A Respect for the Office: Letters From the Presidents

In 1955, Mr. and Mrs. Philip Sang bestowed to the Lincoln Heritage Museum at Lincoln College, in Lincoln, Illinois, letters and documents from most of the presidents of the United States up to that time, as well as a significant number of signatures and letters from the first ladies. Their gift proved to be the catalyst for a rare exhibit at the Lincoln Heritage Museum called the Hall of Presidents. Since that initial donation, the museum has acquired similar letters from the subsequent presidents and first ladies. Accompanying the letters in their original form, the reader will find both enlightening and trivial facts about the presidents and first ladies. Collectively these pieces of literature create a picture of an office and of individuals whom inhabited that office multi-dimensionally: individuals of various backgrounds, eras, interests, and talents, all of who held the same powerful position and all assembled here in this rare collection.