The Gettysburg Address and Second Inaugural

The republic's purpose stated in 272 words, then its conscience in 700. At Gettysburg, Lincoln defined self-government for all time: government of the people, by the people, for the people. In the Second Inaugural, weeks from his murder, he refused the easy triumph of the victor and asked instead for malice toward none. He wrote them himself, by hand. They remain the high-water mark of American public language, and the standard every later president is measured against and falls short of.

The President who held the Union together and the writer who gave the republic its purpose in the fewest words anyone has needed. The Gettysburg Address defines self-government in a single clause: of the people, by the people, for the people. The Second Inaugural, weeks before his murder, refuses triumph and asks for malice toward none. He wrote his own speeches, by hand, and they remain the high-water mark of American public language.