Editing Gettysburg Address (section)

==Contemporary sources and reaction==
[[File:Gettysburg Address, New York Times.jpg|thumb|The November 20, 1863 article in ''[[The New York Times]]'' covering the event reports that Lincoln's speech was interrupted five times by applause and was followed by "long continued applause".<ref name="NYT">{{cite news |work=The New York Times |date=November 20, 1863 |page=1 |title=The Heroes of July; A Solemn and Imposing Event. Dedication of the National Cemetery at Gettysburg |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1863/11/20/archives/the-heroes-of-july-a-solemn-and-imposing-event-dedication-of-the.html |access-date=November 23, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180613210727/https://www.nytimes.com/1863/11/20/archives/the-heroes-of-july-a-solemn-and-imposing-event-dedication-of-the.html |archive-date=June 13, 2018 |url-status=live }}<!-- https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1863/11/20/80292637.pdf --></ref>]]

Eyewitness reports vary on Lincoln's performance and delivery of the Gettysburg Address. In 1931, the printed recollections of 87-year-old Mrs. Sarah A. Cooke Myers, who was 19 when she attended the ceremony, suggest a dignified silence followed Lincoln's speech. "I was close to the President and heard all of the Address, but it seemed short. Then there was an impressive silence like our Menallen [[Quaker|Friends Meeting]]. There was no applause when he stopped speaking."<ref>{{cite web|publisher=Abraham Lincoln online|work=Recollections of Abraham Lincoln at Gettysburg|author=Hark, Ann|title=Mrs. John T. Myers Relives the Day She Met the Great Emancipator|url=http://showcase.netins.net/web/creative/lincoln/news/recollect.htm|access-date=November 30, 2007|archive-date=October 7, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071007002311/http://showcase.netins.net/web/creative/lincoln/news/recollect.htm|url-status=live}} Citing the ''Philadelphia Public Ledger'' of February 7, 1932.</ref> According to historian [[Shelby Foote]], after Lincoln's presentation, the applause was delayed, scattered, and "barely polite".<ref>{{cite book |author-link=Shelby Foote |last=Foote |first=Shelby |title=The Civil War, A Narrative: Fredericksburg to Meridian |publisher=Vintage Books |year=1986 |orig-year=1958 |isbn=0-394-74621-X |page=[https://archive.org/details/civilwarnarrati000foot/page/832 832] |url=https://archive.org/details/civilwarnarrati000foot/page/832 }}</ref> In contrast, [[List of Governors of Pennsylvania|Pennsylvania Governor]] [[Andrew Gregg Curtin]] says, "He pronounced that speech in a voice that all the multitude heard. The crowd was hushed into silence because the President stood before them&nbsp;... It was so Impressive! It was the common remark of everybody. Such a speech, as they said it was!"<ref>{{cite web |publisher=Abraham Lincoln Online |year=2007 |work=Lincoln at Gettysburg Photo Tour |title=Abraham Lincoln at Gettysburg Cemetery |url=http://showcase.netins.net/web/creative/lincoln/tours/gettycem2.htm |access-date=December 18, 2005 |archive-date=October 5, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071005182900/http://showcase.netins.net/web/creative/lincoln/tours/gettycem2.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

In an often repeated legend, Lincoln is said to have turned to his bodyguard [[Ward Hill Lamon]] and remarked that his speech, like a bad plow, "won't scour". According to Garry Wills, however, this statement largely originates from Lamon's unreliable recollections and is not an accepted fact.<ref name="wills" /> In Garry Wills's view, "{{interpolation|Lincoln}} had done what he wanted to do {{interpolation|at Gettysburg}}".{{page needed|date=April 2021}}

In a letter to Lincoln written the day following his address in Gettysburg, Everett praised the President for the speech, saying, "I should be glad if I could flatter myself that I came as near to the central idea of the occasion, in two hours, as you did in two minutes."<ref name=Simon41>Simon, et al., eds. (1999). ''The Lincoln Forum: Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg, and the Civil War''. Mason City: Savas Publishing Company. {{ISBN|1-882810-37-6}}, p. 41.</ref> Lincoln replied that he was glad to know the speech was not a "total failure".<ref name=Simon41/>

Other public reactions to the speech were divided along partisan lines.<ref name="History20130222" /> The [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]-leaning ''[[Chicago Times]]'' observed, "The cheek of every American must tingle with shame as he reads the silly, flat and dishwatery utterances of the man who has to be pointed out to intelligent foreigners as the President of the United States."<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=fwmoAAAAIAAJ&q=cheek Sandburg, Carl (1954). ''Abraham Lincoln: The Prairie Years and the War Years'', Harcourt, Brace & World,  p. 445.]</ref> The [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]-leaning ''[[The New York Times]]'', however, was complimentary of Lincoln's address, and printed the full text.<ref name="NYT" /> The ''[[The Republican (Springfield)|Springfield Republican]]'' in [[Springfield, Massachusetts]] also printed the entire speech, calling it "a perfect gem" that was "deep in feeling, compact in thought and expression, and tasteful and elegant in every word and comma". The ''Republican'' predicted that Lincoln's brief remarks would "repay further study as the model speech".<ref>Prochow, Herbert Victor (1944). ''Great Stories from Great Lives''. Harper & Brothers, p. 17.</ref>

In 2013, on the sesquicentennial of the address, ''[[The Patriot-News]]'' in [[Harrisburg, Pennsylvania]], retracted its original reporting on the address, which it described as "silly remarks" deserving "the veil of oblivion", writing further that, "Seven score and ten years ago, the forefathers of this media institution brought forth to its audience a judgment so flawed, so tainted by hubris, so lacking in the perspective history would bring, that it cannot remain unaddressed in our archives.&nbsp;... the ''Patriot & Union'' failed to recognize [the speech's] momentous importance, timeless eloquence, and lasting significance. The ''Patriot-News'' regrets the error."<ref>{{cite news|title=Retraction for our 1863 editorial calling Gettysburg Address 'silly remarks': Editorial|url=https://www.pennlive.com/opinion/2013/11/a_patriot-news_editorial_retraction_the_gettysburg_address.html|access-date=November 19, 2013|newspaper=Patriot-News|date=November 14, 2013|author=''Patriot-News'' Editorial Board|archive-date=November 18, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131118164600/http://www.pennlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2013/11/a_patriot-news_editorial_retraction_the_gettysburg_address.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/my-great-great-grandfather-hated-the-gettysburg-address-150-years-later-hes-famous-for-it-180947746/ |title=My Great-Great-Grandfather Hated the Gettysburg Address. 150 Years Later, He's Famous For It. |last=Stewart |first=Doug |date=November 18, 2013 |website=The Smithsonian's Past Imperfect |type=Blog |access-date=November 19, 2013 |archive-date=November 20, 2013 |archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20131120173213/http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/history/2013/11/my%2Dgreat%2Dgreat%2Dgrandfather%2Dhated%2Dthe%2Dgettysburg%2Daddress%2D150%2Dyears%2Dlater%2Dhes%2Dfamous%2Dfor%2Dit/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Foreign newspapers also reported critically on Lincoln's address. In London, ''[[The Times]]'' reported, "The ceremony [at Gettysburg] was rendered ludicrous by some of the luckless sallies of that poor President Lincoln."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://find.galegroup.com/ttda/infomark.do?&source=gale&prodId=TTDA&userGroupName=wes_ttda&tabID=T003&docPage=article&searchType=BasicSearchForm&docId=CS151297412&type=multipage&contentSet=LTO&version=1.0 |title=The Civil War In America |newspaper=The Times |location=London |date=December 4, 1863 |page=9 |url-access=subscription  |access-date=June 3, 2014}}</ref>

[[United States House of Representatives|Congressman]] [[Joseph A. Goulden]], then an eighteen-year-old school teacher, was present and heard the speech. He served in the [[United States Marine Corps|U.S. Marine Corps]] during the Civil War, and was later elected to Congress as a [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]]. Goulden was often asked about the speech, since the passage of time made him one of a dwindling number of individuals who were present for it. He responded that the event and Lincoln's remarks were met favorably, saying that Lincoln's address served as a factor that inspired him to enter military service. Goulden's recollections were summarized in remarks to the House of Representatives in 1914.<ref>{{cite book |publisher=United National Association of Post Office Clerks |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uT02AQAAMAAJ&q=joseph+goulden+gettysburg+lincoln&pg=RA1-PA86 |title=The Post Office Clerk magazine |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160610050429/https://books.google.com/books?id=uT02AQAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA86&dq=joseph+goulden+gettysburg+lincoln&hl=en&sa=X&ei=oiUNUpr_H7HK4AO_h4GwAg&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=joseph%20goulden%20gettysburg%20lincoln&f=false |archive-date=June 10, 2016 |volume=13–14 |date=January 1914 |page=6 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |publisher=United States House of Representatives |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=egYqAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA1-PA97 |chapter=Memorial Addresses on Joseph A. Goulden |title=United States Congressional Serial Set |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160610212622/https://books.google.com/books?id=egYqAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA1-PA97&dq=joseph+goulden+gettysburg+lincoln&hl=en&sa=X&ei=oiUNUpr_H7HK4AO_h4GwAg&ved=0CEgQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=joseph%20goulden%20gettysburg%20lincoln&f=false |archive-date=June 10, 2016 |year=1917 |page=97}}</ref>

=== Audio recollections ===
[[William R. Rathvon]] is the only known eyewitness of both Lincoln's arrival at Gettysburg and the address itself to have obtained made audio recording of his recollections.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.historyonthenet.com/authentichistory/1860-1865/2-sounds/2-historical/19380212_Gettysburg_Eyewitness_William_V_Rathvon.html|title=Gettysburg Eyewitness – Lost and Found Sound: The Boy Who Heard Lincoln|publisher=Historyonthenet.com|access-date=February 15, 2019|archive-date=February 16, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190216040854/https://www.historyonthenet.com/authentichistory/1860-1865/2-sounds/2-historical/19380212_Gettysburg_Eyewitness_William_V_Rathvon.html|url-status=live}}</ref> One year before his death in 1939, Rathvon's reminiscences were recorded on February 12, 1938, at WRUL in [[Boston]], including his reading the address, and a 78 RPM record was pressed. The title of the 78 record was, "I Heard Lincoln That Day – William R. Rathvon, TR Productions". A copy of it was later aired by [[National Public Radio]] (NPR) during its "Quest for Sound" project in 1999.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1045619|title=Gettysburg Eyewitness – Lost and Found Sound: The Boy Who Heard Lincoln|newspaper=NPR.org|publisher=Historyonthenet.com|access-date=February 15, 2019|archive-date=April 2, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190402161827/https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1045619|url-status=live}}</ref>

Like most people who were present that day in Gettysburg, the Rathvon family was aware that Lincoln was going to offer some remarks to the assembled crowd. The family went to the town square where the procession formed and proceeded to the cemetery, which was then still under construction. At the head of the procession, Lincoln rode on a gray horse preceded by a military band, which was the first the young boy in the Rathyon family had ever seen. Rathvon describes Lincoln as so tall and with such long legs that they went almost to the ground; he also mentions the long eloquent speech given by [[Edward Everett]], who Rathvon described as the "most finished orator of the day". Rathvon described Lincoln stepping forward "with a manner serious almost to sadness, gave his brief address". During Lincoln's delivery, the young Rathvon boy and several others wiggled their way forward through the crowd until they stood within {{convert|15|ft|m}} of Lincoln, and looked up into what he described as Lincoln's "serious face". Rathvon later said that he listened "intently to every word the president uttered and heard it clearly", but "boylike, I could not recall any of it afterwards". However, he said, that anyone who said anything disparaging about "honest Abe", would have been a "junior battle of Gettysburg". In the recording, Rathvon speaks of Lincoln's speech as "echoing through the hills".{{citation needed|date=April 2021}}

===Photographs===
[[File:Crowd of citizens, soldiers, and etc. with Lincoln at Gettysburg. - NARA - 529085 -crop.jpg|thumb|upright=1.8|The [[David Bachrach|Bachrach]] photo, including a red arrow indicating Lincoln's presence, taken several hours before Lincoln rose and delivered the Gettysburg Address]]
The only known and confirmed photograph of Lincoln at Gettysburg,<ref>{{cite web|publisher=Library of Congress|url=http://myloc.gov/Exhibitions/gettysburgaddress/exhibitionitems/ExhibitObjects/LincolnOnPlatform.aspx?sc_id=wikip|title=The Only Known Photograph of President Lincoln at the dedication of the Civil War cemetery at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, November 19, 1863|access-date=September 15, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111105105115/http://myloc.gov/Exhibitions/gettysburgaddress/exhibitionitems/ExhibitObjects/LincolnOnPlatform.aspx?sc_id=wikip|archive-date=November 5, 2011}}</ref> was taken by photographer [[David Bachrach]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Bachrach in the news|publisher=Bachrach photography|url=http://www.bachrachinc.com/html/in_the_news.html|access-date=December 3, 2007|archive-date=July 7, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707203611/http://www.bachrachinc.com/html/in_the_news.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Lincoln's presence in the photo was identified in 1952 by Josephine Cobb, an archivist who enlarged a mislabeled glass plate negative, which revealed Lincoln's presence in the photo that was then on display at [[Mathew Brady]]'s collection of photographic plates at the [[National Archives and Records Administration]].<ref>[https://www.friendsofthelincolncollection.org/lincoln-lore/the-woman-who-found-lincoln-at-gettysburg-josephine-cobb-of-the-national-archives/]</ref>

While Lincoln's speech was short and may have precluded multiple pictures of him while speaking, he and the other dignitaries sat for hours during the rest of the program. A popular explanation for the Bachrach photo suggests that Lincoln's brief address, which followed a lengthy two hour speech by Everett, caught photographers by surprise. As a result, they supposedly were able to only take a photo of Lincoln after his speech had ended. This theory, however, has been questioned, since evidence exists suggesting that the photo was possibly taken before the Gettysburg Address and without any intention of photographing Lincoln from such a lengthy distance.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Woman Who Found Lincoln at Gettysburg: Josephine Cobb of the National Archives |url=https://www.friendsofthelincolncollection.org/lincoln-lore/the-woman-who-found-lincoln-at-gettysburg-josephine-cobb-of-the-national-archives/ |access-date=2024-06-10 |website=Friends of the Lincoln Collection |language=en}}</ref>

=== Usage of "under God" ===
The exact phrase "under God" does not appear in the Nicolay and Hay drafts. But it does appear in the three later copies held by Everett, Bancroft, and Bliss. This has led some skeptics to question whether the words "under God" were included in the remarks Lincoln gave that day.<ref>{{cite web|editor-last=Walker|editor-first=Cliff|publisher=Positive Atheism|date=September 2002|title=Lincoln's Gettysburg 'Under God': Another case of 'retrofitting'? (reply)|url=http://www.positiveatheism.org/mail/eml8448.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021108025927/http://www.positiveatheism.org/mail/eml8448.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 8, 2002|access-date=December 3, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Randi, James |publisher=James Randi Educational Foundation |date=October 10, 2003 |url=http://archive.randi.org/site/jr/101003.html |title=Lincoln Embellished |access-date=December 3, 2007 |author-link=James Randi |archive-date=December 14, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141214202556/http://archive.randi.org/site/jr/101003.html |url-status=live }}: "The Gettysburg address&nbsp;... is often given as the source of the addition to the Pledge of Allegiance that we often hear, that phrase, 'under God.' Wrong."</ref> However, at least three reporters [[telegraph]]ed the text of Lincoln's speech on the day the Address was given with the words "under God" included. Historian William E. Barton argues that:<ref>Barton, pp. 138–139.</ref>

{{blockquote|Every stenographic report, good, bad and indifferent, says 'that the nation shall, under God, have a new birth of freedom.' There was no common source from which all the reporters could have obtained those words but from Lincoln's own lips at the time of delivery. It will not do to say that [Secretary of War] Stanton suggested those words after Lincoln's return to Washington, for the words were telegraphed by at least three reporters on the afternoon of the delivery.}}

Reporters present for Lincoln's Gettysburg Address included Joseph Gilbert with the [[Associated Press]], [[Charles Hale]] with the ''[[Boston Daily Advertiser]]'',<ref>Prochnow, p. 14.</ref> [[John Russell Young|John R. Young]] with the ''[[Philadelphia Press]]'', and reporters from the ''Cincinnati Commercial''<ref>Prochnow, p. 13.</ref> ''New York Tribune'',<ref name=Prochnow15>Prochnow, p. 15.</ref> and ''[[The New York Times]]''.<ref name=Prochnow15/> Hale, according to later reports, arrived at the event, and "had notebook and pencil in hand, [and] took down the slow-spoken words of the President".<ref>Sandburg, Carl (1939). "Lincoln Speaks at Gettysburg". In: ''Abraham Lincoln: The War Years''. New York: Harcourt, Brace & Company. II, 452–457; cited by Prochnow, p. 14.</ref> "He took down what he declared was the exact language of Lincoln's address, and his declaration was as good as the oath of a court stenographer. His associates confirmed his testimony, which was received, as it deserved to be, at its face value."<ref>Barton, p. 81.</ref> One explanation is that Lincoln deviated from his prepared text and inserted the phrase when he spoke. Ronald C. White, visiting professor of history at the [[University of California, Los Angeles]] and professor of American religious history emeritus at [[San Francisco Theological Seminary]], wrote:

<blockquote>It was an uncharacteristically spontaneous revision for a speaker who did not trust extemporaneous speech. Lincoln had added impromptu words in several earlier speeches, but always offered a subsequent apology for the change. In this instance, he did not. And Lincoln included "under God" in all three copies of the address he prepared at later dates. "Under God" pointed backward and forward: back to "this nation", which drew its breath from both political and religious sources, but also forward to a "new birth". Lincoln had come to see the Civil War as a ritual of purification. The old Union had to die. The old man had to die. Death became a transition to a new Union and a new humanity.<ref name="america58"/></blockquote>

Prior to 1860, the phrase "under God" was used frequently, usually meaning "with God's help".<ref>{{cite web |author=Geoff Nunberg |title='(Next) Under God,' Phrasal Idiom |date=June 20, 2004 |work=Language Log |url=http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/001090.html |access-date=November 24, 2013}}</ref>