Published on November 13 2018 8:20 am
Last Updated on November 13 2018 8:21 am
Illinois is definitely the Land of Lincoln. Voters in the Illinois Top 200 project have selected Abraham Lincoln as the top leader in state history, recognizing his role in ending slavery and holding America together through the Civil War.
He was followed by three other presidents with Illinois connections: Ronald Reagan, Barack Obama and Ulysses S. Grant. Social worker Jane Addams, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, rounded out the top five selections in online voting.
Lincoln came to Illinois as an uneducated but ambitious young man trying to find his place in the world. He left it as a successful lawyer and president-elect of the United States. He would never return, except to be buried after his assassination.
“The four presidents with Illinois roots came from different walks of life, faced different challenges and followed different political philosophies. But all of them were important figures in American history, and I’m glad to see them recognized by the people taking part in the Illinois Top 200 project,” said Alan Lowe, executive director of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum.
He noted that the museum is now offering a special exhibit on these four men, called “From Illinois to the White House: Lincoln, Grant, Reagan, Obama.”
The Top 200 project lets Illinoisans vote every two weeks on the state’s most inspiring leaders, greatest inventions, top businesses and much more. By the state’s bicentennial on Dec. 3, voters will have chosen 10 favorites in 20 different categories – the Illinois Top 200.
Voting in the final category, unforgettable moments, is underway at www.IllinoisTop200.com. Nominees include Lincoln’s funeral, the 2016 Cubs World Series victory, Illinois voters rejecting slavery and the start of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
Here are the 10 top leaders chosen in online voting:
The nominees who did not make the top 10 were three-time presidential nominee William Jennings Bryan; Gov. Edward Coles, a key opponent of slavery in Illinois; Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley; Supreme Court Justice David Davis; Sen. Everett Dirksen; Sen. Stephen Douglas; civil rights activist Jesse Jackson; John Jones, the state’s first African-American officeholder; Chicago Mayor Harold Washington; and suffragist and temperance advocate Frances Willard.
The Illinois Top 200 is a joint initiative of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, The (Springfield) State Journal-Register and the Illinois Bicentennial Commission.