To ensure safety at the inaugural ceremony, Commander in Chief Winfield Scott deployed troops along Lincoln’s procession route, armed with sharpshooters and batteries of artillery. Yet, to everyone’s relief, the atmosphere was peaceful at the Capitol building as Lincoln addressed approximately 30,000 spectators. “No state, upon its own mere notion, can lawfully get out of the Union," Lincoln proclaimed, as he affirmed his intention to “hold, occupy and possess,” the states which had seceded. Lincoln then closed by saying, “in your hands, my dissatisfied fellow countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war.” Lincoln then took his oath of office from Chief Justice Roger Taney.

That night at Judiciary Square, Lincoln shook hands for more than two hours at his inaugural ball. The First Lady, Mary Todd Lincoln, danced all night long in a stunning blue ball gown. At 11:00, the band struck up “Hail to the Chief” for a grand march. Lincoln led the way, arm-in-arm with Washington, D.C.’s Mayor Berret - followed by Mary and Stephen A. Douglas, Lincoln’s campaign opponent. It was a joyous night, indeed…albeit the deceptive calm before the storm.