Chapter Two
"At this second appearing..."
At this second appearing, to take the oath of the presidential office, there
is less occasion for an extended address than there was at the first. Then a
statement, somewhat in detail, of a course to be pursued, seemed fitting and
proper. Now, at the expiration of four years, during which public declarations
have been constantly called forth on every point and phase of the great contest
which still absorbs the attention, and engrosses the enerergies [sic] of the
nation, little that is new could be presented. The progress of our arms, upon
which all else chiefly depends, is as well known to the public as to myself; and
it is, I trust, reasonably satisfactory and encouraging to all. With high hope
for the future, no prediction in regard to it is ventured.
Lincoln's opening words, "At this second appearing," are not a throwaway
line. Lincoln almost did not appear.
For much of Lincoln's first term, political pundits had predicted that he would
be another of the one-term presi ... read full excerpt from Lincoln's Greatest Speech: The Second Inaugural ebook
