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G
26
19
5
6
e e.d Prof David Donold 57009 741 the (613) 495 - 1000 how puil tsberties Hervord cal
(617) 495-2500
259-8190
my will puo our in
I!
Susan Porter Rose
Bx 395 - 4198
Sect. Cheney
Mrs Cheney
Boorstein Billington) (LOC?)
MAN from - Lincoln Library
12:05
-
David Donald
MMM
(617) (617) 259-8190 259-8190 MM
$ 1
mm
will
SB
mmm
MN
Campaign Speeches
of American
Presidential Candidates
1948-1984
-
I
Edited and introduced by Gregory Bush
U
FREDERICK UNGAR PUBLISHING CO.
NEW YORK
C
A
C:
DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER
Acceptance Speech
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
Pre
July 11, 1952
tim
OVE
ma
pac
Mr. Chairman, my Fellow Republicans:
the
pul
May I first thank you on behalf of Mrs. Eisenhower and myself for
les:
the warmth of your welcome. For us both this is our first entry into a
sor
political convention and it is a heartwarming one. Thank you very much.
TV
And before I proceed with the thoughts that I should like to address
T
briefly to you, may I have the temerity to congratulate this convention on
the
the selection of their nominee for Vice-President. A man who has shown
car
in ;
statesmanlike qualities in many ways, but as a special talent an ability to
tin
ferret out any kind of subversive influence wherever it may be found and
Ha
the strength and persistence to get rid of it.
I
Ladies and Gentlemen, you have summoned me on behalf of millions
did
of your fellow Americans to lead a great crusade-for Freedom in Amer-
no:
ica and Freedom in the world. I know something of the solemn respon-
on
sibility of leading a crusade. I have led one. I take up this task, therefore,
edi
in a spirit of deep obligation. Mindful of its burdens and of its decisive
pai
of :
importance. I accept your summons. I will lead this crusade.
pro
Our aims-the aims of this Republican crusade-are clear: to sweep
for
from office an administration which has fastened on every one of us the
gel
wastefulness, the arrogance and corruption in high places, the heavy bur-
dens and anxieties which are the bitter fruit of a party too long in power.
38
DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER
39
Much more than this, it is our aim to give to our country a program
of progressive policies drawn from our finest Republican traditions; to
unite us wherever we have been divided; to strengthen freedom wherever
among any group is has been weakened; to build a sure foundation for
sound prosperity for all here at home and for a just and sure peace
throughout our world.
To achieve these aims we must have total victory; we must have more
Republicans in our state and local offices; more Republican governments
in our states; a Republican majority in the United States House of Repre-
sentatives and in the United States Senate; and, of course, a Republican
EISENHOWER
in the White House.
Today is the first day of this great battle. The road that leads to
nce Speech
Nov. 4 is a fighting road. In that fight I will keep nothing in reserve.
o, ILLINOIS
Before this I stood on the eve of battle. Before every attack it has
always been my practice to seek out our men in their camps and on the
11, 1952
roads and talk with them face to face about their concerns and discuss
with them the great mission to which we were all committed.
In this battle to which all of us are now committed it will be my prac-
tice to meet and talk with Americans face to face in every section, every
ins:
corner, every nook and cranny of this land.
I know that such a momentous campaign cannot be won by a few or
f of Mrs. Eisenhower and myself for
by divided or by uncertain forces. So to all those from the precinct level
us both this is our first entry into a
up who have worked long hours at difficult tasks in support of our party-
warming one. Thank you very much.
and for our party's candidates-I extend an earnest call to join up; join
thoughts that I should like to address
up for longer hours and harder work and even greater devotion to this
ity to congratulate this convention on
cause. I call on you to bring into this effort your neighbors next door and
ice-President. A man who has shown
across the street. This is not a job for any one of us or for just a few of us.
s, but as a special talent an ability to
Since this morning I have had helpful and heartwarming talks with
uence wherever it may be found and
I of it.
Senator Taft, Governor Warren and Governor Stassen. I wanted them to
know, as I want you to know, that in the hard fight ahead we will work
summoned me on behalf of millions
intimately together to promote the principles and aims of our party. I was
reat crusade-for Freedom in Amer-
strengthened and heartened by their instant agreement to support this
DW something of the solemn respon-
cause to the utmost. Their cooperation means that the Republican party
ed one. I take up this task, therefore,
ul of its burdens and of its decisive
will unitedly move forward in a sweeping victory.
We are now at a moment in history when, under God, this nation of
I will lead this crusade.
ours has become the mightiest temporal power and the mightiest spiritual
blican crusade-are clear: to sweep
force on earth. The destiny of mankind-the making of a world that will
has fastened on every one of us the
be fit for our children to live in-hangs in the balance on what we say
ption in high places, the heavy bur-
and what we accomplish in these months ahead.
er fruit of a party too long in power.
We must use our power wisely for the good of all our people. If we
do this, we will open a road into the future on which today's Americans,
young and old, and the generations that come after them, can go for-
ward-go forward to a life in which there will be far greater abundance
WILLIAM
MANCHESTER
REMEMBERING
KENNEDY
ONE
BRIEF
SHINING
MOMENT
Little, Brown and Company
Boston . Toronto
Ref.
E176
F86
WH
THE
BULLY
PULPIT
Quotations from
America's Presidents
Edited by
Elizabeth Frost
11
A New England Publishing Associates Book
Facts On File Publications
New York, New York Oxford, England
INTRODUCTION
"The White House is a bully pulpit,"
made by presidents during their White
said Theodore Roosevelt to George
House years. But, as my research
Putnam. Indeed, from George Washington
progressed, it became clear that many of
to Ronald Reagan, America's thirty-nine
their best observations fell outside this
presidents have used their office to speak
period. Either the fire of a campaign, the
out on every conceivable subject. Their
privacy of a long-kept diary, or the reflec-
statements have been wise and foolish,
tion and perspective associated with
profound and shallow, momentous and
retirement gave rise to eloquent com-
trivial, solemn and irreverent, eloquent
mentary that could not be left out of this
and tongue-tied, generous and malicious,
book. Therefore, while I have tried to focus
witty and ponderous. Many of them still
on the presidential years, I have also in-
resonate, such as Thomas Jefferson's
cluded apt quotations from earlier, or later,
famous tribute to truth: "It is error alone
dates.
which needs the support of government.
Some readers may wonder to what ex-
Truth can stand by itself." Some have be-
tent the words of presidents were, in fact,
come the clichés of election campaigns,
their own. Actually, most were. The early
for instance, Richard Nixon's plea: "It is
presidents prided themselves on writing
time for the great silent majority of
their own speeches (although Alexander
Americans to stand up and be counted."
Hamilton may have helped George
Still others were quickly forgotten but
Washington with his farewell address).
deserve resurrection, as with James
Not until Warren G. Harding, himself a
Buchanan's remark about Congress:
newspaper editor, hired Judson Welliver as
"Abstract propositions should never be
his "literary clerk," did an American
discussed by a legislative body."
president have a formal speech writer. And
The Bully Pulpit is a collection of
only after World War II did elected officials
approximately 3,000 of the most
have the money and large staffs necessary
significant and interesting quotations by
to accommodate full-time speech writers.
America's presidents. While the book con-
But ghosted or not, the words of
tains most of the more well-known
American presidents record the political
statements, a majority are less familiar.
and social history of the country itself.
Yet these are often the more revealing
Their words trace great themes in
ones, best expressing the personalities and
American history, reflect the changing
opinions of the men themselves. Woodrow
beliefs of the American people, and articu-
Wilson's sense of irony, for instance, is
late the best and the worst in the
clearly reflected in this wry observation on
American spirit. Some, such as those
the failing campaign of his opponent,
about Congress or the presidency itself,
Governor Charles Evans Hughes: "Never
reveal how American government and
murder a man who is committing
politics really work. (Who can resist
suicide." The Bully Pulpit then, is neither
Thomas Jefferson's skewering of Con-
hagiographic nor muckraking in purpose.
gress: "That 150 lawyers should do busi-
Rather, quotations have been included on
ness together ought not to be expected"?)
the basis of their historic significance, in-
And a great many skillfully articulate the
trinsic human interest, and colorful or
core principles of American democracy.
eloquent language.
The words of the chief executives also
In 1986, when I began this volume, I
vividly reflect their personalities. No
visualized The Bully Pulpit as a compila-
president was as combative as Theodore
tion of the most memorable statements
Roosevelt, who, in 1911, proudly
xiii
176 THE BULLY PULPIT
Had I been chosen President again, I am
A President can declare war and can con-
certain I could not have lived another year.
clude peace without being hurled from his
John Adams
chair.
To the Boston Patriot
1809
John Adams
Letter, W. S. Smith
In all great and essential measures he [the
February 22, 1815
president] is bound by his honor and his
conscience, by his oath to the Constitu-
I left my country in peace and harmony
tion, as well as his responsibility to the
with all the world
I left navy yards,
public opinion of the nation, to act his own
fortifications, frigates, timber, naval
mature and unbiased judgement, though
stores, manufacturies of canon and arms,
unfortunately, it may be in direct con-
and a treasury full of five millions of
tradiction to the advice of all his
dollars. This was all done
against
ministers. This was my situation in more
perpetual oppositions, clamors and
than one instance.
reproaches, such as no other President ever
George Washington
had to encounter.
For this I was turned
To the Boston Patriot
out of office, degraded and disgraced by my
1809
country.
The executive powers lodged in the Senate
John Adams
are the most dangerous to the Constitu-
Letter, James Lloyd
tion, and to liberty, of all the powers in it.
March 31, 1815
The people then, ought to consider the
President's office as the indispensable
And they talked a great deal about "the
guardian of their rights. I have ever, there-
dignity" of the office of President, which I
fore, been of the opinion, that the electors
do not find that any other persons, public
of [the] President ought to be chosen by the
or private, regards very much.
people at large.
John Adams
John Adams
Letter, Thomas Jefferson
To the Boston Patriot
April 19, 1817
1809
Five weeks more will relieve me from a
If that office [the presidency] was to be the
drudgery to which I am no longer equal,
prize of cabal and intrigue, of purchasing
and restore me to a scene of tranquility,
newspapers, bribing by appointments, or
amidst my family and friends, more con-
bargaining for foreign missions, I had no
genial to my age and natural inclinations.
ticket in that lottery. Whether I had the
John Adams
qualities necessary for a President of the
Letter, James Monroe
United States was, to say the very least,
January 1809
very doubtful to myself. But that I had no
talents for obtaining the office by such
I am for responsibilities at short periods,
means was perfectly clear.
seeing neither reason nor safety in making
public functionaries independent of the
John Quincy Adams
Memoirs
nation for life, or even for long terms of
February 25, 1821
years. On this principle I prefer the
Presidential term of four years, to that of
seven years, which I myself had at first
No man who ever held the office of
suggested, annexing to it, however, in-
President would congratulate a friend on
eligibility forever after; and I wish it were
obtaining it. He will make one man un-
now annexed to the 2d quadrennial elec-
grateful, and a hundred men his enemies,
tion of President.
for every office he can bestow.
Thomas Jefferson
John Adams
Letter, J. Martin
Letter, Josiah Quincy
September 20, 1813
February 14, 1825
PRESIDENCY 187
I don't want to
Maybe the country would have been better
represents the point of ultimate decision
lite House in a pine
off if I had been a concert pianist.
in the American political system. It is ex-
Harry S. Truman
posed because decision cannot take place
Cited in Quote magazine
in a vacuum.
And it is mysterious be-
July 1, 1962
cause the essence of ultimate decision
remains impenetrable to the
The President
is rightly described as a
observer-often, indeed, to the decider
man of extraordinary powers. Yet it is also
himself.
every President is
true that he must wield these powers
le, there is no such
John F. Kennedy
under extraordinary limitations-and it is
the Republicans,
Foreword to Theodore Sorensen's Decision-Making
these limitations which so often give the
in the White House
S a president of the
problem of choice its complexities and
1963
even poignancy. Lincoln, Franklin
Roosevelt once remarked, "was a sad man
Of course, we can't all be Winston
ce
because he couldn't get it all at once. And
Churchills. We can't all be President. I
nobody can." Every President must endure
found that out.
a gap between what he would like and
it all wisdom is in
what is possible.
Richard Nixon
New York Times
aloney
no one
John F. Kennedy
June 15, 1963
truth and on the
Inaugural address
untry.
January 20, 1961
The Presidency of this Nation is no place
When we got into office, the thing that
surprised me most was to find that things
for a timid soul or a torpid spirit. It is the
d up my time; but
were just as bad as we'd been saying they
one place where a petty temper and a
narrow view can never reside.
were.
thing about being
Lyndon B. Johnson
11 him to sit down.
John F. Kennedy
Speech, Democratic Party Dinner, Miami Beach,
Speech, honoring Kennedy's 44th birthday
Florida
May 27, 1961
February 27, 1964
To paraphrase the old saying, "Good news
is no news." So the kind of news a
le [1956] I should
I know of nothing in the President's job
president usually gets is bad. But it is more
that is more important than being
ng to persuasion to
important that there is a lot of good news,
psychiatrist-or
accountable to the people.
too, which does not immediately cross a
president's desk. One must remember to
Lyndon B. Johnson
News conference, State Department
keep a balance, to maintain a broad
February 29, 1964
perspective and to refuse to be
overwhelmed by bad news.
ttlefield when the
John F. Kennedy
My White House job pays more than
he smoke and the
Cited in Parade
public school systems but the tenure is
war is comparable
April 8, 1962
less certain.
t times-of the
e times when one
I know when things don't go well, they
Lyndon B. Johnson
Comments, presenting the award to the Teacher of
usly, deliberately,
like to blame the President, and that is one
the Year for 1963, Washington, D.C.
every argument,
of the things Presidents are paid for.
May 4. 1964
prediction, every
John F. Kennedy
ble outcome of his
Press conference
ne-make a deci-
June 15, 1962
A President's hardest task is not to do
what is right, but to know what is right.
The American presidency is a formidable,
Lyndon B. Johnson
exposed, and somewhat mysterious in-
State of the union address
stitution. It is formidable because it
January 5, 1965
that was almost a sprint, restlessly snapping his fingers. Of a typical day
James Reston wrote in the New York Times, "He did everything today except
shinny up the Washington Monument." "When you see the President," a
senator remarked, "you have to get in your car and drive like blazes back
to the Capitol to beat his memo commenting on what you told him." The
presidency, Kennedy had said, was "the vital center of action." That fitted
his temperament; so he was both following his instincts and buffing his
reputation when he held the first live, televised presidential press confer-
ences, organized the Peace Corps, reorganized the White House staff, and
delivered an unprecedented number of speeches. Jackie was asked why he
was so hyperactive. "Because he wants to know it all," she said. But he had
another motive. He wanted, to the greatest possible degree, the undivided
attention of his countrymen. And he was getting it. Newspapermen and
television commentators reported the progress of the new administration
almost breathlessly. The televised news conferences were immensely pop-
ular. Remembering his first debate with Nixon, Jack became the first Presi-
dent to recognize and exploit the possibilities of TV.
His hustling accelerated; he was determined to expand his all-im-
portant base. The people he needed were watching him, and he wanted to
be sure they liked what they saw. The hatless, coatless vigor helped, except
in the hatting industry, which saw its sales plummet. Nice Al Webb, a PT
veteran and hatter executive, arrived with two hats custom-made for Jack
and Red Fay. In the Oval Office, Nice Al removed the hats from their boxes
as though they were fragile Stradivarii. Jack and the Redhead tried them
on. Nice Al stood back to observe the effect. He said unconvincingly, "You
both look great." Jack and Red looked at each other and burst out laughing.
"Al," said the President, "are you willing to destroy the beloved image of
our country's leader just to save the hat industry?" Crestfallen, Nice Al
retreated. To make a permanent record of the occasion, Cecil Stoughton,
the White House photographer, was summoned to the office. His photo-
graph of the President and Red survives. In it they look like a couple of
house detectives.
But to the country, the bareheaded Kennedy was looking more and
more like a President. Americans approve of self-starters. It was reassuring
to learn that Ike's successor was very much in charge. The first televised
sessions with the White House press corps were, of course, crucial. One of
them - the third - was watched by some 65 million people in 21.5 million
homes. Marshall McLuhan acclaimed him as a virtuoso. And presently the
wisdom of the Neustadt approach was reflected in studies by opinion sam-
plers. Kennedy's racing start had converted an enormous segment of the
electorate, millions of Nixon voters who had changed their minds. And,
Gallup reported, the number of Americans who approved of the way Ken-
nedy was doing his job was growing steadily.
Jackie's emergence as a national celebrity was more languid. She
hated the goldfish-bowl aspect of living in the White House, the tourists
who lurked outside the grounds, the shouts of encouragement from boys
watching her on the White House tennis court, and the amateur photogra-
phers with telephoto lenses who snapped pictures of her children in their
play area. But she genuinely loved the mansion, and devoted herself to a
restoration of its former majesty. Pierre Salinger found her charming but
135
JK516
.568
WHRC
t: DECISION-MAKING
IN THE WHITE HOUSE
THE OLIVE BRANCH OR THE ARROWS
THEODORE C. SORENSEN
FOREWORD BY JOHN F. KENNEDY
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS
NEW YORK AND LONDON
Foreword
THE American Presidency is a formidable, exposed,
and somewhat mysterious institution. It is formidable
because it represents the point of ultimate decision in
the American political system. It is exposed because de-
cision cannot take place in a vacuum: the Presidency is
the center of the play of pressure, interest, and idea in
the nation; and the presidential office is the vortex into
which all the elements of national decision are irresisti-
bly drawn. And it is mysterious because the essence of
ultimate decision remains impenetrable to the observer
-often, indeed, to the decider himself.
Yet, if the process of presidential decision is obscure,
the necessity for it is all too plain. To govern, as wise
men have said, is to choose. Lincoln observed that we
cannot escape history. It is equally true that we cannot
escape choice; and, for an American President, choice
FOREWORD
FOREWORD
is charged with a peculiar and daunting responsibility
only part of the story; for, during the rest of the time,
for the safety and welfare of the nation. A President
no one in the country is more assailed by divergent ad-
must choose among men, among measures, among
vice and clamorous counsel. This advice and counsel,
methods. His choice helps determine the issues of his
indeed, are essential to the process of decision; for they
Presidency, their priority in the national life, and the
give the President not only needed information and
mode and success of their execution. The heart of the
ideas but a sense of the possibilities and the limitations
Presidency is therefore informed, prudent, and resolute
of action. A wise President therefore gathers strength
choice-and the secret of the presidential enterprise is
and insight from the nation. Still, in the end, he is
to be found in an examination of the way presidential
alone. There stands the decision-and there stands the
choices are made.
President. "I have accustomed myself to receive with
Many things have been written about the conditions
respect the opinions of others," said Andrew Jackson,
of presidential decision. The President, for example, is
"but always take the responsibility of deciding for
rightly described as a man of extraordinary powers. Yet
myself."
it is also true that he must wield these powers under
The author of this book has been an astute and sensi-
extraordinary limitations-and it is these limitations
tive collaborator in the presidential enterprise. Few writ-
which so often give the problem of choice its complex-
ers have isolated the elements in presidential decision
ity and even poignancy. Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt
with such perception and precision. There will always
once remarked, "was a sad man because he couldn't
be the dark and tangled stretches in the decision-making
get it all at once. And nobody can." Every President
process-mysterious even to those who may be most
must endure a gap between what he would like and
intimately involved-but Mr. Sorensen, more than any
what is possible.
recent American writer, has helped illuminate the scene
The loneliness of the President is another well-estab-
with skill and judgment. He has been a participant, as
lished truism of essays on the presidential process. It is
well as an observer, of important decisions in difficult
xii
xiii
FOREWORD
days. His careful observations have been made with
skill and judgment and I am sure his work will become
a permanent addition to the small shelf of indispensable
books on the American Presidency.
The White House
JOHN F. KENNEDY
June, 1963
Pnn
(Smith/Blessey)
Draft One
January 3, 1990
LINC
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: LINCOLN LECTURE
STATE DINING ROOM
SUNDAY, JANUARY 7, 1990
5:00 P.M.
Professor Donald, Lynn Cheney, Honored guests, Ladies and
gentlemen.
Barbara and I want to welcome you to the White House. It is
indeed a privilege to be with you. And to host this inaugural
lecture on an office to which my forty predecessors have
consecrated the full measure of their lives: The Presidency of
the United States.
To John F. Kennedy, the Presidency was "the vital center of
action." To Teddy Roosevelt, it was the "bully pulpit,"
reflecting this Nation's values and her dreams. And it was
Dwight Eisenhower -- America's beloved Ike -- who spoke of its
power "to proclaim anew our faith," and summon "lightness against
the dark."
To occupy this office is to feel a kinship with these and
other Presidents. For each in his own way sought to do right,
and thus achieve good. Each felt a sacred trust with every
American. And often doubted, I suspect, how they could be worthy
of that trust.
2
Perhaps no President had greater doubts -- nor more
brilliantly resolved them -- than the subject of this inaugural
lecture: Abraham Lincoln of Illinois.
As President, Lincoln abolished slavery. He saved the
Union. Perhaps no leader has been so severely tested -- before,
or since. And yet we remember Abe Lincoln not merely for what he
did. We revere him for what he was.
Lincoln was a strong man -- an arm-wrestler, a rail-
splitter. And yet a mix of kindness and humility. At once a
hard and gentle person -- a man of grief, and yet of humor. For
he knew, as he told Secretary of War Steward, that "If I did not
tell stories, I feel my heart would break."
Let me tell you a story. // After all, Abe would probably
want it that way. // A stranger once found Lincoln in the street
with two of his sons. Both of them were sobbing uncontrollably.
"Whatever is the matter with the boys, Mr. Lincoln?" the
stranger asked. Lincoln sighed, then observed, "Just what's the
matter with the world. I've got three walnuts, and each wants
two. "
As this story suggests, Lincoln was pulled in countless
directions. Yet he not only comforted his two sons. He
comforted the Nation. And by acting extraordinarily in times of
peril, preserved for future generations the canons of democracy.
Tonight, we have here a man who will tell us about those
times. His name is David Donald. He is the Charles Warren
Professor of American History at Harvard University. And as a
3
Yale man, I am proud that he will give this first lecture of the
Presidential Lecture Series on the Presidency.
A native of Mississippi, David Donald graduated from the
University of Illinois, where he was a student of the great
Lincoln scholar, J.G. Randall. Since then, he has taught at
Columbia University, Princeton University, the University of
Oxford, and the Johns Hopkins University.
In five books, he has written about Lincoln and the Civil
War -- twice, receiving the Pulitzer Price in Biography. And
always willing, as Lincoln said, to "think anew," he is now
working on a new biography of America's 16th President.
Earlier, I spoke of kinship. Well -- I'm sure David Donald
would agree -- any President's kinship with Lincoln is perhaps
the most personal of all.
Each day I pass the room which served as Lincoln's office.
My office is the Lincoln Study. To the left of my desk is one of
only five copies of the Emancipation Proclamation. And just
above me here is a portrait of Lincoln painted by George Healy
121 years ago. In it you see Lincoln's agony, and his greatness.
A man who nightly fell on his knees to ask guidance from God.
Here, in this house, Lincoln lives -- even now. Teaching,
and inspiring. And nowhere more than in another portrait that I
talked about last month off the coast of Malta before meeting
Chairman Gorbachev. And that I'd like to close with now. It
hangs on the wall of my study. And it portrays the decency --
and humanity -- of Abraham Lincoln.
4
The painting pictures Lincoln and his generals, meeting near
the end of a war that pitted brother against brother. Outside,
at that moment, a battle rages. And yet what we see in the
distance is a rainbow -- that symbol of hope, of the passing of
the storm. The painting's name? The Peacemakers.
For me, this painting is a constant reassurance that the
cause of peace will triumph. As it did in Lincoln's time. As it
must, for us. And that ours can be a future that Lincoln gave
his life for -- a future free of both tyranny and fear.
One hundred and twenty-nine years ago, leaving Springfield
to assume the Presidency, Lincoln addressed his home people at
the Great Western Railway Station. He told them: "All the
strange checkered past seems now to crowd upon my mind."
Even now, the memory of Abraham Lincoln crowds upon our
memory. It is a great privilege, then, to introduce a man who
has devoted his lifetime to the study of its tragic, almost
mystic glory. Professor David Donald.
#
#
#
#
stoffed
(Smith/Blessey)
Draft One
January 3, 1990
INC
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: LINCOLN LECTURE
STATE DINING ROOM
SUNDAY, JANUARY 7, 1990
5:00 P.M.
S-SM Rose
Professor Donald, Lynn Cheney, Ladies and gentlemen.
Barbara and I want to welcome you to the White House. It is
name from 200
indeed a privilege to be with you. And to host this inaugural
lecture on the Presidency of the United States.
929-4567
Rose
To John F. Kennedy, the Presidency was "the vital center of
The
action. " To Teddy Roosevelt, it was the "bully pulpit,"
reflecting America's values and her dreams. And it was Dwight
Story
Eisenhower -- beloved Ike -- who spoke of its power "to proclaim
3
our faith, and summon "lightness against the dark."
To occupy this office is to feel a kinship with these and
no,
is
other Presidents. For each in his own way sought to do right,
8
and thus achieve good. Each felt a sacred trust with every
American. And often wondered, I suspect, how they could be
worthy of that trust.
Perhaps no President had greater doubts -- nor more
lemo
from
brilliantly resolved them -- than the subject of this inaugural
lecture: Abraham Lincoln of Illinois.
Time's The
As President, Lincoln abolished slavery. He saved the
America
Preor
dieney
Union. Perhaps no leader has been so severely tested -- before,
2
or since. And yet we remember Abe Lincoln not merely for what he
did. We revere him for what he was.
ime's The
Lincoln was a strong man -- an arm-wrestler, a rail-
Presidents
splitter. Yet also a mix of kindness and humility. He was at
once a hard and gentle person -- a man of grief, and yet of
State
humor. For he knew, as he told Secretary of War Steward, that
"If I did not tell stories, I feel my heart would break
on
Tonight, we have here a man who will doubtless tell some
stories. About how by acting extraordinarily in times of peril,
Lincoln preserved for future generations the canons of democracy.
Donald
bio
His name is David Donald -- the Charles Warren Professor of
American History at Harvard University.
A native of Mississippi, Mr. Donald graduated from the
00
University of Illinois, where he was a student of the great
Lincoln scholar, J.G. Randall. He has taught at some of
America's greatest universities -- and has written five books
about Lincoln and the Civil War -- twice, receiving the Pulitzer
Prize in biography. Moreover, our guest is now working on a new
biography of America's 16th President.
Earlier, I spoke of kinship. Well -- I'm sure David Donald
would agree -- any President's kinship with Lincoln is perhaps
the most personal of all.
So often I pass the Lincoln Bedroom which then served as
Curplais
Lincoln's Cabinet Room and office. On his desk, to the left of
the fireplace, is an original copy of the Gettysburg Address.
3
And on the mantle is a plaque marking an equally noble legacy.
Here, the Great Unifier signed the Emancipation Proclamation.
onforrestal
Yet perhaps nowhere do we learn more about Lincoln, even
Pemarks
now, than in a portrait that I talked about last month off the
coast of Malta before meeting Chairman Gorbachev. It is by
Reace
George Healy, and hangs on the wall of my study. In it you see
the agony, and the greatness, of a man who nightly fell on his
knees to ask the help of God.
The painting shows Lincoln and his generals, meeting near
the end of a war that pitted brother against brother. Outside,
at that moment, a battle rages. And yet what we see in the
distance is a rainbow -- that symbol of hope, of the passing of
the storm. The painting's name? The Peacemakers.
For me, this painting is a constant reassurance that the
cause of peace will triumph. And that ours can be the future
that Lincoln gave his life for -- a future free of both tyranny
and fear.
One hundred and twenty-nine years ago, leaving Springfield
to assume the Presidency, Lincoln addressed his home people at
P.569
the Great Western Railway Station. He told them: "All the
strange, checkered past seems now to crowd.upon my mind.' "
Even now, the memory of Abraham Lincoln crowds upon our
minds. It is a great privilege, then, to introduce a man who has
ene
this
sent
devoted his lifetime to the study of its tragedy and its glory.
One of the great scholars of perhaps our greatest President.
Spe
roions
Professor David Donald.
1976
#
#
#
#
1861
staffed
(Smith/Blessey)
Draft One
January 3, 1990
INC
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: LINCOLN LECTURE
STATE DINING ROOM
SUNDAY, JANUARY 7, 1990
5:00 P.M.
Professor Donald, Lynn Cheney, Ladies and gentlemen.
Barbara and I want to welcome you to the White House. It is
indeed a privilege to be with you. And to host this inaugural
lecture on the Presidency of the United States.
To John F. Kennedy, the Presidency was "the vital center of
action." To Teddy Roosevelt, it was the "bully pulpit,"
reflecting America's values and her dreams. And it was Dwight
Eisenhower -- beloved Ike -- who spoke of its power "to proclaim
our faith," and summon "lightness against the dark."
To occupy this office is to feel a kinship with these and
other Presidents. For each in his own way sought to do right,
and thus achieve good. Each felt a sacred trust with every
American. And often wondered, I suspect, how they could be
worthy of that trust.
Perhaps no President had greater doubts -- nor more
brilliantly resolved them -- than the subject of this inaugural
lecture: Abraham Lincoln of Illinois.
As President, Lincoln abolished slavery. He saved the
Union. Perhaps no leader has been so severely tested -- before,
2
or since. And yet we remember Abe Lincoln not merely for what he
did. We revere him for what he was.
Lincoln was a strong man -- an arm-wrestler, a rail-
splitter. Yet also a mix of kindness and humility. He was at
once a hard and gentle person -- a man of grief, and yet of
humor. For he knew, as he told Secretary of War Steward, that
"If I did not tell stories, I feel my heart would break."
Tonight, we have here a man who will doubtless tell some
stories. About how by acting extraordinarily in times of peril,
Lincoln preserved for future generations the canons of democracy.
His name is David Donald -- the Charles Warren Professor of
American History at Harvard University.
A native of Mississippi, Mr. Donald graduated from the
University of Illinois, where he was a student of the great
Lincoln scholar, J.G. Randall. He has taught at some of
America's greatest universities -- and has written five books
about Lincoln and the Civil War -- twice, receiving the Pulitzer
Prize in biography. Moreover, our guest is now working on a new
biography of America's 16th President.
Earlier, I spoke of kinship. Well -- I'm sure David Donald
would agree -- any President's kinship with Lincoln is perhaps
the most personal of all.
So often I pass the Lincoln Bedroom which then served as
Lincoln's Cabinet Room and office. On his desk, to the left of
the fireplace, is an original copy of the Gettysburg Address.
3
And on the mantle is a plaque marking an equally noble legacy.
Here, the Great Unifier signed the Emancipation Proclamation.
Yet perhaps nowhere do we learn more about Lincoln, even
now, than in a portrait that I talked about last month off the
coast of Malta before meeting Chairman Gorbachev. It is by
George Healy, and hangs on the wall of my study. In it you see
the agony, and the greatness, of a man who nightly fell on his
knees to ask the help of God.
The painting shows Lincoln and his generals, meeting near
the end of a war that pitted brother against brother. Outside,
at that moment, a battle rages. And yet what we see in the
distance is a rainbow -- that symbol of hope, of the passing of
the storm. The painting's name? The Peacemakers.
For me, this painting is a constant reassurance that the
cause of peace will triumph. And that ours can be the future
that Lincoln gave his life for -- a future free of both tyranny
and fear.
One hundred and twenty-nine years ago, leaving Springfield
to assume the Presidency, Lincoln addressed his home people at
the Great Western Railway Station. He told them: "All the
strange checkered past seems now to crowd upon my mind. "
Even now, the memory of Abraham Lincoln crowds upon our
minds. It is a great privilege, then, to introduce a man who has
devoted his lifetime to the study of its tragedy and its glory.
One of the great scholars of perhaps our greatest President.
Professor David Donald.
#
#
#
#
(Smith/Blessey)
Draft One
January 3, 1990
INC
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: LINCOLN LECTURE
STATE DINING ROOM
SUNDAY, JANUARY 7, 1990
5:00 P.M.
Professor Donald, Lynn Cheney, Ladies and gentlemen.
Barbara and I want to welcome you to the White House. It is
indeed a privilege to be with you. And to host this inaugural
lecture on the Presidency of the United States.
To John F. Kennedy, the Presidency was "the vital center of
action. " To Teddy Roosevelt, it was the "bully pulpit,"
reflecting America's values and her dreams. And it was Dwight
Eisenhower -- beloved Ike -- who spoke of its power "to proclaim
our faith," and summon "lightness against the dark."
To occupy this office is to feel a kinship with these and
other Presidents. For each in his own way sought to do right,
and thus achieve good. Each felt a sacred trust with every
American. And often wondered, I suspect, how they could be
worthy of that trust.
Perhaps no President had greater doubts -- nor more
brilliantly resolved them -- than the subject of this inaugural
lecture: Abraham Lincoln of Illinois.
As President, Lincoln abolished slavery. He saved the
Union. Perhaps no leader has been so severely tested -- before,
2
or since. And yet we remember Abe Lincoln not merely for what he
did. We revere him for what he was.
Lincoln was a strong man -- an arm-wrestler, a rail-
splitter. Yet also a mix of kindness and humility. He was at
once a hard and gentle person -- a man of grief, and yet of
humor. For he knew, as he told Secretary of War Steward, that
"If I did not tell stories, I feel my heart would break."
Tonight, we have here a man who will doubtless tell some
stories. About how by acting extraordinarily in times of peril,
Lincoln preserved for future generations the canons of democracy.
His name is David Donald -- the Charles Warren Professor of
American History at Harvard University.
A native of Mississippi, Mr. Donald graduated from the
University of Illinois, where he was a student of the great
Lincoln scholar, J.G. Randall. He has taught at some of
America's greatest universities -- and has written five books
about Lincoln and the Civil War -- twice, receiving the Pulitzer
Prize in biography. Moreover, our guest is now working on a new
biography of America's 16th President.
Earlier, I spoke of kinship. Well -- I'm sure David Donald
would agree -- any President's kinship with Lincoln is perhaps
the most personal of all.
So often I pass the Lincoln Bedroom which then served as
Lincoln's Cabinet Room and office. On his desk, to the left of
the fireplace, is an original copy of the Gettysburg Address.
3
And on the mantle is a plaque marking an equally noble legacy.
Here, the Great Unifier signed the Emancipation Proclamation.
Yet perhaps nowhere do we learn more about Lincoln, even
now, than in a portrait that I talked about last month off the
coast of Malta before meeting Chairman Gorbachev. It is by
George Healy, and hangs on the wall of my study. In it you see
the agony, and the greatness, of a man who nightly fell on his
knees to ask the help of God.
The painting shows Lincoln and his generals, meeting near
the end of a war that pitted brother against brother. Outside,
at that moment, a battle rages. And yet what we see in the
distance is a rainbow -- that symbol of hope, of the passing of
the storm. The painting's name? The Peacemakers.
For me, this painting is a constant reassurance that the
cause of peace will triumph. And that ours can be the future
that Lincoln gave his life for -- a future free of both tyranny
and fear.
One hundred and twenty-nine years ago, leaving Springfield
to assume the Presidency, Lincoln addressed his home people at
the Great Western Railway Station. He told them: "All the
strange checkered past seems now to crowd upon my mind."
Even now, the memory of Abraham Lincoln crowds upon our
minds. It is a great privilege, then, to introduce a man who has
devoted his lifetime to the study of its tragedy and its glory.
One of the great scholars of perhaps our greatest President.
Professor David Donald.
# # # #
JAN 2 '90 13:32 FROM 1ST LADY STAFF OFC
PAGE. 001
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
FAX COVER SHEET
TO:
KRiSTEN
Phone:
Fax: (12 456 6218
FROM:
SALLY Phone: 202
Runian
Fax: ( 202 395-4198
2957
DATE: 12/2
TIME: 12:30
PAGES:
4
(Including cover )
COMMENTS:
I will SEMD A HARD cupy, As
WELL.
Thank you.
JAN 2 '90 13:32 FROM 1ST LADY STAFF OFC
PAGE 002
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
December 18, 1989
MEMORANDUM TO MARLIN FITZWATER/ANNA PEREZ
DAVE DEMEREST
SIG of ROGICH
X
x7064
FROM:
SUSAN PORTER ROSE
SUBJECT:
PRESIDENTIAL LECTURE SERIES ON THE PRESIDENCY
The following is information on the first lecture of
the Presidential Lecture Series on the Presidency which I
hope will be useful:
On Sunday, January 7th, at 5:00 p.m. the President and
Mrs. Bush will host the inaugural lecture of a new White
House series entitled: Presidential Lecture Series on the
Presidency. The inaugural lecture will be given by Harvard
Professor David Donald on Abraham Lincoln. This inaugural
lecture will be held in the State Dining Room under the
Healy portrait of Lincoln. Approximately 100 guests from
around the country will be invited.
The President and Mrs. Bush plan to host two or three
lectures each year.
Attachments
cc: Governor Sununu
Andy Card
Jim Cicconi
introduce Dail Donald 1st lecturer?
Lourie Enrestone
Usher's off. 2650
Curstor's off. x2550
SPR - - 2957
Solly Runion
JAN 2 '90 13:33 FROM 1ST LADY STAFF OFC
PAGE 003
A native of Mississippi, David Herbert Donald received his
graduate training at the University of Illinois, where he was a
student of the great Lincoln scholar, J.G. Randall. Now Charles
Warren Professor of American History at Harvard University, he
has previously taught at Columbia University, Princeton
University, the University of Oxford, and the Johns Hopkins
University. He has written about Abraham Lincoln and the Civil
War years in books that include Lincoln's Herndon, Divided We
Fought, Inside Lincoln's Cabinet, Lincoln Reconsidered, and a
two-volume life of Charles Sumner. He has twice received the
Pulitzer Prise in Biography.
Mr. Donald is married to Dr. Aida DiPace Donald, who is Editor-
in-Chief of the Harvard University Press. They have one son, Dr.
Bruce Randall Donald, who teaches computer science at Cornell
University.
With the assistance of a grant from the National Endowment for
the Humanities, Mr. Donald is now preparing a new biography of
Abraham Lincoln.
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** TOTAL PAGE. 004 **
Dec. 1 / Administration of George Bush, 1989
tended in the educational and training pro-
No, we had a great meal down there. But
grams for officers of the Maltese armed
I know-I'll be brief because I know there
forces and to government officials involved
are other priorities, like getting ready, as
in the war against drug trafficking and
America is, for a certain football event next
other forms of illicit trade. The President
Saturday. Just this morning I was talking
appreciated the efforts by the Maltese au-
with a "BB stacker." And I told him I hope
thorities to strengthen Malta's maritime
my meeting with Chairman Gorbachev
patrol capabilities, particularly in and
means that fierce adversaries will never
around Malta's waters, and to this end, sup-
again clash on the field of battle. He said,
ported the provision of U.S. help and coop-
"You mean you're going to negotiate an
eration.
end to the Army-Navy game?" [Laughter]
The President expressed thanks to the
Well, I'm not. And I know that next Sat-
Prime Minister of the full cooperation ex-
urday Americans will be rooting for both
tended by the Government of Malta in the
sides, just like nearly half a century ago, in
preparations made with regard to his meet-
this very part of the Mediterranean, young
ing with the Soviet President.
sailors like yourselves were taking sides on
different circumstances. For on Malta itself,
Note: The President met with Prime Minis-
as a brave people endured savage attack,
ter Fenech Adami at 10:35 a.m. at l'Auberge
they were aided by the Armed Forces of
de Castille.
America and her allies, daring greatly, fight-
ing valiantly, so that freedom could prevail.
Remarks to the Crew and Guests of the
And for more than two centuries now, the
U.S.S. Forrestal at Malta
Navy has been a defender of that freedom.
Proclaiming the inevitability of democracy.
December 1, 1989
Living on "the tip of the spear." Think
Hello, fellow Navy men. And hello to the
back: Nimitz and Halsey, Commodore
sons of the U.S.S. Forrestal. I'm delighted to
Perry, battles like Midway and Leyte Gulf
be here. And to those others that are visit-
and the battle of the Philippine Sea, and of
ing here from other ships in the battle
America's enlisted men and women who ex-
group. And to Captain Thomassy-thank
pressed our deepest values and our charac-
you, sir, for that kind introduction. Admiral
ter as a people.
Howe and Vice Admiral Williams, Rear Ad-
I met with Mr. Akhromeyev of the Soviet
miral "Sweet Pea" Allen, friends. You guys
Union, the former Defense Minister in
be seated, please. No chairs? Then keep
charge of all the military. And the thing he
standing-never mind. [Laughter]
commented on was the quality and the abil-
I'm pleased to be here. Just shows how
ity of the enlisted men and women in the
far one will go in the world—I'll leave no
service of the United States, particularly in
place unexplored in my quest to catch a
the Navy, because he had an opportunity to
fish. [Laughter]
go out and visit on one of the ships.
These remarks will be relatively brief. I
I'm a Navy man-or was. And I confess
say that because I know your jobs, having
that certain things haven't changed since I
seen these operations, don't leave too much
joined up as a seaman second class. I
room for speeches, after all. Also on a ship
assume that maids still come into the quar-
you can't stand still for long. Anything that
ters, make your beds, and leave a mint on
doesn't move gets painted, as I remember
the pillow. [Laughter] And I know you have
it. [Laughter] I can tell fresh paint when
"gator," "snipes," and "grapes." You know,
I've seen it, but thanks for the welcome
I love this. Let's hear it from the "grapes."
anyway.
Well, there are not many of them around.
I know, too, that some of you have meals
[Applause] You know, I love this navy
to eat. Frankly, I'd like to get Chairman
jargon. I'm sometimes tempted to use it
Gorbachev to get an idea of what U.S. Navy
there at the White House. It's just that
food is like. [Laughter] Maybe not. [Laugh-
some of the Congressmen might be a little
ter] What I'm trying to do is ease tensions.
leery if I asked them to join me for
[Laughter]
"mid'rats."
1862
Administration of George Bush, 1989 / Dec. 1
al down there. But
And then there's the sailors' zest for off-
man Gorbachev. For the times are on the
ause I know there
duty hours. That, too, endures. I hear by
side of peace. And there are important rea-
getting ready, as
the grapevine that you missed a few days of
sons why that's true.
football event next
liberty sitting off the coast of France in bad
One of them is that 40 years ago the
ning I was talking
weather. And far be it from me to criticize
NATO alliance was formed in the hope that
1 I told him I hope
the exuberance that you showed when you
freedom would one day belong to the mil-
airman Gorbachev
finally hit town. [Laughter] Don't worry, I
lions in Europe still yearning for freedom.
ersaries will never
can repair and be sure that our good rela-
Because NATO remained vigilant, strong,
of battle. He said,
tions with France are restored again.
and united, this meeting is taking place.
[Laughter]
g to negotiate an
Some things haven't changed. It's true
And the alliance has been strengthened
game?" [Laughter]
that my generation was charged with win-
by America's enduring commitment to its
now that next Sat-
ning a war and yours is charged with pre-
protection. America has been, and remains,
e rooting for both
serving a peace, but both want to protect
a shining champion of liberty. And because
If a century ago, in
freedom. And that hasn't changed. Nor has
of that, this meeting is taking place.
diterranean, young
the knowledge that real peace-the peace
And finally, this meeting is taking place
ere taking sides on
which lasts-is not an accident. Lasting
because you have done your jobs; you have
For on Malta itself,
peace takes planning and patience and per-
done your duty. And you and sailors like
ired savage attack,
sonal sacrifice. And it takes a partnership
you all around the world have kept us
Armed Forces of
with our allies, who are resolute in the de-
strong and helped the horizons of democra-
laring greatly, fight-
fense of liberty. Lasting peace stems from
cy eclipse nation and race. Because of you,
edom could prevail.
strength that is moral and intellectual, eco-
freedom is sweeping the globe. Our meet-
centuries now, the
nomic and military; and from nations who
ing here off Malta will last 2 days, but the
er of that freedom.
use that strength to make fragile peace
freedoms that we seek must last for genera-
bility of democracy.
strong, make temporary peace permanent.
tions.
the spear." Think
Those lessons helped our generation win
You know, with these recent and extraor-
alsey, Commodore
World War II; and today they bring me,
dinary changes that are taking place in
ay and Leyte Gulf
and I believe Chairman Gorbachev, too, to
Eastern Europe, I've been thinking of those
ilippine Sea, and of
our 2 days of talks-a meeting for your gen-
freedoms. And at no time-no time-more
and women who ex-
eration and all the generations to come.
than when that Berlin Wall began to crum-
es and our charac-
There's a painting in the White House,
ble, began to open. And I remember how,
upstairs in the little office I have there. It
shortly after that-maybe you guys saw it
meyev of the Soviet
portrays the decency and humanity of one
on the television, the breaking of the wall-
efense Minister in
of our greatest leaders. I've often said that
right after that, Chancellor Kohl, Federal
y. And the thing he
Abraham Lincoln is one of my favorite
Republic of Germany, called me at the
quality and the abil-
Presidents. And I suppose virtually every
White House. And he asked me to thank
and women in the
American feels that way. This painting
each American and said that the remarka-
ates, particularly in
shows why. It pictures Lincoln with two
ble change in Eastern Europe would not be
d an opportunity to
generals and an admiral meeting on a boat
occurring without the steadfast support of
f the ships.
near the end of a war that pitted brother
the United States.
was. And I confess
against brother. Outside, in this picture, the
Warm praise from a good friend, praise
n't changed since I
battle rages. And yet what we see in the
which belongs to you. And I recalled that
in second class. I
distance is a rainbow-symbol of hope, of
conversation when last week the Foreign
come into the quar-
the passing of the storm. The painting's
Minister of Germany, Mr. Genscher, came
nd leave a mint on
name? The Peacemakers.
to see Secretary [of State] Baker and me.
nd I know you have
For me, and I think for Barbara, too, this
He visited the White House, and he praised
grapes." You know,
painting is a constant reassurance that the
our devotion to freedom. And he gave me a
from the "grapes."
cause of peace will triumph and that ours
gift for the American people, and it's a
ny of them around.
can be a future free of both tyranny and
piece of the Berlin Wall. And it's on my
I love this navy
fear. Our fellow democracies share our
desk as a reminder of the power of free-
tempted to use it
hope for such a future. We want the Soviet
dom-freedom to bring down the walls be-
ouse. It's just that
Union, posed-we've been adversaries; now
tween people.
en might be a little
we want the Soviet Union to join us in
Fellow Navy men, I treasure that me-
n to join me for
building that kind of future. And that's why
mento. And it shows what can happen
I'm meeting, starting tomorrow, with Chair-
when Americans stick to their principles.
1863
Dec. 1 / Administration of George Bush, 1989
And we will not yield on those principles.
commander in chief of U.S. naval forces in
And yet we all recognize a dynamic new
Europe; Vice Adm. James D. Williams, com-
Soviet leader willing, as Lincoln said, to
mander of the U.S. 6th Fleet; and Rear
think anew; and we want him to succeed
Adm. Richard C. Allen, commander of Car-
because we do admire the people in the
rier Group 6. Prior to his remarks, the Presi-
Soviet Union and we know that ours is an
dent visited the flight deck control,
historic opportunity to foster the peace.
watched aircraft launch and recovery dem-
So, I thought I would give to Forrestal a
onstrations, and had lunch with crewmem-
symbol of peace. It, too, comes from the
bers in the enlisted men's mess. After his
Berlin Wall and embodies this weekend
stay on the U.S.S. "Forrestal;" the President
spirit of cooperation. It shows how we can
went to the U.S.S. "Belknap," his residence
be peacemakers. And on behalf of each
during his meetings with Chairman Gorba-
American, let me say it now belongs to you.
chev.
I want to hand to your able captain to put
on display here on this ship this little piece
of the Berlin Wall as a symbol of the peace
that we seek, the peace that you have
helped make possible. Captain, I present
Statement by Press Secretary Fitzwater
this to you.
on the President's Meetings With
Let me close then with a moment that
Chairman Mikhail Gorbachev of the
not many of you here are old enough to
Soviet Union at Malta
remember, but which wrote a glorious page
December 1, 1989
in American history. It was on D-day as
Dwight Eisenhower addressed the sailors,
President Bush was very impressed by his
soldiers, and airmen of the Allied Expedi-
reception on the Forrestal. As a former
tionary Force. He said: "You're about to
naval officer, he relished the enthusiasm of
embark upon a great crusade. The eyes of
the crew and also identified with the naval
the world are on you. The hopes and pray-
aviators. Onboard Marine One, from the
ers of liberty-loving people everywhere
Forrestal to the Belknap, the President re-
march with you." And then Ike spoke this
ceived another update from General Scow-
moving prayer: "Let us all beseech the
croft on the status of the situation in the
blessing of Almighty God upon this great
Philippines. General Scowcroft said that
and noble undertaking." Like the men of
President Aquino feels her situation is im-
D-day, you, too, are the hope of "liberty-
proving. The government forces had retak-
loving people everywhere," as the Navy has
en one of the airfields. Other trouble spots
been in wartime and in peacetime, keeping
were being cleaned up. However, at that
our hearts aflight and our faith unyielding,
time, it must be said that the coup attempt
sacrificing time away from your homes so
was still in progress.
that other Americans can sleep in theirs.
On the Belknap, the President went im-
Today the walls of oppression are tum-
mediately to his quarters, Room NTD 02-
bling down because of what you and those
78-2, the admiral's quarters. A new brass
who have gone before you have done to
plaque had been placed on the door read-
keep America's defenses up. And so, thank
ing, "President Bush." The President's
you for that, for writing still-new pages in
quarters include three rooms: an office and
the history of America and of her Navy.
lounging area, a bedroom with double bed
God bless you, God bless our "great and
and lounge chair, and a conference room.
noble undertaking," and God bless the
The suite has a deep blue carpet, blue
United States of America. Thank you all
leather furniture, and a mahogany desk
very much.
with U.S. and Soviet flags in the same
holder. The small office area also includes a
Note: The President spoke at 1:45 p.m. in
coffeemaker, three telephones, a desk pen
the hangar bay of the U.S.S. "Forrestal." In
set on a brass submarine, pictures of the
his remarks, he referred to Capt. Louis E.
fleet under full steam, and other photo-
Thomassy, Jr., commanding officer of the
graphs of Adm. J.D. Williams with his
U.S.S. "Forrestal"; Adm. Jonathan T. Howe,
friends. President Bush exchanged his suit
1864
THE PEACEMAKERS
The Peacemakers by George Peter Alexander Healy (1813-1894).
Oil on canvas, 1868. This scene depicts a meeting late in
the Civil War between President Abraham Lincoln and (left-
to-right) Major-General William T. Sherman, Lieutenant-
General Ulysses S. Grant, and Rear-Admiral David D. Porter.
On March 27 and 28, 1865, these leaders met aboard the River
Queen, the steamer which had brought the Lincolns to Grant's
headquarters on the James River during the siege of
Richmond, Virginia. They discussed the favorable prospects
for a speedy peace, which engendered Healy's title and
inclusion of an optimistic rainbow in the cabin window. The
likeness of Lincoln in this group portrait, painted in Rome,
closely resembles Healy's 1869 portrait of the president
which currently hangs in the State Dining Room. Healy is
also represented in the White House collection by six other
presidential portraits.
U.S. Government Purchase.
947.2558.1
On last night's Prime Time Live White House tour, the
President pointed out this painting to Diane Sawyer. It hangs in
his office in the residence. He is the first president to use
this room as an office -- until this time it has been known as
the "Treaty Room.' The painting has been hanging there since the
Kennedy Administration (1961).
President Bush described the horror of the Civil War, and
pointed to the rainbow peeking through the window -- "a symbol of
hope" "peacemakers." or the "light at the end of the tunnel" for these
The Curator's Office told me that the city of Richmond fell
while Lincoln was on the River Queen, and he went on to visit the
city, symbolizing the end of the war.
E 300
4
Linesln Abraham Pres.U.:- 1809-1865.
L51
t: ABRAHAM LINCOLN:
His Speeches and Writings.
EDITED WITH CRITICAL AND ANALYTICAL NOTES
BY Roy P. Basler, AUTHOR OF "THE LINCOLN LEGEND"
PREFACE BY Carl Sandburg
THE WORLD PUBLISHING COMPANY
ew B. Brady on February 9,
Cleveland and New York
in making his design for the
in the Meserve Collection.
568
ABRAHAM LINCOLN:
The South would be in no more danger in this respect, than
it was in the days of Washington. I suppose, however, this does not
meet the case. You think slavery is right, and ought to be ex-
tended; while we think it is wrong and ought to be restricted.
That I suppose is the rub. It certainly is the only substantial dif-
ference between us.
Yours very truly
A. Lincoln
At the time of this letter Stephens was still support-
ing the Union, but when Georgia seceded on January
17, 1861-in spite of Stephens's efforts-his loyalty went
with his State.
FAREWELL ADDRESS AT SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS
FEBRUARY 11, 1861
My Friends:
No one, not in my situation, can appreciate my feeling of
sadness at this parting. To this place, and the kindness of these
people, I owe everything. Here I have lived a quarter of a cen-
tury, and have passed from a young to an old man. Here my chil-
dren have been born, and one is buried. I now leave, not knowing
when or whether ever I may return, with a task before me greater
than that which rested upon Washington. Without the assistance
of that Divine Being who ever attended him, I cannot succeed.
With that assistance, I cannot fail. Trusting in Him who can go
with me, and remain with you, and be everywhere for good, let us
confidently hope that all will yet be well. To His care commend-
ing you, as I hope in your prayers you will commend me, I bid you
an affectionate farewell.
RAHAM LINCOLN:
HIS SPEECHES AND WRITINGS
569
danger in this respect, than
pose, however, this does not
The text of this address is from the Complete Works
right, and ought to be ex-
of Abraham Lincoln. The manuscript is purported to be
and ought to be restricted.
in the Robert Lincoln Collection in the Library of Con-
is the only substantial dif-
gress. According to Nicolay's account in Abraham Lin-
coln: A History, Vol. III, p. 291 n., it was written out
Yours very truly
on the train after the departure from Springfield, partly
A. Lincoln
by Lincoln and partly by Nicolay from Lincoln's dicta-
tion.
In view of Lincoln's general style, most of the dif-
Stephens was still support-
ferences between this version and the versions printed in
leorgia seceded on January
newspapers at the time seem to be differences which Lin-
IS'S efforts-his loyalty went
coln would have brought about in writing it out. This
version tends to enhance the alliterative sequences and to
strengthen the rhythm pattern, both of which are appar-
ent even in the newspaper versions. This is entirely in
keeping with Lincoln's usual practice.
Of the several newspaper versions, two are interest-
ing for purposes of comparison. The first is the version
NGFIELD, ILLINOIS
which was published in the Illinois State Journal, Febru-
ary 12, 1861, and the second is the version of a contem-
porary broadside, published by the American News
Company of New York, which is in all but a few marks
of punctuation identical with the version which appeared
in Harper's Weekly and various eastern newspapers. The
1 appreciate my feeling of
two versions are as follows:
and the kindness of these
e lived a quarter of a cen-
"Friends:
an old man. Here my chil-
"No one who has never been placed in a like posi-
1. I now leave, not knowing
tion, can understand my feelings at this hour, nor the
ith a task before me greater
oppressive sadness I feel at this parting. For more than
ton. Without the assistance
a quarter of a century I have lived among you, and dur-
ded him, I cannot succeed.
ing all that time I have received nothing but kindness at
usting in Him who can go
your hands. Here I have lived from my youth until now
everywhere for good, let us
I am an old man. Here the most sacred ties of earth were
ell. To His care commend-
assumed; here all my children were born; and here one
will commend me, I bid you
of them lies buried. To you, dear friends, I owe all that I
have, all that I am, All the strange; chequered past seems
570
ABRAHAM LINCOLN:
to crowd now upon my mind. To-day I leave you; I go
to assume a task more difficult than that which devolved
upon general Washington. Unless the great God who
assisted him, shall be with and aid me, I must fail. But
if the same omniscient mind, and Almighty arm that
directed and protected him, shall guide and support me,
I shall not fail, I shall succeed. Let us all pray that the
God of our fathers may not forsake us now. To him I
commend you all-permit me to ask that with equal
security and faith, you all will invoke His wisdom and
guidance for me. With these few words I must leave
you-for how long I know not. Friends, one and all, I
must now bid you an affectionate farewell."
"My Friends:
"No one not in my position can appreciate the sad-
ness I feel at this parting. To this people I owe all that I
am. Here I have lived more than a quarter of a century;
here my children were born, and here one of them lies
buried. I know not how soon I shall see you again. A
duty devolves upon me which is, perhaps, greater than
that which devolved upon any other man since the days
of Washington. He never would have succeeded except
for the aid of Divine Providence, upon which he at all
times relied. I feel that I cannot succeed without the
same Divine aid which sustained him, and on the same
Almighty Being I place my reliance for support, and I
hope you, my friends, will all pray that I may receive that
Divine assistance without which I cannot succeed, but
with which success is certain. Again I bid you an affec-
tionate farewell."
Ret.
F204
W5S4
V.2.
WH
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William Seale
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White House Historical Association
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Washington, D.C.
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Pre
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HISTORY
Harry S. Truman
1005
of world history, was surprised in
Howell Crim assigned to the task his chief assistant, J. B. West, a small,
the fireplace burning letters. They
engaging man who had come to the White House shortly before Pearl
ugh their years together, especially
Harbor. Himself a Midwesterner, West was delighted with Mrs. Truman
uldn't be doing that,' Truman said
and eager to please her. He liked her directness and gentle charm, but
was embarrassed to show her the White House, which, he said, looked
d them several times."
like an "abandoned hotel."
said.
The $50,000 appropriation usual to each administration since Coo-
nued her work.
lidge's time had not been touched by Mrs. Roosevelt. Mrs. Truman de-
cided to make do for the time. With West, she selected furnishings from
ing
many rooms and assembled them in the family quarters. Washing the
white woodwork and painting the walls was her solution to the general
2 years of hard use had made the
seediness. She selected soft colors: lavender and gray for her bedroom
western half of the second floor
and study, the southwest rooms used also by Mrs. Roosevelt; green and
ersonal belongings were removed;
blue for the President's room; with beige for the oval room. The Lincoln
the walls, where they had shielded
bed was taken down the hall to the Lincoln Study, which now became
Some of the draperies had rotted,
the Lincoln Bedroom. The traditional Lincoln Suite on the northwest
= furrowed by paths that had once
was reborn as Margaret Truman's sitting room and bedroom, the former
Wedgwood blue and the latter raspberry pink.⁵
iring the Roosevelt occupancy was
Mrs. Truman ordered the restoration of Mrs. Hoover's Monroe
ess of Hyde Park or any other old
Room, with all the reproductions of President Monroe's furniture which
of furnishings. It was part of a total
Mrs. Roosevelt had moved out. This was perhaps to please Herbert Hoo-
ces feel wholly at home and often
ver, who was invited by the President to the White House late in May,
ess. For example, when her study
his first visit since his bitter departure 12 years before. New window
;. Roosevelt had demanded that a
hangings and bedspreads arrived from Keith & Company, a decorating
thick groupings of framed photo-
firm Mrs. Truman knew in Kansas City. The reupholstering, where nec-
hat they could be put back exactly
essary, was done in Washington, some of it by employees of the National
Park Service. Mrs. Truman said she wanted to move on May 8, the
iman had lived in an old house all
President's birthday, so the rush was on. From their apartment the Tru-
rested in autobiographical clutter.
mans moved only their piano and their clothing.
: the rundown look of the White
en it some thought, but her hus-
The Bomb
:tle time to carry out any ideas she
e end of the war and the return of
On the morning of May 8, President Harry S. Truman awoke for the
invited Mrs. Harold I. Pratt to the
first time in the White House. The previous several days had brought
:d her for ideas on how the state
continuing news of the German surrender to the British on May 4 and
lent's death had ended this effort,
to the Americans on May 7. Early in the morning of the 8th Truman
mans.
received word that the Germans had surrendered to the Russians, com-
hite House in the spring of 1945,
pleting the capitulation of the Third Reich. That morning he wrote
ould ultimately make on it. Coping
to his mother, "This will be an historical day. At 9:00 this morning
President, he and his family were
I must make a broadcast to the country announcing the German surren-
use with some degree of comfort.
der. The papers were signed yesterday morning and hostilities will cease
®
"The White House
is a bully pulpit"
Theodore
Roosevelt
The American Presidents
It can all be condensed into a single sentence, and that sentence you will find in Gray's Elegy-
"the short and simple annals of the poor. That's my life, and that's all you or anyone else can make of it.
Abraham Sincoln
The President's body was too long for the bed, and his feet
1846 and immediately set about demanding that President Polk
dangled over the end. His right eye was black. His breathing was
cite the exact spot on which the first provocation of the Mexican
swift and shallow, and occasionally he moaned. Mary Todd Lin-
War had taken place; for this, he won from a partisan press the
coln was brought into the room; she stood wordless for a few mo-
nickname "Spotty" Lincoln. He left Congress after only one
ments and was led out again. At 7:22:10 on the morning of April
term, convinced that he had been a failure and that he was
15, 1865, the President's chest heaved, then relaxed and did not
through with politics.
move again. Surgeon General Joseph K. Barnes pressed his ear
Slavery changed his mind. When he heard that Illinois' Dem-
against the chest, straightened, took two silver coins from his vest
ocratic Senator Stephen A. Douglas had proposed the Kansas-
pocket and placed them upon the President's eyelids. War Secre-
Nebraska Bill, which made the extension of slavery into those ter-
tary Edwin M. Stanton, who was to become the marplot of the
ritories a matter of popular vote, Lincoln hit the stump, offering
succeeding Administration, had been standing at the foot of the
passion in Peoria: "I hate it because of the monsterous injustice
bed, hat in hand. "Now," said Stanton, "he belongs to the ages."
of slavery itself. I hate it because it deprives our republican ex-
Abraham Lincoln had belonged to all humanity, but to no
ample of its just influence in the world He ran unsuccessfully
man. To some, he was Honest Abe or Old Abe or Father Abra-
for the U.S. Senate in 1855, and in 1858 received the Senate nom-
ham. To others, he was the Rail Splitter or the Great Emancipa-
ination of the fledgling Republican Party. He laboriously com-
tor. To still others, in the rages of his day, he was the Abolition
posed his acceptance speech, and one passage received strong
Emperor or the Orangutan at the White House. In 1963, on the
criticism from his friends ("A damn fool utterance," said one).
40th anniversary of its founding, TIME portrayed Lincoln on its
But Lincoln delivered it anyway: "A house divided against itself
cover and wrote: "He was neither a rebel nor a conservative, but
cannot stand. I believe this Government cannot endure per-
a conserver. He was no artist, except in using public language and
manently half slave and half free." Lincoln challenged Douglas
in using men. His life was an infinitely varied mixture of leading
to a series of face-to-face debates-there were seven of them-and
and following, conforming and defying. He could temporize,
although he lost that election the debates propelled Abraham
compromise and maneuver. But he always held to his own vision
Lincoln onto the national scene, resulting in his nomination for
and met the exacting definition of an individual set down by
President in 1860.
French Philosopher Georges Bernanos: 'A man who gives him-
Abraham Lincoln-Civil War President. Worry followed by
self or refuses himself, but never lends himself.' Above all, Lin-
anxiety followed by anguish. When troops were slow to arrive for
coln was an individual in the special double sense that Americans
the defense of Washington: "Why don't they come? Why don't
attribute to the word-the common man who is yet uncommon."
they come!" Later: "The bottom is out of the tub. What shall I
His native soil was the dirt floor of the 18 ft.-by-16 ft. log
do?" After Chancellorsville, a murderous Union defeat: "My
cabin in backwoods Kentucky, where he was born on a bed of
God! My God! What will the country say? What will the country
cornhusks and bearskins at a time when, far over the horizon,
say?" He went through general after general, a litany of failure:
Thomas Jefferson was just winding up his second term as Presi-
McDowell, McClellan, Pope, McClellan again, Burnside,
dent. His common blood was that of Thomas Lincoln, a carpen-
Hooker, Meade. None satisfied his or the nation's needs. He had
ter, and of Nancy Hanks Lincoln, the illegitimate daughter of
a political, not a military mind, but he read up on strategy and
someone later described by Lincoln as "a nobelman so called of
tactics. He made many mistakes, but he came to know one thing:
Virginia." Lincoln's boyhood and early maturity have become
it was the army of Robert E. Lee, not the piece of real estate that
part of American folklore, as familiar (and far more authentic) to
was Richmond, the Confederate capital, that must be destroyed.
every schoolchild as Parson Weems' story of George Washington
To this end, he finally chose as his commander in chief Ulysses S.
and the cherry tree, which was, incidentally, one of the works
Grant, on the simple premise that "he fights." Grant did the job.
read by the young Lincoln in the glimmering light of his wood-
With his help, Lincoln was re-elected President in 1864.
shavings fire. He seemed contradictory. He was the tall teller of
Throughout the war, in moments of victory and of defeat,
droll tales, some of them spun in moments of considerable dis-
Lincoln could take pride in America's past and find hope for its
couragement. He was the self-taught lawyer who, since he had no
future. After the turning point at Gettysburg, he spoke at the ded-
files, kept his papers in his hat. He was the brash bumpkin legisla-
ication there of the cemetery for Union war dead. Legend would
tor who sauntered across a ballroom and said to Mary Todd, a
have it that he dashed off his remarks on the back of an envelope
vivacious girl of good family: "Miss Todd, I want to dance with
while on the train to the scene. Not so. He worked hard on the
you in the worst way." He was the reluctant groom backing out of
talk, writing and revising. But its words are engraved in American
marriage at the last moment, then spending more than a year in
history: "Four score and seven years ago
deep, almost suicidal gloom.
Abraham Lincoln had always been a lover of such diversions
But more than anything else, he was, in the noblest meaning
as theater: "I must have a change of some sort or die." And so,
of the word, a politician-a mediator between individual dreams
only five days after Appomattox, he and Mary Todd Lincoln went
and human realities, devoted and determined without being dog-
to Ford's Theater in Washington to view a performance of Our
matic, a man who could give without bending and bend without
American Cousin. It was there that he became the first U.S. Presi-
breaking. Herein lay his consistency.
dent to be assassinated. His killer, John Wilkes Booth, leaped to
Running for the Illinois assembly in 1832, he introduced him-
the stage crying, "Sic semper tyrannis." Little did his enflamed
self to the electorate by saying, "I am humble Abraham Lincoln."
mind understand that he was to bring down the scourge of a vin-
He lost, but won two years later, and it was in the state legislature
dictive Reconstruction upon the South he loved. For Abraham
that Abraham Lincoln declared himself on slavery. The in-
Lincoln had had in mind an understanding peace aimed at bring-
stitution, he said, was "founded on both injustice and bad pol-
ing the Union together again. When a Union general had asked
icy." Twenty-three years later, he could note that his original idea
the President how he should treat the people of the defeated
was pretty much "the same that it is now."
South, Lincoln replied: "If I were in your place, I'd let'em up
Lincoln was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in
easy, let'em up easy."
The
Inaugural
Story
1789-1969
Created and Produced by
The Editors of AMERICAN HERITAGE MAGAZINE
and THE 1969 INAUGURAL BOOK COMMITTEE
Copyright © 1969 by American Heritage Publishing Co., Inc. An rights reserved. Standard Book Number: 8281-0034-9. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 74-81000.
needing development"; and out-Wilsoning Woodrow
in the first 1,000 days, nor in the life of this adminis-
Wilson by asserting, "Only by helping the least fortu-
tration, nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet.
nate of its members to help themselves can the human
But let us begin."
family achieve the decent, satisfying life that is the
Kennedy was murdered, and within a year, Lyndon
right of all people."
Johnson had been given his own mandate-by an un-
The world was as turbulent as it had been after
precedented 61 per cent of the popular vote-to con-
World War I; and in contrast to America's inactivity
tinue to seek the aims of Kennedy's New Frontier,
abroad then, the nation seemed to be involved every-
which, in the Johnson version, became the Great So-
where. This new role was difficult to understand, and
ciety. Fittingly, at the 1965 inauguration, Johnson be-
real and imagined threats from abroad and from within
gan his address not with a plea for national unity, but
created a current of uneasiness and fear in the United
with a statement that the nation was in fact united:
States. There was no man better equipped to reassure
"My fellow countrymen, on this occasion, the oath
the nation in its unfamiliar new posture than the one
I have taken before you and before God, is not mine
who took the oath of office in 1953.
alone, but ours together. We are one nation and one
"We sense with all our faculties that forces of good
people. Our fate as a nation and our future as a people
and evil are massed and armed and opposed as rarely
rest not upon one citizen, but upon all citizens." Assert-
before in history," said President Eisenhower after
ing that modern times had created a world in which
being sworn into office by Chief Justice Fred Vinson:
"there are possibilities enough for all who will abandon
"At such a time in history, we who are free must pro-
mastery over others to pursue mastery over nature,"
claim anew our faith
Freedom is pitted against
the President asked for rejection of "any among us who
slavery lightness against the dark.
We must be
seek to reopen old wounds and to rekindle old hatreds.
willing, individually and as a Nation, to accept what-
They stand in the way of a seeking nation.
For the
ever sacrifices may be required of us.
Patriotism
hour and the day and the time are here to achieve prog-
means equipped forces and a prepared citizenry. Moral
ress without strife, to achieve change without hatred
stamina means more energy and more productivity, on
-not without difference of opinion, but without the
the farm and in the factory. Love of liberty means the
deep and abiding divisions which scar the union for
guarding of every resource that makes freedom possible
generations."
-from the sanctity of our families and the wealth of
There is something remarkable, indefinably effective
our soil to the genius of our scientists.
about the inauguration as a tool of healing, even though
Eisenhower guided the United States through a tu-
the cure may not itself be long-lasting. It is as if Amer-
multuous period while maintaining a national atmos-
icans learn again, each four years, that they are one
phere of placidness. By 1960, however, a younger
people, and are grateful for the event. Four years after
America, its memory of hot war dulling, its patience
Lyndon Johnson had received his record-breaking man-
with cold war diminishing, looked to a different sort
date, the nation was wounded, torn by strife and
of leadership, appropriate for a different sort of time.
hatreds, old and new, scarred by its deep divisions. But
"Let the word go forth from this time and place,"
the year ended, and a new year began, and twenty days
announced John Kennedy in 1961, voicing the new at-
later a new President spoke to his countrymen and to
titude, "to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been
"my fellow citizens of the world community:
passed to a new generation of Americans-born in this
"I ask you to share with me today the majesty of
century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and
this moment. In the orderly transfer of power, we cele-
bitter peace, proud of their ancient heritage-and un-
brate the unity that keeps us free."
willing to witness or permit the slow undoing of those
An instant made the nation whole. The wounds were
human rights to which this Nation has always been
bound; only time would tell if they were healed.
committed, and to which we are committed today at
home and around the world." In an appeal to the na-
With the unfinished Capitol dome as a brooding backdrop
tion's allies and competitors, Kennedy asked for new
and in an emotional atmosphere suffused with premoni-
explorations of differences, formulations of "precise
tions of tragedy, Abraham Lincoln took the oath of office in
proposals" for arms control, exchanges of arts and
March, 1861. Overleaf: President Dwight D. Eisenhower's
trade, cooperation in space ventures. "All this will not
second swearing-in was held on the kind of gray-tinged day
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
be finished in the first 100 days. Nor will it be finished
that Americans have come to associate with an inaugural.
58
OVERLEAF CREDIT: UPI
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
January 4, 1990
INFORMATION
MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT
THROUGH:
CHRISS WINSTON
58frce
FROM:
CURT SMITH
I. SUMMARY
On Sunday, January 7, at 5:00 p.m., in the State Dining
Room, you will introduce Professor David Donald, the first
speaker in a series of lectures on the Presidency. The subject
of the first lecture will be Abraham Lincoln. About 100 people
will attend.
II. DISCUSSION
The attached remarks (6 minutes, speechcards) discuss
Lincoln in personal and Presidential terms -- particularly, his
kinship with every President. The text also refers to the career
of the Lincoln lecturer, Professor Donald of Harvard University.
(Smith/Blessey)
Draft Two
January 4, 1990
INC
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: LINCOLN LECTURE
STATE DINING ROOM
SUNDAY, JANUARY 7, 1990
Sect Cheney, Chairman As Cheney, (Mro Donold
5:00 P.M.
Professor Donald, [ACKNOWLEDGMENTS TO COME], Ladies and
gentlemen. Barbara and I want to welcome you to the White House.
It is indeed a privilege to be with you. And to host this
lecture on the Presidency of the United States.
This is the first in a series of lectures on the men who've
held this office. It seeks to make them come alive. What were
they like? How did they live? How was the history of America's
House molded by their dreams?
To occupy this office is to ask those questions -- and to
feel a kinship with my predecessors. For each in his own way
sought to do right, and thus achieve good. Each felt a sacred
trust with every American. And often wondered, I suspect, how
they could be worthy of that trust.
Perhaps no President had greater doubts -- nor more
brilliantly resolved them -- than the subject of this inaugural
lecture: Abraham Lincoln of Illinois.
As President, Lincoln abolished slavery. He saved the
Union. Perhaps no leader has been so severely tested -- before,
or since. And yet we remember Abe Lincoln not merely for what he
did. We revere him for what he was.
2
Lincoln was a strong man -- an arm-wrestler, a rail-
splitter. Yet also a mix of kindness and humility. He was at
once a hard and gentle person -- a man of grief, and yet of
humor. For he knew, as he told Secretary of State Seward, that
if he did not tell stories, he felt his heart would break.
Tonight, we have here a man who will doubtless tell some
stories. His name is David Donald -- the Charles Warren
Professor of American History at Harvard University.
A native of Mississippi, Mr. Donald graduated from the
University of Illinois, where he was a student of the great
Lincoln scholar, J.G. Randall. He has taught at some of
America's greatest universities -- and has written eight books
about Lincoln and the Civil War -- twice, receiving the Pulitzer
Prize in biography. Moreover, our guest is now working on a new
biography of America's 16th President.
Earlier, I spoke of kinship. Well -- I'm sure David Donald
would agree -- any President's kinship with Lincoln is perhaps
the most personal of all.
So often I pass the Lincoln Bedroom which then served as
Lincoln's Cabinet Room and office. On his desk, to the left of
the fireplace, is an original copy of the Gettysburg Address.
And on the mantle is a plaque marking an equally noble legacy.
Here, the Great Unifier signed the Emancipation Proclamation.
Yet perhaps nowhere do we learn more about Lincoln, even
now, than in a portrait that I talked about last month off the
coast of Malta before meeting Chairman Gorbachev. It is by
3
George Healy, and hangs on the wall of my study. In it you see
the agony, and the greatness, of a man who nightly fell on his
knees to ask the help of God.
The painting shows Lincoln and his generals, meeting near
the end of a war that pitted brother against brother. Outside,
at that moment, a battle rages. And yet what we see in the
distance is a rainbow -- that symbol of hope, of the passing of
the storm. The painting's name? The Peacemakers.
For me, this painting is a constant reassurance that the
cause of peace will triumph. And that ours can be the future
that Lincoln gave his life for -- a future free of both tyranny
and fear.
One hundred and twenty-nine years ago, leaving Springfield
to assume the Presidency, Lincoln addressed his home people at
the Great Western Railway Station. He told them: "All the
strange checkered past seems to crowd now upon my mind."
Even now, the memory of Abraham Lincoln crowds upon our
minds. It is a great privilege, then, to introduce a man who has
devoted his lifetime to the study of its tragedy and its glory.
One of the great scholars of perhaps our greatest President.
Professor David Donald.
#
#
#
#
[AFTER SPEECH] Thank you, Professor Donald. And now, won't all
of you join David, Barbara, and me for supper in the East Room?
2
Perhaps no President had greater doubts -- nor more
brilliantly resolved them -- than the man we are here to honor:
Abraham Lincoln of Illinois.
As President, Lincoln abolished slavery. He saved the
few,
Union. By acting extraordinarily of times of peril, he preserved
me
for future generations the canons of democracy. And yet he is
the Everest of American Presidents not merely for what he did.
We revere Abe Lincoln for what he was.
Lincoln was a strong man -- an arm-wrestler, a rail-
splitter. And yet a man of patience and forbearance. A man of
kindness and character. // And yet a politician. // He was a
hard and gentle man, who invested his office with majesty and
dignity. A man of grief, and yet of humor. For he knew, as he
told Secretary of War Steward, that "If I did not tell stories, I
feel my heart would break."
Let me tell you a story. A stranger once found Lincoln in
the street with two of his sons. Both of them were sobbing
uncontrollably.
"Whatever is the matter with the boys, Mr. Lincoln?" the
stranger asked. Lincoln sighed, then observed, "Just what's the
matter with the world. I've got three walnuts, and each wants
two. "
Yes, all Presidents have been pulled in countless
directions. Lincoln more than any. And yet not only did he
comfort his two sons. He comforted the Nation. And by acting