The Gettysburg Address is President Lincolns summary of Americas feelings towards their
government. It is not Lincoln speaking of his own personal thoughts. He represented the people
to the world and its passion for freedom. In his address in Pennsylvania, in November 1863, he
summoned America to the great courage four scores and seven years ago of the men and
women that blueprinted democracy into their government. He did not come to tribute the great
leaders and politicians of his time, to extol laudable leadership. Instead, he defined the present
as a gift of those who died to insure that a government of the people, by the people and for the
people, flows in every American in the world, for them to be proud of.
It is a great speech because Lincoln did not seek to present his feat to awe his listeners. He
invited his fellow citizens to hallow the ground where their heroes rested, to implant into their
hearts their history that made them forebears of nobility. His voice reverberated not in intensity
but by the meaning that each of his word carries. His listeners were not bounded by the number
of people that heard him spoke. Gettysburg Address continued to be heard long after it had been
spoken. Its inspiration has stirred Americas vein even after Lincoln had joined the soldiers that
he had dedicated his piece. He was not forgotten because he was able to let the world remember
the lives of every American that died so freedom rules his people. Lincoln has inspired
Americas presidents a new definition of leadership. He had taught them that a leader can bow
down not in surrender but in celebration of triumph brought by those who bravely died.
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