President Obama and the Gettysburg Address

That bastion of “Right” thinking, Fox News, is upset because the version of the Gettysburg Address President Obama read for a Ken Burns documentary about the famous speech did not have the words “under God” in it.

While there can’t be much money in it, I’d like to apply for the job of fact checker for Fox News. I certainly can’t do any worse than the people they are currently using (assuming they actually check facts at all). So here’s the background on this issue:

President Obama’s reading of the Gettysburg Address for the Ken Burns documentary, The Address, purposely omits the words “under God.”  Why? Because the version of the speech he was asked to read did not have the words in it. There are only five manuscript copies of the address in existence and each one contains subtle differences.

  • The copy belonging to Lincoln’s secretary John Nicolay is believed to be the first draft of the speech and according to the Library of Congress precedes the copy written and given to Lincoln’s other secretary, John Hay. Both of these copies were written before the speech event and neither one contain the phrase “under God.”  They both currently reside at the Library of Congress.
  • The other three copies were written for charitable events after the speech was given. One of the three remaining copies of the speech was given to Edward Everett, the other speaker at Gettysburg that day. His copy is currently at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield.
  • The remaining two copies went to Historian George Bancroft and his stepson, Alexander Bliss. Bancroft’s copy is at Cornell University. Bliss’ copy is in the Lincoln Bedroom at the White House.

Most importantly, the Bliss version of the speech is probably the one you learned in school and contains the words “under God,” but it may not be the actual speech given by Lincoln that day.  For example, the Nicolay, Hay and Everett copies of the speech use the phrase “upon this continent” whereas the Bancroft and Bliss copies say “on this continent.” Therefore, it is more likely that the Everett version of the speech (based upon the New York Times report of the day) is probably closer to what was actually spoken that day, considering that it was given to the other speaker at that day’s event. And that speech does contains the phrase “under God” and “upon this continent.” So, it’s reasonable to say that Lincoln spoke from the Hay speech notes, but actually said the words from Everett speech and wanted the world to remember the words from the Bancroft speech which he polished well after the Gettysburg ceremony.

That said, the version of the speech that President Obama was asked to read was the Nicolay version. Former Presidents Jimmy Carter and George W. Bush were asked to read the Bancroft and Bliss versions, respectively. You can find all of the versions of the speech recited by Americans (famous or not) here.  The mashup of the speech is below and certainly worth watching:

 

The bottom line is that Fox News is spinning again on a non-issue, just like they did on Umbrella-gate or the lie that Medicare was robbed to pay for Obamacare.  The President read what he was asked to read. He did not selectively decide to edit out words from the Bliss version of the speech because he wasn’t given the Bliss version to read. He recited the Nicolay version because that’s what he was given. That said, if Fox News ever reads this, I am available if they want their facts checked. Salary is negotiable, but I suspect I won’t be getting a call anytime soon from them. They just don’t seem to care much for facts.