The words launched Lincoln’s inaugural (and initially unsuccessful) drive for the U.S. Senate and set the stage for his landmark debates with Stephen Douglas. Years later, Lincoln’s body lay in state in that same chamber as 75,000 mourners filed by to pay respects.
Lincoln also tried several hundred cases in the Supreme Court, borrowed books from the state library, and read and swapped stories with other lawyers and politicians in the law library. More recently, President Obama used the Old State Capitol as the backdrop for several historically significant speeches.