Reception at the Illinois Governor's Mansion

From St. Louis to Carbondale to Galesburg, come the stories of Governor Quinn's reception at the Executive Mansion for the people of Illinois on the 200th birthday of Abraham Lincoln. The positive upbeat tone in those articles is something we haven't heard about government here here in Illinois for a long, long time. That is nice.

I felt badly that I didn't find anyone to go the reception with until it was too late to go at all, but I enjoyed reading about the people who stood in line for a chance to meet Illinois new Governor Quinn and see the inside of the Illinois Governor's mansion. In Washington DC, a similar reception was held yearly (with some exceptions) at the White House on New Year's Day from 1801 through the end of Herbert Hoover's presidency in 1932. Franklin Roosevelt did not hold the receptions and the practice was never revived.

We are hoping that Governor Quinn is feeling okay today; there is no shortage of stories about Presidents who suffered for days from the pain of shaking so many hands.