Happy Birthday, Mr. Lincoln

House Minority Leader Tim Armstead continued the tradition today of marking Abraham Lincoln's birthday during the session, with a floor speech on its 198th anniversary.

The Kanawha County Republican offered our 16th president as a role model, an ordinary man who recognized that he could change things and who became an almost mythical figure as a result.

Armstead also recalled Lincoln's pivotal role in West Virginia' statehood, and read from the opinion Lincoln issued on our admission to the Union.

"We can scarcely dispense with the aid of West Virginia in this struggle; much less can we afford to have her against us, in Congress and in the field. Her brave and good men regard her admission into the Union as a matter of life and death..." it reads in part.

West Virginia has sought to honor Lincoln in several different ways, including with the statue at the South steps of the Capitol for which this blog is named.