When we mounted the great exhibition, lincoln and the jews. She is chief executive officer of the Abraham LincolnPresident Foundation which serves the Abraham Lincoln present shall library and museum, the most visited present thel library and museum in United States. Shes also the founder and executive director of the 1350 foundation, dedicated to honoring the american fly and engaging citizens in purposeful and active citizenship. She is editor and publisher of gettysburg replies. [applause] evening, ladies and gentlemen. It is an honor and privilege to be with you for tonight as part of the distinguished speaker series. I would like to thank luis, paul romero, the bryant park reading room, the new york public library, then youre just oracle the New York Historical society, and all of you. Although she passed away a few years ago, i would like to thank Irene Schwartz and her husband, bernard for generously underwriting this series. As you know, im here to speak about gettysburg reply. It is just one of more than 18,000 books that have been written about Abraham Lincoln to date. You might ask yourself, why so many . Because, although he no longer this earthly plane, his presence still resonates from the words he has written and the artifacts and documents he has left behind. He was a simple, yet, very deeply complex man, who looked at complex issues plainly and purely. He spoke the truth. Many believed he transition transcended all other president s that served before him and since. His story continues to reach borders, oceans, races, religions, politics, and party lines. Here is a man who grew up in a log cabin with a dirt floor, who seemed to have the proverbial deck stacked against him. If he were living in todays world, Society Might label him, and at risk youth, having only about one year of formal education, struggling financially, not getting along with his father, having both his mother and sister died when he was very young, having to adapt to a new set family, and his family never putting down any roots, moving from place to place on the unsettled western frontier. Yet, he ascended to the nations highest office. He has touched a multitude of souls for two centuries now. 18,000 booksn written about him, we might ask ourselves, what possibly could be written or revealed about him that has not already . A lot. Wer seems to be the lincoln onion seems to have more layers than most. I think you will find, and i hope you will find, that the gettysburg reply is unique and on like any other book published on Abraham Lincoln. To one ofays homage the worlds greatest speeches, the gettysburg address, and the man who wrote it. The address is a piece of writing that we have all read, recited, or heard. It bears repeating. The set the stage, we are fortunate to have a member of broadway royalty, mr. John column who will read the immortal words written by Abraham Lincoln. Please join me in welcoming him. [applause] thank you. Four score and seven years ago, our forefathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives, that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper we should do this, but in a larger sense we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The cavemen living and dead who struggled here have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note or remember what we say here. It can never forget what they did here. It is for us, the living, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us. That from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause of which they here gave the last full measure of the motion of devotion. That we resolve these dead shall not have died in vain. That this nation under god shall have a new birth of freedom. That government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the air. From the earth. [applause] carla thank you. It is no exaggeration that the gettysburg address has been read or recited millions upon millions of times. Each time it is read or heard, even now more than a century and a half after it was written and delivered, it still inspires. It still moves us to the core. It still makes us introspective. It still transcends and takes us to new levels of hope and possibility. Many consider the gettysburg address to be Abraham Lincolns greatest speech. It would be difficult to argue otherwise. You may ask yourself, what could he have written that rivaled it . Other scholars and armchair historians may argue that his Cooper Union Speech or his second inaugural might be even greater. As you probably know his Cooper Union Speech was delivered two miles south of here at the cooper institute, now known as the cooper union. It was a speech which in part launched Abraham Lincolns career on the broader national stage. The speech delivered at february of 1860 when our nation was on the brink of civil war, brought us the words let us have faith that right makes might, and in that faith led us to the end there to do our duty as we understand it. Lincolns second inaugural address engraved at the Lincoln Memorial on the wall opposite the gettysburg address was delivered in march of 1865 as the civil war was nearing its conclusion. It set our nation on the court for a post world war we construction world war reconstruction. As he called upon our ancestors and all of us to this day to move forward with malice toward none, with charity for all. He set a tone which was not divisive and vengeful, but rather peaceful and visionary. There is no doubt that lincolns three most famous addresses are among his greatest, and in the end the debate about which is the greatest is more subjective than objective. What makes the gettysburg address more cited . It is a 272 word masterpiece, in which he set our nation on a course for a new birth of freedom, one we are still working to perfect today. Back in 2012, we at the Abraham Lincoln president ial library and museum and our foundation were looking for a way to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the gettysburg address. We wanted to do something special. Naturally, our first thought was put the document on display. That usually is enough. But we wanted to take it a step beyond. There are only five copies of the gettysburg address in lincolns own hand. Two of the copies are at the library of congress, those are the two drafts he wrote prior to giving the address. Another that he wrote postaddress is at cornell university. Another is in the white house in the lincoln room. The other one is the everett copy. That is that our museum and library in springfield, illinois. Our copy of the address was the one written immediately after his delivery of it. He was requested to write it by everett. He asked president lincoln to write it out so he could put it in a book to auction off for convalescing soldiers, which lincoln gladly obliged him. When a document is as famous and revered as the gettysburg address, it seems like putting it on display should be enough. We came up with the idea of a 272 word challenge. 272 words is the exact number in the gettysburg address. Lincoln did not set out to write 272 words, he did not think he was going to write a 272 word masterpiece. We thought it was a wonderful way that if we challenged people to write their own 272 words, that they might become more intimately tied to the address and really understand how difficult it is to be brilliant in 272 words, let alone be brilliant at any time. We challenged people, and as part of the challenge, essayists could write about lincoln, the gettysburg address or something causerelated that stirred their passions. We were hoping to receive enough that we could put some out in a small display with the gettysburg display. When news of the challenge started to spread, we found ourselves doing more than our share of explaining that the task was not to write as well as president lincoln, but rather to celebrate the man and his work. We first turned to harold holder to see if you would help us launch the project by writing his own 272 words. He wrote back an email and said wow, who could be as the succinct and brilliant as Abraham Lincoln . Our answer was, no one on the planet except perhaps those who live by the tweet. He was not daunted and in a few days, we had his 272 words, which i would like to share with you now. His essay was titled long remembered. Provide the essence of the gettysburg address in 272 words. Quite a challenge, for lincoln used but two sheets of paper to write it. The glittering essence of lincolns and perhaps americas greatest speech is its magnificent economy. Invited to deliver only a few appropriate remarks, lincoln summoned a rhetorical discipline that revolutionized political oratory. It was a new birth of simplicity and made a virtue of brevity. Of course i can memorize this length memorize this. The length does not begin to explain its enduring magic. Did it reinvent america as some claim . Probably not. We have come a long way. No one can say for certain whether if he returned to assess his legacy that he would conclude we traveled to fast or too slowly. On the opposite side of the analytical coin, was the gettysburg address meant to be more than a subtle declaration of his authors intention to serve a second term as president . Too simplistic and cynical. Then what . Gettysburg was in place of death. America itself needed rebirth or would die, as well. Therein lies its genius and relevance. Lincoln made one colossal error in the gettysburg address, suggesting the world would little note or not remember. He was too modest, maybe even disingenuous. He wrote his speech with such breathtaking ingenuity, he surely meant it to long endure. And that is harolds 272 words. When we received it, we felt we were on our way. And if we had any doubt, maybe it wouldnt take off, all of a sudden an express mail message came to our door. We opened up a piece of white stationery. It was a central figure of an eagle. There was the name, also in blue, under it in all caps. It was from jimmy carter. He had decided that he would write his 272 words. Immediately, working at museum with very valuable artifacts, we knew that we probably should be putting on the white curators gloves, but we were too excited and just picked it up and started reading. I would like to share his essay with you now. It is a magnificent essay. Bear with me while i get to it. His was simply called gettysburg address. When i began talks at camp david between israel and egypt, it became obvious the two leaders were almost completely incompatible. For three days i tried to induce them to negotiate in good faith, but they were always subverted into expressing ancient antagonism. For the last 10 days of discussion, i kept them completely apart with them living in separate cabins. As the first sunday approached, i tried to think of something that would divert our minds from the middle east argument and focus our attention on something completely removed from our concentrated work. Finally, why wife suggested we drive to the nearby civil war memorial at gettysburg. We arranged for the two delegations to go in buses, and i rode in the president ial limousine sitting between the two men. Once there, the israeli prime once there, everyone that the israeli Prime Minister was familiar with the battlefield and what had occurred there, having studied it at our military school. I showed him where the georgia artillery had been and recounted the horrible losses on both sides. Minister begin was disturbingly aloof. He was a proud man and i was afraid he would be embarrassed and angry. The group became silent when the guide announced we were at the spot of lincolns address. After a few moments, begin began to recite the words in a clear and strong voice and we listened with rapt attention. It was my most memorable event at a memorial to war. You can imagine, we were very moved when we received this. We were touched that he not only chose to participate in our project, but from what he wrote, we realized we were probably some of the first people to hear that story, certainly some of the first ever to read it. We knew immediately that the contents of the essay had historic significance. We realized that we were no longer trailing in historys wake as we usually do at the museum because we are getting other peoples artifacts that are 150 years old and rather than trailing in historys wake, with each document came in, we were creating historys wake. All the documents are here in the book for you to read at another time. Another interesting thing about president carters essay is that he typed it himself on his own typewriter. It is not just that he typed it himself, it was on a typewriter, and this was only a year ago. I am sure his staff must have had a computer, he may even have a computer, and he used a typewriter and it was clear it was on a typewriter. Which brings me to another aspect of the project. In addition to challenging people to write 272 words, we challenged them to walk further in lincolns shoes and hand write their essays. There were no computers back in 1863. Some of them did it. Others chose to type it out and sign their name to it. We learned that the actual act of having to hand write essays was a challenge in and of itself. For some of our essayists, they said it was more stressful than having to compose 272 words. When they got to word 253, they invariably made a mistake and would have to start over from scratch. One person said it was a humiliating experience. We got a call one day from general Colin Powells office. They said, do you mind if general powell prints his essay by hand, and we said, who are we to tell him what to do . They said that cursive was not going over very well. In a few ways, we received his essay and i would like to share that with you now. It is titled the march must continue. In november 2013, three months after commemorating the anniversary of dr. Martin Luther King Jrs i have a dream speech, we commemorated the gettysburg address. It felt to dr. King to remind america that the work was not finished and lincolns vision not yet realized. During that century, we saw the rise of segregation and the fiction that separate but equal could actually be equal. A second civil war was needed, a war of protest. It would be a war of morals and aspirations. A war to make america live up to the dreams of our forefathers. Our fathers brought forth on this continent a new vision that all men are created equal. Dr. King reaffirmed these hopes in his speech. The gettysburg address and i have a dream have gone down as the most inspirational speeches in American History. I am proud of my country and all we have done to realize these visions. Both men would be pleased but not satisfied. Both men were assassinated for their beliefs. We are their inheritors. You must do more than commemorate the date and be warmed by their words. We must reach out to those in need so that we may all be free at last. The march must continue. As you can see, we were very fortunate in receiving essays from some very powerful individuals. The essays themselves were powerful. We received essays from people from all walks of life, from High School Students to u. S. President s, to film makers like Steven Spielberg and ken burns, from Corporate Leaders like googles eric schmidt, poets like billy collins, sailors from the uss Abraham Lincoln and musical and visual artists. Pete seeger sent us the gettysburg address written in his own hand in a different format. He said, i am going to write it out for you in the way i have helped people learn to recite it. Annie leibowitz said, i am not a writer but i do photographs. She sent us some photo essays that we included in the book, particularly the one of Daniel Chester french, the sculptor for the Lincoln Memorial. She was at his studio and took a picture of the model, and that is what we have in the book. Many of our other essayists spoke of their personal experience and family heritage. The late julian bond wrote an essay for us that reminds us that only a few generations separate us from slavery. He wrote an eloquent essay, i will read some of it for you. Only my fathers generation stands between julian bond and human bondage. I am the grandson of a slave. He and his mother were property like a chair or horse. At 15, barely able to read and write, my grandfather hitched his way across kentucky to college. His was from a transcendent generation of black americans born in slavery, freed by Abraham Lincoln and determined to make their way and freedom. When he graduated, the college asked him to deliver the commencement address and he said, the pessimist looks out on the world of wickedness and sees it blighted by all that is good and helpful in the progress of the human race, bewails the present state of affairs and predicts woeful things for the future. In every cloud, he beholds a destructive storm, and every shadow a lurking blow. He forgets that the clouds also bring light, hope that lightning purifies the atmosphere, that shadow and darkness prepare for sunshine and growth, and adversity serves the race for greater and greater victories. Here is to greater and greater victories. So, these gettysburg replies ive shared and a few more i will share were revelatory on many levels. 150 years after lincolns death, he is still relevant. His actions and words still guide us to this day. Which is why people so often ask themselves in boardrooms, in classrooms, congresses, chat rooms, sometimes even in back hallways of churches, mosques, synagogues, what would lincoln do . One of the things he did was write thoughtful, eloquent speeches which to this day beckon us word upon word, sentence upon sentence, to c