Apology Comes 150 Years Later

[brtmchl]

(11-16-2013 10:45 AM)LincolnMan Wrote:  It seems odd to me that the paper today would do so. I'm not questioning the motive, but is it some sort of publicity stunt?

Newspapers weren't the only one's complaining about Lincoln's speech, Lincoln himself leaned to Ward Lamon immediatetly after and said, " that speech...is a flat failure and the people are disappointed." Even Lincoln at the time didn't appreciate the power and beauty of his own words.

In my opinion, It had to be because of the expectations of a grand long speech on hallowed ground to force such criticism. For such a short speech to contain such beauty and power is remarkable. In his 10 sentences Lincoln was able to craft his idea of the future and sum up what the Union was fighting for.

It clearly must have simply taken people by surprise, the shock of such a short speech. The words obviously never registered in peoples' minds at the moment. There were probably some that were disappointed because they missed it. Wasn't there a photo- op that was missed because it took longer to set up the camera than the speech took to recite?

The genius of Lincoln. Even when he bombs.