“…government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” Abraham Lincoln—Gettysburg Address, November 19, 1863
Full disclosure: I didn’t watch the State of the Union speech for the first time in my life. I didn’t even do much more than glance at some of the reviews the next day, and that more out of a duty to stay connected and informed than care or even curiosity. That particular address has often literally put me to sleep, no matter who the president was or what the times we were living in. But this one had even more of a promise to drug my powers of perception, and I found myself wondering how and why it would be so when its purpose is to transmit information.
Obviously, I thought about the narcissistic posturing, semi and total untruths I didn’t want to sit through, and even the length of the speech we’d been warned of in advance. That reminded me of the Gettysburg Address, famous for its two-minute brevity in contrast to the two-hour behemoth delivered before it by the then Governor of Massachusetts, Edward Everett. Arguably the most famous speech in American history, Lincoln’s was also the shortest. Aside from the gorgeous language and rhythmic cadences, I’m struck by how straightforward that speech is and how effective its message. Lincoln’s address is about the people who sacrificed their lives for the cause of liberty, and the people in his audience who had lost those they loved. Quite absolutely, it was not about himself but was about everybody else.
The lesson to be learned is now, and has always been, clear. Words matter, and people will listen when the message delivered is about them and not the speaker. In rereading Lincoln’s speech, one can’t miss the power of the message, the sense of having one’s hand held metaphorically by the President of the United States when an ultimate sacrifice had been made by those he didn’t know personally but identified with completely.
A speech glorifying the presenter instead of those addressed is always best avoided. And a suggestion: every time you find yourself overwhelmed by the self-aggrandizing nature of certain kinds of rhetoric, spend a few short minutes reading Lincoln’s address again. It is possible for a politician to make you feel good about yourself and your country again. I have mine printed out and posted on my office wall. I can’t imagine a happier reminder of greatness.