Travel in Time with Dan: Why Lincoln Kept Building the Capitol Dome Mid-Civil War
Hey everybody, how are you doing? It’s Dan Blanchard here with another edition of Travel in Time, where we mix travel with history, with leadership, and… of course… with me, Dan Blanchard!
Today, we aren’t just talking about history; we are stepping directly into it.
I’ve traveled back in time to Washington, D.C., in the summer of 1863. I’m standing on Jenkins Hill… what you folks back in the 21st century know as Capitol Hill… and it is a total mess. Muddy roads, horse manure, noisy construction, and a nation literally pulling itself apart at the seams.
Right in front of me is a towering, half-finished frame of cast iron. That’s the Capitol dome. While the Civil War rages on, steam cranes are cranking, workers are hauling iron, and President Abraham Lincoln is standing right next to me, leaning on his umbrella and looking up at the scaffolding.
I managed to grab a few minutes with the 16th President himself to ask the burning question: Why on earth are you spending money and energy building a fancy dome when the country is falling apart?
Here is our conversation.
The Fictional Interview: Dan Blanchard Meets Honest Abe
Dan Blanchard: Mr. President! Dan Blanchard here from Travel in Time with Dan. Thanks for taking a minute out of, well… running a war.
President Abraham Lincoln: (Chuckles, adjusting his top hat) A minute to stand in the shade and talk to a man in very unusual trousers? Gladly, Mr. Blanchard. What can I do for you?
Dan: Well, look up there! You’ve got cannon smoke almost on the horizon, the Treasury is strapped for cash, and yet I hear steam engines roaring and iron being lifted onto this dome. A lot of folks back in my time… and probably plenty right now… are asking: Why keep building a dome during a Civil War? Isn’t that a bit of a luxury right now?
Lincoln: (Smiles, his eyes twinkling with prairie wit) I’ll tell you a story, Dan. If a man is building a house, and a terrible storm blows up, does he stop putting on the roof? If he stops, the rain gets in, the floor rots, and pretty soon he doesn’t have a house left to save anyway!
Dan: Fair point! But cast iron isn’t cheap.
Lincoln: It’s about the signal, Dan. If the people see this Capitol work going on, it is a sign we intend the Union shall go on. It’s a testament in iron and stone that we aren’t closing up shop. The Union isn’t a temporary lease; it’s a permanent structure. If we stop building, we’re telling the world we think we’re going to lose.
Dan: Man, I love that. In my work as an author and speaker, I talk a lot about leadership. That brings me to a huge lesson here: Strong institutions matter more than any one individual. You and I know that leaders, presidents, and congressmen come and go. But great leaders build systems and structures that outlast themselves.
Lincoln: You hit the nail right on the head, Dan… or laid the brick right in the mortar. Look at George Washington over seventy years ago. He stepped up here, laid the cornerstone of this very building in his Freemason apron, and then he left! He never even got to serve as president in this city. He was building something for the future, for an office and a nation, not for his own parlor. (Grins) Though I hear we’ve somehow managed to lose that original cornerstone under all these new walls.
Dan: Oh yeah, in my time it’s still missing! Along with the original White House cornerstone… we history folks love a good mystery. But speaking of building for the people… this place is called “The People’s House”.
Lincoln: Indeed. Though right now, it’s a bit of a noisy house!
Dan: Right! But listen to this, Mr. President… in your day, or back when the country started, one representative in the House served about 30,000 people. In my time, in the 21st century, that number has ballooned to one representative for roughly 900,000 people!
Lincoln: (Whistles through his teeth) 900,000 to one?! Why, how does a representative even get to know that many folks? Do they send a million letters a month?
Dan: Exactly! I keep telling my audience that’s not how a true representative democracy is supposed to feel. I say give them Zoom meetings, expand the House, do whatever it takes to bring government back close to the people!
Lincoln: Zoom? Sounds like a fast horse! But I agree with your principle, Dan. A representative must be close enough to hear the heartbeat of the people he serves. Government of the people, by the people, for the people doesn’t work if the people can’t reach their own house.
Dan: Amen to that, Abe! Now, I’ve gotta ask about the folks up on that scaffolding right now. It takes a lot of hands to build something this grand.
Lincoln: It does, and a complicated mix of hands, too. Free Black craftsmen, Scottish stonemasons, and, I am ashamed to say, enslaved men rented from local masters… a compromise of earlier administrations that weighs heavy on the national conscience. But change is moving, Dan. Right up there working on that bronze Statue of Freedom atop the dome is a man named Philip Reid. He’s an enslaved craftsman who solved the very puzzle of how to cast the statue when the foreman quit. And thanks to the D.C. Emancipation Act we passed last year; Philip is doing that work now as a free man!
Dan: That is powerful. That 19.6-foot bronze statue of “armed Liberty” up there isn’t messing around, and knowing a freedman helped put her there makes it even more incredible. It shows that the Capitol isn’t just surviving fires like in the War of 1812, or surviving this war…it’s growing into its promise.
Lincoln: Beautifully said, Dan.
Dan: Before I head back to the 21st century, Mr. President, what’s your ultimate leadership takeaway for anyone trying to build something lasting through tough times?
Lincoln: (Adjusts his hat and looks up toward the Statue of Freedom) I’d tell them that when the ground beneath you is shaking, you don’t stop building the foundation. Norms and institutions survive only because leaders choose to keep honoring them and building them, even when it costs them dearly. Build things that outlast your own bad days, and build things that outlast you.
Dan: Boom! Drop the mic! Mr. President, thank you so much for your time.
Lincoln: My pleasure, Dan. Safe travels back to… whenever you came from! Tell them to keep working on that representation problem!
The Travel in Time Wrap-Up
Standing there in the mud of 1863 next to Abraham Lincoln, looking up at that unfinished dome, hit me like a ton of bricks.
The Capitol was burned in 1814, and leaders chose to rebuild. It was tested in 1863, and Lincoln kept building. It was tested again on January 6, 2021, and Congress reconvened that same night to finish the job. Why? Because great systems and institutions matter more than any single individual.
Leaders come and go, but the structures we build to serve the people must endure.
So, what are you building today that’s meant to outlast you?
Until next time, this is Dan Blanchard with the Travel in Time show… where we mix travel with history, leadership, and me! Take care, and have a wonderful day!
Did you enjoy this journey through time? Don’t forget to check out our latest book chapters and YouTube episodes to keep uncovering history and inspiring leadership!
Uncovering History. Inspiring Leadership.
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