Hi folks,
Last time we talked about Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address and how its impact underscores the power of brevity.
No, that was the Emancipation Proclamation. I mean… moving on.
Anyhow, why is the Gettysburg Address famous? There has been plenty of elegant presidential prose throughout history, so what makes these 272 words extraordinary and what did they accomplish? Well, start with this: Is the birthday of the United States July 4, 1776 or September 17, 1787?
Yeah, it seems like a stupid question because everybody says July 4, 1776 – the day the Declaration of Independence was signed. But eleven years later, on September 17, 1787, the Constitution was signed, so why not that date? Because during the civil war, southerners argued that the Constitution’s allowance for slavery meant the practice was a-okay. So Lincoln eloquently told them to get bent:
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on 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.
In two short lines, Lincoln asserts that the Declaration of Independence – with its strong assertions of freedom and equality – is the foundation of the country, not the flawed implementation of those principles in the Constitution. And he declares that the war is about whether a nation founded in such principles can survive. To further drive home his point, he ends with:
that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
Reaffirming that the war is no longer simply a struggle for union, but one for establishing the freedom promised by the founding document of the country, the Declaration of Independence.
It matters because the Gettysburg Address elevated the consciousness of the people beyond the “how” of the country – the laws proscribed in the Constitution – and refocused them on the “why” – the principles embodied in the Declaration. Whether slavery was legal per the Constitution was irrelevant – it violated the principles and natural law outlined in the Declaration. The “why” takes precedence over the “how”.
We all need periodic Gettysburg Address moments in our lives. It’s far too easy to lose sight of why we do what we do. Why am I developing a new process? Why am I so deeply invested in this document? Why am I sacrificing so much to chase that promotion? If we take some quiet moments to revisit the underlying why – our objectives, our goals, our principles – we may find that those “hows” really don’t matter all that much.
As I prepare for my transition to a new agency, my influence at my current agency is quickly waning. And while I hope I’ve had a positive impact, I also hope that all my work quickly disappears, replaced by newer, better, and more relevant products. Our world moves quickly and no organization, including the government, can afford to stand still and watch it pass. I can’t predict what will be needed to adapt to tomorrow’s world, but I hope you’ll take time to pause and ask “why” – why are we doing this? – and see if your “hows” really are the right thing to do.
If I somehow encouraged my colleagues to ask themselves “why” more often, I’m satisfied with my legacy.
Rex