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Barack Obama has become the third U.S. President to hold an honorary degree from Knox College. President Obama took the oath of office on January 20, 2009, stepping into history as the nation's first black president. The day held special meaning, coming just one day after the nation celebrated Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, and in the year the nation celebrates Lincoln's 200th birthday.
President Obama has reflected often on Lincoln, during his campaign and in the preparations for his administration. He chose the Lincoln bible to take the oath of office and even modeled the menu for the Congressional luncheon on Lincoln's. In 2005, he reflected on Lincoln's legacy in Time magazine.
While the two presidents lives are more than a century apart, their paths have crossed in more than one way, including at Knox College. It was at Knox College, during the fifth Lincoln-Douglas Debate in 1858, that Lincoln began to make an issue of the morality of Stephen A. Douglas's position on slavery. In 1860, Knox College awarded Lincoln an honorary degree - Knox's first honorary doctorate, and Lincoln's first degree of any kind. On June 4, 2005 -- nearly 150 years later and just months after his election to the same U.S. Senate seat Lincoln coveted -- Barack Obama received his own honorary degree from Knox.
During his Commencement address at Knox, Obama asked graduates, "What will be your place in history?" He reminded them of Galesburg's abolitionist history and Lincoln's challenge to end slavery -- and called on graduates to guide their lives by a strong moral compass:
"Today, on this day of possibility, we stand in the shadow of a lanky, raw-boned man with little formal education who once took the stage at Old Main and told the nation that if anyone did not believe the American principles of freedom and equality, that those principles were timeless and all-inclusive, they should go rip that page out of the Declaration of Independence."
On January 20, 2009, President Obama called on the audience to reaffirm their commitment to better the nation through service to others - a message reminiscent of his 2005 Commencement address: "It's only when you hitch your wagon to something larger than yourself that you will realize your true potential."
Read or watch Obama's 2005 Commencement address.
Read more about Obama:
External Web sites highlighting Knox, Obama, and Galesburg:
Published on January 20, 2009
https://www.knox.edu/news/obama-inauguration
Printed on Monday, November 4, 2024