Throwback Thursday: 165 years since Lincoln’s Inauguration, a Kentucky story

This month marks the 165th anniversary of one of the most pivotal moments in American history, the inauguration of a Kentucky-born president who would lead the nation through some of its darkest days: Abraham Lincoln.

On March 4, 1861, Lincoln took the oath of office as the 16th president of the United States. But here’s the irony: his home state of Kentucky barely supported him. In the 1860 election, four candidates split the vote. Two of them were Kentuckians. But Lincoln received just 1,364 votes in Kentucky, the lowest total he earned in any state. A Kentucky-born president was rejected by Kentucky voters.

And by the time Lincoln arrived in Washington for that inauguration, the country was already unraveling. Seven southern states had seceded from the Union. Behind the incoming president stood a partially completed Capitol dome, ironically expanded under the direction of another Kentuckian, Jefferson Davis, who would soon lead the Confederacy. Just 39 days after Lincoln took office, the Civil War began.

And here at home in Bowling Green, the war wasn’t distant, it was personal. By early 1862, the city had been taken over by Confederate forces who were encamped along the modern Kereiakes Park area and on what would become the WKU hill. The original L&N Depot was also captured. But later that same year, Union troops pushed them out and they never returned.

That shift came after key Union victories at nearby river strongholds like Fort Donelson and Fort Heiman, opening the door for control of this region. Our city sat right on the fault line of a divided Kentucky, being a border state pulled in both directions.

For four long years, the nation fought, fractured, and struggled to define its future. By 1864, Lincoln ran for re-election. While his support grew, Kentucky still didn’t give him the majority. He earned about 30 percent of the vote, a major jump but still far behind his opponent. Even as president, Lincoln never fully won over this commonwealth.

Then came March 4, 1865. As Lincoln stood to take the oath for a second time, something remarkable happened. Journalist Noah Brooks wrote…“the sun, which had been obscured all day, burst forth… and flooded the spectacle with glory and light.” After years of war, it felt like a moment of hope.

Just 36 days later, Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox, signaling the end of the war. But that hope was short-lived. Only five days later, on April 14, 1865, President Lincoln was assassinated at Ford’s Theatre.

From a divided inauguration to a nation at war to a hard-fought peace, Lincoln’s presidency lasted just four years, but reshaped the course of American history forever. And through it all, one detail remains both surprising and deeply human. The president who saved the Union never truly won over his home state.