If people see our nonprofits going on, it is a sign we intend the nation shall go on. Andrew P. McIndoe writes:
A half-finished Capitol dome marked the Washington skyline in 1861 as war began to tear the nation apart. Montgomery Meigs, head of the project, immediately halted the dome’s construction so that funding for the preservation of the Capitol could be redirected to the preservation of the very Union it represented.
But President Lincoln insisted on completing the Capitol dome as planned. “If people see the Capitol going on,” he said, “it is a sign we intend the Union shall go on.” In 1865, Lincoln delivered his second inaugural address at the fully finished dome….
Lincoln’s decisions as a leader presumed that the nation would survive and one day return to normal. He did not let the cataclysm of the Civil War stop him from investing in other important endeavors that would be beneficial for generations to come.
Lincoln’s steady leadership through crisis should serve as a model for us as the Covid-19 coronavirus ravages our nation’s public health, economy, and way of life.
[Andrew P. McIndoe, “When People See Nonprofits Persevering, They’ll Know the Nation Will Persevere,” The Chronicle of Philanthropy, May 13]
