Why did Daniel Burnham view Union Station as an important part of the Washington, D.C., city plan?

Daniel Burnham viewed Union Station as an essential component of the McMillan Plan for Washington, D.C., for two primary reasons:

• Formal Gateway: He conceived of the station as a grand, formal public entrance to the city’s monumental core, serving as a welcoming threshold for visitors arriving in the nation's capital.1
• Integral Urban Feature: Beyond its functional role as a railway terminal, Burnham designed the station to be an architectural feature physically and symbolically integrated into the broader city plan, which aimed to create an ordered, majestic capital reflecting America’s status as an emerging world power.1