Chicago, Feb 3 US President Barack Obama will travel to his home state Illinois, to attend the 200th birth anniversary celebrations of Abraham Lincoln on February 12.
Former American president Linclon is Obama's political hero. Obama took oath as the nation's 44th President on the same Bible that was used for swearing by Lincoln.
" President Obama will travel to Springfield, Illinois on February 12 to attend the commemoration of Lincoln's 200th birthday," White House press spokesman Robert Gibbs said in Washington.
During his trip to the Illinois capital, Obama would attend and speak at the banquet organised by the Abraham Lincoln Association. Each year on Lincoln's birthday on February 12, the association hosts a banquet and symposium that features renowned Lincoln scholars.
The Chicago Sun Times quoted US Senator Dick Durbin as saying that Obama has accepted the invitation to celebrate the 200th birth anniversary of Lincoln, who has been an inspiration for US'first African American President.
Durbin began working with the Obama transition team on this invitation just days after the election last November. Like Lincoln, Obama was a lawyer and former state lawmaker in Illinois.
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