At the memorial on May 9 , 1970 , President Richard Nixon had a middle-of-the-night impromptu , brief meeting with protesters who , just days after the Kent State shootings , were preparing to march against the Vietnam War . In September 1962 , amid the civil rights movement , vandals painted the words " nigger lover " in foot-high pink letters on the rear wall
Kent State shootings
Kent State shootings
Lincoln Memorial