President Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address was just over 250 words long. It followed a two hour speech by Edward Everett at the dedication of a soldier’s cemetery on 19 November 1863 at the site of the bloodiest battle in American history, during a war that cost more American lives than all other wars combined.
It is considered one of the greatest political speeches of all time, explaining America’s critical challenges in their historical context succinctly while paying tribute to the men who had died in the face of those challenges.
