Apology Comes 150 Years Later

[brtmchl]

(11-16-2013 05:38 PM)Rob Wick Wrote:  

Quote: Lincoln himself leaned to Ward Lamon immediatetly after and said, "that speech...is a flat failure and the people are disappointed."

I've never believed Lincoln said that.

According to Don and Virginia Fehrenbacher, "There is, in fact, reason to suspect that the whole story is invention. Lamon's chronically weak credibility is not improved in this instance by his accompanying assertion that Edward Everett and William H. Seward exchanged derogatory comments on the speech immediately after its delivery, or by his insistence that the merit of the Gettysburg Address went totally unrecognized in the United States until after Lincoln's death." (Recollected Words of Abraham Lincoln, pg. 289)

I've never had much respect for Lamon, and in this instance I think he flat-out lied.

Best
Rob

Thanks Rob. Is there any other documentation of any reference that Lincoln made about himself regarding his speech or remarks he made about criticism he received from newspapers?;