“the legislator and the representative man”
150 years ago today Andrew Johnson’s “Swing Around the Circle” made it to Chicago for the ostensible purpose of the tour – to participate in the ceremonies laying the cornerstone of the Stephen A. Douglas monument. The actual laying of the cornerstone might have occurred the day before. According to the September 7, 1866 issue of The New-York Times “Twenty-five thousand American citizens of all shades of society, were present” to participate in the ceremonies. The procession was comprised of six divisions. After General John Adams Dix delivered the main address the crowd called loudly for Andrew Johnson. Apparently no hecklers were present (unlike Cleveland) because the president pretty much just praised Mr. Douglas, whom he “respected and loved.” He humbly said General Dix did a better job than he could have done eulogizing the late Illinois senator, “the legislator and representative man.” He ended his remarks with:
“The Constitution and the Union, they must be preserve[d]”
“Fellow-citizens, I believe in my heart that if we could communicate with the dead and cause them to know what was transpiring on earth, were it possible for STEPHEN A. DOUGLAS to be disturbed from his slumber, he would rise from his grave, shake off the habiliments of the tomb, and proclaim, ‘The Constitution and the Union, they must be preserve[d].’ [Great applause.]”
The ceremonies closed after William H. Seward’s speech. “Nothing occurred to mar the proceedings of the day. All along the route President JOHNSON was the recipient of kind notice from his fellow-citizens …”
You can learn more about the Douglas monument at the University of Chicago.
Little Giant still standing tall
