Today is November 19, and on this date in history, in 1863, Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address, probably the most quoted speech in United States history.

Lincoln delivered his address at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on the afternoon of Thursday, November 19, 1863, four and a half months after the Battle of Gettysburg. Noted orator, Edward Everett, gave the main address that day. His speech ran over 13,000 words and lasted two hours.

Lincoln spoke in a high pitched Kentucky accent and his remarks ran two or three minutes--ten lines of 272 words. The exact wording of the address is disputed. The five known manuscripts of the Gettysburg Address differ in a number of details and also differ from contemporary newspaper reprints of the speech.

The program for the dedication that day follows:


Music, by Birgfield's Band
Prayer, by Reverend T.H. Stockton, D.D.
Music, by the Marine Band
Oration, by Hon. Edward Everett
Music, Hymn composed by B.B. French, Esq.
Dedicatory Remarks, by the President of the United States
Dirge, sung by Choir selected for the occasion
Benediction, by Reverend H.L. Baugher, D.D.

One persistent myth is that Lincoln composed the speech while riding on the train from Washington to Gettysburg and wrote it on the back of an envelope. This story is at odds with the existence of several early drafts and the reports of Lincoln's final editing while a guest of David Wills in Gettysburg.

I recall in my Navy days that the USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN (CVN 72) displayed a benner which simply said, ...shall not perish...

Thanks in part to Lincoln himself, that government of the people, by the people, for the people has not perished from this earth. However, it is clear that Washington D.C. has become nothing more than a political cesspool of back-room dealings among corrupt politicans and the special interests. At the risk of sounding too much like Arnold, I must say that I am growing more and more exhausted of business as usual in Washington D.C. While I didn't actually believe that George W. Bush would be able to change the tone in Washington D.C. completely, I was atleast hopeful that he himself wouldn't become a part of and add to the partisan bickering and encircle himself in a moral cesspool of corrupt politicians. I'd watch carefully any candidate who is running as a Washington outsider. After all, Bush ran as a Washington outsider in 2000 and we see how much things HAVEN'T changed. The United States government is less and less a government for the people and more and more a government for the special interests (again, at the risk of sounding like Arnold).

What a load of shit. That very gonvernment of the people, by the people, for the people, was detrimentally compromised by this tyrant. He didn't hesitate to unconstitutionally swell the power of the presidency and the entire federal government to violently force an unrepresented, economically unreciprocated, oppressed part of our nation back under tyrannical rule. For Lincoln to even make such a remark is a joke. But then again, I guess someone who is OK with starting a war resulting in the deaths of thousands of Americans would also not be concerned with contradicting himself. Go figure.

Another great Lincoln quote that demonstrates that freedom and liberty are infectious qualities. Humans are freedom loving; it gives us control over our own destinies and it demands that we live up to the high standards we set.