John Edward Hempe Rapid City, South Dakota Lincoln: The Reunion This place in South Dakota. It's so far from the great battlefield at Gettysburg. This time, 135 years since the bloody clash. Months after the battle, I wrote a two-minute speech. It somehow became immortal. It ended: '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 this earth.' And so it is. The union I so desperately strove to preserve is stronger than ever today. The new birth of freedom exists. I see it in the faces of the people who come here. For nearly 60 years, I
have rested here in the presence of the noblest men to ever
lead this great nation. I have always been and will always
be humble and proud.  www.contests.org |
