Illinois hopes ‘better angels’ prevail in Lincoln desk rehab

By JOHN O’CONNOR
AP Political Writer

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum has unveiled the hulking desk the president-elect used in 1861 to craft his first inaugural address. The desk was presented Thursday in the atrium of the library in Springfield, Illinois, as part of an exhibit, “Lincoln’s Life in Letters.” The desk was in a third-floor storage room in a downtown Springfield building owned by Lincoln’s brother-in-law, Clark Moulton Smith. It served as a quiet hideout that allowed Lincoln to write his speech on the eve of the Civil War. The state paid $6,300 to an Elmhurst company to restore the piece.