February 19, 1861

On a pre-inaugural tour from Niagara Falls to New York City, Abraham Lincoln told the people of Poughkeepsie the American people were “a great, and intelligent and a happy people.” Conceding that the frequent cheers of affirmation were meant not for himself but for “the man who at this time humbly, but earnestly, represents the majesty of the nation,” the President-elect declared his warm reception “indicates an earnest desire on the part of the whole people, without regard to political differences, to save—not the country, for the country will save itself—but the institutions of the country—those institutions under which, in the last three-quarters of a century, we have grown to a great, and intelligent and a happy people—the greatest, the most intelligent and the happiest people in the world.”

—Abraham Lincoln, Complete Works, Comprising His Speeches, Letters, State Papers and Miscellaneous Writings, John G. Nicolay and John Hay, eds.