Obama Returning to Illinois

The White House said Monday that President Obama will return to Springfield, Ill. later this month to celebrate the 200th birthday of Abraham Lincoln.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Obama, at the invitation of Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), will make the trip back to the town where the president launched his campaign more than two years ago.

On Feb. 12, Obama will head to the state’s capitol, where he served as a state senator and, from the steps of the Old State Capitol, launched his historic bid for the presidency.

Obama has borrowed liberally from Lincoln’s legacy, most recently taken his presidential oath of office with his hand on the same Bible Lincoln used for his Inauguration.

–Sam Youngman