeating Union
9 General George B. McClellan; he enunciated a comprehensive
10 reconstruction program, pledging pardon and amnesty to
11 Confederates who were prepared to swear loyalty to the Union
12 and promising to turn back control of local governments to
13 the civil authorities in the South; on April 14, 1865, one
14 month after taking office, he was shot and killed while
15 attending a performance at Ford's Theater in Washington; and
16 WHEREAS, Illinois is where Mr. Lincoln lived, worked, and
17 spent many happy days in the municipalities of New Salem, and
18 Springfield; throughout his days in public service he
19 embodied personal integrity, intelligence, and humanity; it
20 is only fitting and proper that this great President who
21 played such a vital role as the leader in preserving the
22 Union and abolished slavery in the United States should be
23 duly honored and commemorated by the gracious people of this
24 State to whom Abraham Lincoln brought so much character,
25 determination, and perseverance in the Illinois General
26 Assembly, United States Congress, and as the President of the
27 United States; and
28 WHEREAS, On February 6, 1911, Ronald Wilson Reagan was
29 born to Nelle and John Reagan in Tampico, Illinois; he
30 attended high school in nearby Dixon and then worked his way
31 through Eureka College; at Eureka College, he studied
32 economics and sociology, played on the football team, and
33 acted in school plays; upon graduation, he became a radio
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1 sports announcer; a screen test in 1937 won him a contract in
2 Hollywood and during the next 2 decades he appeared in 53
3 films; and
4 WHEREAS, As president of the Screen Actors Guild, Ronald
5 Reagan became embroiled in disputes over the issue of
6 Communism in the film industry; his political views shifted
7 from liberal to conservative; he toured the country as a
8 television host, becoming a spokesman for conservatism; in
9 1966 he was elected Governor of California by a margin of a
10 million votes; he was re-elected in 1970; and
11 WHEREAS, Ronald Reagan won the Republican presidential
12 nomination in 1980 and chose as his running mate former Texas
13 Congressman and United Nations Ambassador George Bush; voters
14 troubled by inflation and by the year-long confinement of
15 Americans in Iran swept the Republican ticket into office;
16 and
17 WHEREAS, On January 20, 1981, Mr. Reagan took office;
18 only 69 days later he was shot by a would-be assassin but
19 quickly recovered and returned to duty; his grace and wit
20 during the dangerous incident caused his popularity to soar;
21 and
22 WHEREAS, Dealing skillfully with Congress, Reagan
23 obtained legislation to stimulate economic growth, curb
24 inflation, increase employment, and strengthen national
25 defense; he embarked upon a course of cutting taxes and
26 government expenditures, refusing to deviate from his course
27 when the strengthening of defense forces led to a large
28 deficit; and
29 WHEREAS, A renewal of national self-confidence by 1984
30 helped President Reagan and Vice President Bush win a second
31 term with an unprecedented number of electoral votes; and
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1 WHEREAS, In 1986, Ronald Reagan obtained an overhaul of
2 the income tax code that eliminated many deductions and
3 exempted millions of people with low incomes; at the end of
4 his administration, the nation was enjoying its longest
5 recorded period of peacetime prosperity without recession or
6 depression; and
7 WHEREAS, In foreign policy, Ronald Reagan sought to
8 achieve "peace through strength"; in dramatic meetings with
9 Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, he negotiated a treaty that
10 would eliminate intermediate-range nuclear missiles;
11 President Reagan declared war against international
12 terrorism, sending American bombers against Libya after
13 evidence came out that Libya was involved in an attack on
14 American soldiers in a West Berlin nightclub; and
15 WHEREAS, By ordering naval escorts in the Persian Gulf,
16 he maintained the free flow of oil during the Iran-Iraq war;
17 in keeping with the Reagan Doctrine, he gave support to
18 anti-Communist insurgencies in Central America, Asia, and
19 Africa; and
20 WHEREAS, At the end of his 2 terms in office, Ronald
21 Reagan viewed with satisfaction the achievements of his
22 innovative program known as the Reagan Revolution, which
23 aimed to reinvigorate the American people and reduce their
24 reliance upon government; he felt he had fulfilled his
25 campaign pledge of 1980 to restore "the great, confident roar
26 of American progress and growth and optimism"; and
27 WHEREAS, The Reagan years saw a restoration of
28 prosperity, and the goal of peace through strength was within
29 the nation's grasp; and
30 WHEREAS, Ulysses Simpson (U.S. "Unconditional Surrender")
31 Grant was the best-known Federal general in the United States
32 Civil War; because of his military prowess and daring, he
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1 helped to shorten the time of that great and bitter conflict;
2 and
3 WHEREAS, U.S. Grant's exploits in the Civil War earned
4 him the Republican nomination and ultimately 2 terms as the
5 18th President of the United States; as President, he pushed
6 for conciliation toward the South, sought unconditional
7 readmission of Virginia to the Union, relentlessly opposed
8 the Ku Klux Klan in his ever stalwart detestation of slavery
9 and its aftermath, and established a strong record in foreign
10 affairs; and
11 WHEREAS, Although dying of throat cancer, he wrote his
12 now classic memoirs in an effort to support his family and to
13 guarantee that they would be provided for upon his death; and
14 WHEREAS, U.S. Grant died on July 23, 1885, and his body
15 was finally laid to rest amidst much pomp, circumstance,
16 parades, and speeches; and
17 WHEREAS, Illinois is where U.S. Grant lived, worked, and
18 spent many happy days in the municipality of Galena; and it
19 is only fitting and proper that this great General and
20 President who played such a critical role in saving the
21 Republic should be duly honored and commemorated by the
22 gracious people of this State to whom Grant brought so much
23 glory; therefore be it
24 RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
25 NINETY-FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE
26 SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that the great contributions of
27 Illinois' presidents, Abraham Lincoln, Ronald Reagan, and
28 Ulysses Simpson Grant, to the State of Illinois and to the
29 entire nation, should be commemorated by the State Treasurer
30 in accordance with the Commemorative Medallions Act.