| THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
For
Immediate Release July 7, 2000
PRESIDENT LINCOLN AND SOLDIERS' HOME NATIONAL MONUMENT
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BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A PROCLAMATION
Each year from 1862 through 1864, President Abraham Lincoln and his
family left the White House to take up residence during the warm weather
months at Anderson Cottage, a home in northwest Washington, D.C., on the
grounds of a site then known as the Soldiers? Home. It is estimated that
President Lincoln spent one quarter of his presidency at this home, riding
out to it many evenings from late June until early November. The house and
surrounding land are now part of the U.S. Soldiers? and Airmen?s Home, a
component of the Armed Forces Retirement Home, an independent establishment
in the executive branch. This house and its grounds are objects of great
historic significance and interest.
It was here, in September of 1862, that President Lincoln completed
the drafting of the Emancipation Proclamation. His second floor bedroom
and much of the rest of the house are configured as they were when he was
in residence, and original mantels, woodwork, and windows are retained. A
magnificent copper beech tree under which he read and relaxed is still
growing at the site. It was also from this house that, in July of 1864, he
traveled 2 miles north to view the battle of Fort Stevens, during which he
actually came under fire as he stood beside the Union troops defending the
capital. The house has been designated a National Historic Landmark by the
National Park Service.
The land was purchased by the Federal Government through the Soldiers?
Home Trust Fund in 1851 to establish a home for invalid and disabled
soldiers of the U.S. Army, the first such attempt to provide for members of
the regular army. The house was first used as a summer retreat by
President Buchanan from 1857 to 1860, and continued to be used as such by
several presidents, including President Hayes from 1877 to 1880 and
President Arthur from 1882 to 1884. It became known as Anderson Cottage in
honor of Major Robert Anderson, the Union commanding officer at Fort Sumter
at the outbreak of the Civil War.
Section 2 of the Act of June 8, 1906 (34 Stat. 225, 16 U.S.C. 431),
authorizes the President, in his discretion, to declare by public
proclamation historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures, and
other objects of historic or scientific interest that are situated upon the
lands owned or controlled by the Government of the United States to be
national monuments, and to reserve as a part thereof parcels of lands, the
limits of which in all cases shall be confined to the smallest area
compatible with the proper care and management of the objects to be
protected.
WHEREAS it appears that it would be in the public interest to reserve
such lands as a national monument to be known as the President Lincoln and
Soldiers? Home National Monument:
NOW, THEREFORE, I, William J. Clinton, President of the United States
of America, by the authority vested in me by section 2 of the Act of June
8, 1906 (34 Stat. 225, 16 U.S.C. 431), do proclaim that there are hereby
set apart and reserved as the President Lincoln and Soldiers? Home National
Monument for the purpose of protecting the objects identified above, all
lands and interests in lands owned or controlled by the United States
within the boundaries of the area described on the map entitled "President
Lincoln and Soldiers? Home National Monument" attached to and forming a
part of this proclamation. The Federal land and interests in land reserved
consist of approximately 2.3 acres, which is the smallest area compatible
with the proper care and management of the objects to be protected.
All Federal lands and interests in lands within the boundaries of this
monument are hereby appropriated and withdrawn from all forms of entry,
location, selection, sale, or leasing or other disposition under the public
land or other Federal laws, including but not limited to withdrawal from
location, entry, and patent under the mining laws, and from disposition
under all laws relating to mineral and geothermal leasing.
The monument historically has been a part of the U.S. Soldiers? and
Airmen?s Home, a facility administered by the Armed Forces Retirement Home,
an independent establishment of the Executive Branch. The Armed Forces
Retirement Home, through the U.S. Soldiers? and Airmen?s Home, shall manage
the monument as an integral part of that surrounding facility and
consistent with the purposes and provisions of this proclamation. In
managing the monument, the Armed Forces Retirement Home shall consult with
the Secretary of the Interior through the National Park Service.
For the purpose of preserving, restoring, and enhancing the public?s
appreciation of the monument, the Armed Forces Retirement Home shall
prepare, in consultation with the Secretary of the Interior through the
National Park Service, a management plan for this monument within 3 years
of this date. Further, to the extent authorized, the Armed Forces
Retirement Home shall promulgate, in consultation with the Secretary of the
Interior through the National Park Service, regulations for the proper care
and management of the objects identified above.
Nothing in this proclamation shall be deemed to revoke any existing
withdrawal, reservation, or appropriation; however, the national monument
shall be the dominant reservation. Warning is hereby given to all
unauthorized persons not to appropriate, injure, destroy, or remove any
feature of this monument and not to locate or settle upon any of the lands
thereof.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this seventh
day of July, in the year of our Lord two thousand, and of the Independence
of the United States of America the two hundred and twenty-fifth.
WILLIAM J. CLINTON
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