Head of State

The quest starts either in the Lincoln Memorial or the Temple of the Union, the catalyst differing depending on where you go and whom you speak to. Lincoln Memorial is in the Mall, and the Temple of the Union is in the northeast Wasteland, north of Canterbury Commons. There are two sides to take: the Abolitionists (Temple of the Union) or the Slavers (Lincoln Memorial). Feel free to pick their brains before you decide whose cause you'd like to advocate.

Abolitionists

Visit the Abolitionist's stronghold in the Temple of the Moon during the day and ring the bell, then proceed to talk your way in. Inside, seek out the head of the Abolitionists-a fellow named Hannibal Hamlin. He can usually be found by the statue head of Abraham Lincoln on the roof. Promise to side with him, and he hands you the Temple of the Union Key. His plan is to move escaped slaves into the Lincoln Memorial that is currently occupied by Super Mutants, and to further exacerbate the situation, by Slavers. Perform some perfunctory Super Mutant extermination in the Lincoln Memorial, but not before speaking with Caleb Smith to pick up another objective.

You arrive at the Lincoln Memorial, all prepared to cap some Muties but you discover that the Slavers have already wrung the place dry of Super Mutants. Well, half of your job was already done for you, but now you've got to wipe the place clean of Slavers. Expect these guys to put up a remarkable fight. That's the messy, more straight-forward way of handling this.

The pacifist's way involves your heading to the Museum of History to find some sort of blueprint from which Caleb can begin reconstruction of Lincoln's Memorial. The Museum of History resides on the north side of the Mall; once inside, you are looking for the door that leads to the Museum of History Lower Levels. If you have the Ghoul Mask handed to you by Roy Phillips during the Tenpenny Tower quest, you can freely roam through the Museum unmolested. Wander through the decrepit building and pick up the various goods that could possibly be garnered with thorough searching, such as a Nuka Cola Quantum from near the Nuka Cola machine and a few Jet on the ground floor.

Head through the Door to Museum of History Offices and continue down to find a Nuka Cola machine in a small alcove. But the area of real interest lies opposite the machine: a locked door that you can spring open with the right lockpicking skills or circumvent by entering the room through a hole from an adjacent room. The goods inside include an Assault Rifle, Chems, Pre-war Money, Stealth Boy, and an Action Abe Action Figure. The main item you came here for though still is the Lincoln Memorial Poster, so be sure to grab that-among a bevy of other great loot-before vacating the place. Either Hannibal or Leroy may be a prospective buyer for this and all other Lincoln artifacts you find in here.

Before leaving the Lincoln Memorial, make sure you've cleaned the place out, making it completely devoid of either Slavers or Super Mutants. Take the Lincoln Memorial Poster to Caleb at the Temple of the Union. Speak to Hannibal to initiate their long march to the Memorial. Fast Travel to Lincoln Memorial (make a save first) and wait or sleep six hours for Hannibal's army to arrive at the Mall Northwest Metro Station entrance. Follow them in to the Memorial and speak with Hannibal to receive your prizes for this successful quest completion: a Schematic: Dart Gun.

Slavers

On the opposing side, the Slavers will heed to your pleas for a truce if you can pass a Speech challenge against Leroy Walker. If you pass the challenge, then you are asked to find Hannibal Hamlin, the leader of the Abolitionists, in the Temple of the Union. Leroy places a 100 Cap bounty on Hamlin's head (only if Leroy kills him; 50 if you do), and sends you out to find the guy in the Temple of the Union. Fail the Speech challenge, and you will need to slog through the Museum of History in search of a Lincoln artifact with which to appease Leroy. You could refer to the earlier paragraphs in the Abolitionists part for some directions on how to get to the Museum of History, but the place, for the most part, renders up more than enough artifacts to pass around like a contagious infection.

When you've produced the prized artifacts to Leroy and have discovered the location of the Temple of the Union prior, let him know where Hannibal is, and he will immediately gather his band of detestable human beings and march them toward the Abolitionist's stronghold. Join the ranks of the Slaver scum and decimate the slave survivors. Leave Hamlin for Leroy to kill if you want to maximize your profit. Satisfied with the overall slaying and suppression of freedom, Leroy gives you some Caps for your good effort and not much else. Bummer.