About this episode:
The Associated Press reported the address would be brief. The day of the speech, Saturday, March 4th, 1865 dawned with steady rain. Streets oozed with mud. Like a shroud, fog wrapped its gray arms around the city. At 11:40 that morning, the rain suddenly ended. The clouds began to part, and finally, on a wooden platform before the east portico of the Capitol, the 16th president was introduced. He arose from his chair, put on his steel-rimmed eyeglasses, and stepped forward to speak. In his left hand was a copy of his inaugural address. It was his second, and with a nation weary of civil war, with a population hoping for peace, and before an expectant crowd that needed a soothing message, he began. As he did, the sun broke through the clouds . This is the story about what he said; his second inaugural address, and despite what you may think, the one he truly believed was his greatest.
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Some Characters Mentioned In This Episode:
Script from Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address
Get The Guide:
Want to learn more about the Civil War? A great place to start is Fred's guide, The Civil War: A History of the War between the States from Workman Publishing. The guide is in its 9th printing.
*Title Image by Alexander Gardner
Producer: Dan Irving
073 - The Confederacy's Last First Lady: Varina Howell Davis
072 - The Dawning Of A New Age: The Fight Between The USS Monitor and the CSS Virginia
071 - Edwin McMasters Stanton: Lincoln's "Unloved" Secretary Of War
070 - Combatting The Invisible Enemy: Medicine During The Civil War
069 - Fredericksburg Revisited
068 - The Confederacy’s Last Salvo - The Career of the CSS Shenandoah
067 - Return to the ”Daughter of the Stars” - The Valley Campaign of 1864
066 - Waging War: Strategy, Tactics, Arms and Technology in the American Civil War
065 - The Soldier’s Friend: Clara Barton
064 - Taking Down The Citadel: The Siege of Vicksburg
063 - Then And Now: The Lost Cause
062 - ”...Hell Can’t Beat That Terrible Scene”: Spotsylvania Court House
061 - Duty, Honor, Countries: The West Point Class of 1846
060 - Desperate Times, Desperate Battle: The Battle Of Bentonville
059 - Connecting The Coasts: The Building Of The Transcontinental Railroad
058 - Breaking The Chains: The Passage Of The 13th Amendment
057 - Jefferson Davis: First and Final Confederate President
056 - Abraham Lincoln: Commander-In-Chief
055 - Bound To Duty: The Post-War Life Of Robert E. Lee
054 - ”The River of Death”: The Battle Of Chickamauga
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