heatherbiola@yahoo.com
The peaceful transfer of power has not always been so peaceful in these United States, but it still offers the best path to becoming a more perfect union with liberty for all.
Over the last few weeks The Washington Post has included several stories about attempted assassinations and general unrest at the time when power was transferred from one president to the next. Lincoln and Roosevelt were two significant new presidents who faced mortal threats.
In 1861 before Lincoln’s inauguration, a mob had tried to attack the Capitol on the day Congress met to verify Lincoln’s votes in the electoral college. At that time slaves were being used to build the national Capitol building, and seven states had already seceded from the Union. Southern leaders hoped to make Washington the capital of the Confederacy.