Profiles of Great Communicators: Lincoln and Roosevelt -
Thursday, June 06, 2002 Lincoln teaches us to take your speech,
not yourself, seriously. Abraham Lincoln's best known speech,
the Gettysburg address, took only a few moments to deliver. Yet
in it Lincoln captured the spirit of the struggle and rallied
people to the support of the Union. Lincoln was not an
accomplished speaker. Yet few politicians have ever established
their reputation so quickly and thoroughly through speeches. In
fact, some historians believe that Lincoln's meteoric rise from
obscurity to power resulted from just a few key addresses.
First, Lincoln spoke against compromise with pro-slavery forces
before the Illinois Republican State Convention in 1858: "A
house divided against itself cannot stand." More decisive
speeches occurred during Lincoln's 1858 race for the U. S.
Senate against Stephen A. Douglas. Lincoln faltered at first,
but he recovered and gained tremendous respect among the voters
of Illinois. Douglas ultimately won the el