The Most Terrifyingly Honest Sentence Written by a U.S. President
Abraham Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address, renowned for its poetic brevity and profound insight, stands as the most stirring political speech I have encountered. Within those few words, Lincoln conveyed the brutal reality of war alongside the heavy legacy of a nation forged literally on enslaved lives. He addressed the Civil War’s “mighty scourge” bluntly, linking it directly to the entrenched system of slavery:
Fondly do we hope ~ fervently do we pray ~ that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue, until all the wealth piled by the bond-man’s two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said ‘the judgments of the Lord, are true and righteous altogether.’
Following this stark truth, Lincoln extended a message of reconciliation to the South and the entire nation:
With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan ~ to do all which may achieve and cherish a just, and a lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations.
We must regard war as a cruel affliction—the harshest and most punishing whip, able to inflict unimaginable suffering on human beings.
Delivered on March 4, 1865, Lincoln’s address echoes through time. Decades later, British MP Tony Benn referred to war’s dreadful scourge as well, speaking in 1998:
The sentiments expressed by Lincoln and Benn hold enduring wisdom. It is tragic that today war is glorified as noble, honorable, and just—a domain of warriors and powerful states, celebrated as something virtuous.
The pride U.S. leaders show in military might and global dominance signals a troubling decline of reason and democratic values in America.
Original article: bracingviews.com
About the Author
