The great generosity of Abe at Gettysburg

http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/great-generosity-abe-gettysburg-article-1.3640585

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Imagine it: A recently defeated vice-presidential candidate invited to give the main speech at the dedication of a new cemetery for soldiers who died for their country, and the President of the United States asked later, and only half-heartedly, to deliver just “a few appropriate remarks” on the same occasion.

Can anyone imagine Donald Trump ceding the spotlight to Hillary Clinton’s running mate, Tim Kaine, at such an event today, much less congratulating his onetime rival later for his effort?

Yet that is exactly what transpired seven score and 14 years ago after Abraham Lincoln accepted second billing at Gettysburg to Edward Everett, a veteran Massachusetts politician who had run for vice president just three years earlier on a third-party ticket. As the President well knew, Everett’s supporters believed Lincoln lacked the capacity to handle the mounting national crisis over slavery.

On Nov. 19, 1863, Everett delivered a long, orotund, quickly-forgotten stem-winder at Gettysburg. Lincoln followed with what he called a “short, short, short” statement that eventually attained the status of American scripture.