SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Officials at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield have acquired an 1854 letter marking a key transition for the prairie lawyer.
The letter was donated Thursday by Bloomington collector Guy Fraker.
In it, the future president tells a friend he won’t accept a seat in the state Legislature so that he can remain available for a U.S. Senate seat. His decision to decline House re-election allowed him to oppose slavery’s expansion in a legendary 1858 Senate race against Stephen A. Douglas. He lost but gained national stature that won him the White House two years later.
