Lincoln's Greatest Speech

I'm pretty sure I'd read Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address previously but I'm not sure exactly when that was. I've read his Gettysburg Address and had to memorize part of it in Junior High School like most kids, but at different times I've heard people comment on how amazing is this speech he gave when he was sworn into office for his second term as president. So when we went to The Lincoln Memorial Musuem at Thanksgiving I got this book in the gift shop to see for myself.

Ronald C. White, Jr. gives a very thorough, easy to read description of the speech and everything related to it. He takes Lincoln's words paragraph by paragraph and gives all of the background that brought those words to be in this speech at this time. White describes Lincoln's creative process with examples of previous speeches, letters, and personal notes. He also brings in correspondence from other writers and speakers that influenced The President.

White sets the stage of Inauguration Day, March 4, 1865. He brings in events from Lincoln's life, the civil war, the current political climate, and even the weather so the reader can understand the experience of people going to hear The President speak. And the only photograph of Lincoln speaking was of him giving The Second Inaugural. Ironically, John Wilkes Booth is clearly visible in the center, above Lincoln, facing the camera.

We commonly think of the 20th century as a time of amazing technological change, but the middle of the 19th century was also such a time. After Lincoln's First Inaugural Address in 1861, copies of it were carried by Pony Express until it reached California many days later. In 1865, the first transcontinental telegraph was just completed and The Second Inaugural was "downloaded" from the telegraph and published in the next days newspapers. This speed up in communication compares to the explosion of the Internet 130 years later.

This book leaves you with an appreciation for Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address as a masterpiece of oration by a supremely talented artist who had honed his craft over a life time of practice. In 702 words he describes the outbreak of the war, the effects of four grueling years of battle, and the path the nation should take as the war's end came into sight. People expected that day some words of triumph, of gloating, and hints of punishment for "the rebels". But Lincoln does none of that. "With malice towards none, with charity for all" Lincoln puts the blame for the war on the entire country, the North and the South, and charts a course to "bind up the nation's wounds" and "achieve...a just and lasting peace." In Lincoln's slow delivery and with a couple interruptions for applause, it took him just 7 to 8 minutes to deliver. It only takes a few minutes to read. I found it at: http://www.bartleby.com/124/pres32.html. If politicians today put half the wisdom into twice the words, we'd be amazed.