The statue is the nation's oldest extant memorial to the president and was installed several blocks from Ford's Theatre, where Lincoln was assassinated.

Dedicated in 1868 on the third anniversary of Lincoln's death, dignitaries at the unveiling ceremony included President Andrew Johnson and Generals Ulysses S. Grant, William Tecumseh Sherman and Winfield Scott Hancock.

Since Lincoln was killed in Washington, some of the residents worried Republican congressional leaders would seek revenge on the city.

Thirteen days after Lincoln died, in an attempt to show loyalty, city and business leaders decided to erect a memorial honoring the slain president.

[1][3] Although several designs were submitted, the monument's planning committee unanimously chose the model by Lot Flannery (1836–1922), a local Irish-American artist, calling it the "most spirited" and "an excellent likeness.

Supreme Court Justices and members of Congress were not in attendance because Johnson's impeachment trial was taking place.

A Masonic ceremony, along with music and prayers, took place at the dedication before the main speech by Major General Benjamin Brown French.

[7] When the public heard of the plans to leave the monument in storage, many were upset and groups such as the Grand Army of the Republic demanded the statue be reinstalled.

[1][2] In 2006, the memorial was moved when renovations once again took place on the old City Hall, now home to the District of Columbia Court of Appeals.

[8] The marble statue is located on Indiana Avenue NW, in front of the old District of Columbia City Hall in the Judiciary Square neighborhood.

The statue portrays Abraham Lincoln standing, wearing a long coat with a bow tie and waistcoat.

And when it fell to me to carve and erect this statue I resolved and did place it so high that no assassin's hand could ever again strike him down.