President Barack Obama
President Barack Obama failed to mention God in his Thanksgiving message to the nation, and he caught flack for it. He did say “God bless you” at the close of his remarks. But other than that, he didn’t mention thanking God on Thanksgiving.
As a Christian, I can honestly say I’m not offended by the President’s message. We’re a nation of believers and nonbelievers and the President is the elected leader of us all. His message of thankfulness is complete in itself.
He was defended by an unlikely voice — that of Dana Perino, former press secretary for President George W. Bush. She basically said it’s a non-issue. I would agree.
It just goes to show, though, that if you’re the leader of the free world, everything you say can and will be used against you.
It also goes to show that if you’re brave enough and have a big enough ego to get up in front of an audience, be prepared for criticism. It just goes with the territory.
…And sometimes you can
We’re approaching the anniversary of Pearl Harbor Day, which is also the anniversary of President Roosevelt’s memorable speech about that event. That speech is reminiscent of President Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address in several ways.
President Franklin Roosevelt
Both men wrote their own famous speeches – Roosevelt dictated his to his secretary. Lincoln wrote his longhand on a piece of White House stationery. Both speeches were short – Roosevelt’s was six minutes, Lincoln’s took two minutes.
Both speeches were given in a time of war and great national anguish. The two presidents’ writing adrenaline no doubt was pumping at full speed when they drafted their remarks.
Roosevelt knew immediately that he had struck the right tone and inspired the nation when he got a standing ovation from both sides of the aisle in Congress.
Lincoln, on the other hand, didn’t get much of a response from his audience. They had just listened to a two-hour speech from another orator and they were somewhat taken aback by the brevity of the president’s remarks. Within 24 hours, however, Lincoln began getting positive reviews from audience members.
President Abraham Lincoln
It just goes to show that speeches given with great emotion and intensity can have powerful impact on listeners. And in some cases, they can go down in history as great rhetoric.
