March 4

Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address — 'With Malice Toward None'

Abraham Lincoln delivered one of the greatest speeches in American history as he began his second term. 'With malice toward none, with charity for all,' he called for national reconciliation even as the Civil War neared its end.

The speech set the tone for Reconstruction and became Lincoln's defining statement on healing the nation — cut tragically short by his assassination six weeks later.