What Did the Gettysburg Address Really Say?

Abraham Lincoln, 1863

The United States of America’s most famous speech, Abraham Lincoln’s November 19, 1863, Gettysburg Address praised the thousands of young men who gave their lives to repel Robert E. Lee’s invasion of the North and, according to some, turn the tide of the American Civil War.

Lincoln gave no vacuous speech uttering empty praises for the war’s dead. No, he called for policy. He called for action. He asked the nation to continue the war.

Standing on a platform at the cemetery’s muddy excavation site, Lincoln spoke with surpassing eloquence. American schoolchildren learn his famous phrases:

“Four score and seven years ago.”

“Conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”

“Government of the people, by the people, for the people.”

But let us not miss the point. In this most magnificent of all epideictic speeches, Lincoln called passionately for a controversial and bloody policy: to continue the Civil War until the Union was restored and justice could reclaim the American ethos. The American Civil War’s appalling bloodshed and brutality shocked the nation, as hardly a household anywhere in the North or South had escaped the grief of losing a husband, brother, son, or cousin. Lincoln was not, in 1863, a popular man. 

Today, such vague, almost spiritual, value-laden rhetoric seems strangely unfamiliar. Indeed, in our cynical, technocratic 21st century, we expect to decide policies by nitpicking analysis, statistics, proof, and expert testimony. Lincoln offered none of that. Instead, he discussed values. His central value was simple. Brave men had consecrated Gettysburg’s hillsides with their blood – as they fought for the Union and against the cruel institution of chattel slavery. It was their values, the value of freedom, the value of justice, of equality, of wise and just government, that justified continuing the war.

By this point in his presidency, Lincoln had overcome some of his initial reticence and was hinting more and more boldly about the evils of slavery. Keep in mind that, although cynical southern apologists frequently saw slavery as a positive good, no one with a conscience could possibly believe them. The idea that human beings could be captured, kidnapped, and beaten, to force them to work for nothing, appalls everyone who knows right from wrong. Reasoned argument was not the point. The time for reasoning was over. It was time for justice: that is why Lincoln’s key point, which was so often overlooked when we read this speech, comes down to these arguments:

First, Lincoln, the great sovereign of words, said that actions count more than words:

“The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.” [italics added]

Second, he said that the dead, no longer able to fight, implicitly asked us to continue their noble struggle. That is a policy. That is action:

“It is for us the living rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.

“It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us – That from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion – that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain…”

Third, and, finally, out of the horrors of war, the nation had an opportunity – a God-given chance – to reform itself, to regain union according to justice:

“That this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom; and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.”

Government “of the people, by the people, for the people” was no empty phrase. Wise, just government never appears by accident. According to Lincoln, only after the United States pursued its bitter conflict and paid the horrible price for the wickedness of slavery, at which he hinted in this momentous speech – then, and only then could we have government “of the people, by the people, for the people.”

From values, we get policies. From suffering, we learn terrible lessons. From justice, we hope to reconcile.

Sadly, according to what I read in the news, that lesson has still not been fully learned. There can be, however, no greater lesson for a president to teach. And this, my dear readers, is why Abraham Lincoln was our greatest president. 

by William D. Harpine

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Copyright © 2024 by William D. Harpine

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This remarkable picture is the only known photograph of Lincoln at Gettysburg. It appears to have been exposed some time before his speech. Lincoln's head is in the marked red box. 

Interestingly, Lincoln's friend Edward Everett was the day's featured speaker, and Lincoln was invited as an afterthought. 

Portrait of Abraham Lincoln by Alexander Gardner, 1863, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Lincoln at Gettysburg, unknown photographer, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Dr. Rachel Levine Spoke about Diversity

Dr. Rachel Levine

I recently ran into a simple speech, which received scant attention when it was delivered. On October 19, 2021, Dr. Rachel Levine took the oath to become a four-star admiral in the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. Dr. Levine became the first openly transgender admiral to serve the United States of America.

In her brief speech, Dr. Levine made a point for diversity. Diversity is increasingly the nation’s flash point. The key political question that we all face in the United States is simple: should we insist that everyone be the same, or should we accept that everyone is not the same? I increasingly believe that simple question gives rise to our most pressing political questions.

Dr. Levine’s brief speech made a substantive point, that diversity gives us more knowledge, more capabilities, and more insight. She said:

“May this appointment today be the first of many more to come as we create a diverse and more inclusive future. Diversity makes us stronger. Each person has a different perspective and different strengths that they bring to make the whole community stronger. The time is now for our country to continue to move the bar forward for diversity. And I am proud to wear this uniform and answer that call.”

Pointless political divisions arise when people ask questions like “can you give a scientific definition of a woman?” or insist that everyone must fit rigidly into two and only two gender categories. These draw attention away from the real issue, which is whether we will, or will not, accept that people do not always need to be the same. Too many people think that everyone else needs to conform to someone else’s ideal.

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Epideictic or ceremonial speeches reflect our values. Dr. Levine continues to serve admirably in the public health arena, and her plea to “move the bar forward” should make us all reflect.

by William D. Harpine

© Copyright 2023, William D. Harpine

Image: US Public Health Service Commissioned Corps

George W. Bush on 9/11: A Message of Unity but Have We Forgotten?

I still remember my shock when I drove by the Pentagon, smashed on 9/11, only a few miles from my childhood home. Today, on the anniversary of the September 11th, 2001 terror attacks against the United States, let us look once again, with the perspective of history, to remember the statement that President George W. Bush made at the end of his brief epideictic speech on the evening of that terrible day. The message resonates to this day. It was a message of unity. His message was that all Americans must unite to do what is right. It is a message we have forgotten. In our increasingly contentious age, this is a lesson we must remember above all others.

“This is a day when all Americans from every walk of life unite in our resolve for justice and peace. America has stood down enemies before, and we will do so this time. None of us will ever forget this day. Yet, we go forward to defend freedom and all that is good and just in our world.”

Yes, President Bush promised to hunt down the terrorists and their sponsors with all the might that he could muster. Vengeance was not, however, his closing message. The ultimate goal for which he spoke was not to destroy his enemies, but to work for “justice and peace.” His announced goal was not to destroy, but “to defend freedom.” He talked about what was “good and just in our world.”

Most important, however, was his assurance of national unity: “This is a day when all Americans from every walk of life unite in our resolve for justice and peace.”

In other words, to triumph, we must work together. Yes, soon after, President Bush made terrible mistakes as he responded to 9/11 with ideological violence. The invasion of Iraq failed to uncover any trace of the supposed weapons of mass destruction. The invasion of Afghanistan ended only after seemingly endless decades of miserable failure under one president after another. More innocent people died during the War on Terror than on 9/11. Bush’s nation-building exercises in western Asia left the world as insecure as ever. Indeed, Bush’s foreign policy was a case study in impulsive decision-making. 

Pentagon after 9/11 attack

None of that belies the wisdom of what Bush said the evening of the attacks. He called for unity. He spoke for “justice and peace.” Yes, in the months and years that followed 9/11, the cold light of reality failed to illuminate Bush's subsequent ill-considered decisions. Yes, reality indeed won out. It always does. Let us not, however, ignore the vision. Some people today say they want to “make America great again.” We can only do that if we remember our values. So, as we try to learn from the mistakes of the past, let us also affirm and celebrate our values. Even if we sometimes forget those values, it is never too late to look back and recover them. We need to do so today. Justice, peace, and freedom. We cannot have one unless we have all three.

Of course, let us never forget the courageous 9/11 rescue workers who sacrificed their lives when they ran toward danger while everyone else fled. 

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President George W. Bush’s “9/11 Address to the Nation:” An Appeal for Unity

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Research note: The reader who wishes to understand the tragic failures of 9/11 and the War on Terror might start with Richard Clarke, Against All Enemies: Inside America's War on Terror, and Bob Woodward, Plan of Attack: The Definitive Account of the Decision to Invade Iraq. 

Images: George W. Bush, White House photo; Pentagon, FBI photo via Wikimedia Commons