Lincoln’s Rhetoric
There were doubts as to whether Abraham Lincoln could excel as a presidential orator because he spoke with a “Kentucky-Indiana” dialect while using colloquial or informal, everyday words. He was known as someone that “wrote for the ear.” This meant that he focus on how words sounded for the ear. He used literary devices such as parallel structures, alliteration, consonance, and assonance. Often times when we think of a presidential voice and especially one of the tall and well built Lincoln we infer that he had a loud booming low bass voice. In contrary, he had a tenor voice, which would sometimes slip into a falsetto or a very high pitch when he was nervous. Most of us speak at around 150 words per minute, but he spoke at around 110 words per minute. For his campaigns he did not speak once, because during that time that would be considered arrogant or haughty. Instead you would have other people speak on your behalf. The differences between the first inaugural address and second inaugural address are that Lincoln grows from being a man that speaks rationally trying to win the argument, to a man that is much more prepared, evocative, ready to use imagination, be emotional, and use religious language. He also started to talk about religion and slavery in the second inaugural. He first said the phrase “by the people, of the people, and for the people” when he gave a special message to congress on July 4, 1861. The difference I see between Lincoln’s second inaugural address and the inaugural addresses of today are that Lincoln is one to talk about God and how He is going to work in the country. He talks about the bible while alluding to many parts of it where inaugural speeches of today often just mention God, if even that. The speeches today instead are trying to tell of what that president will be trying to do during his tenure. They tell where they see the country heading instead of how God will be working. Lincoln’s speeches have endured because he speaks simply and beautifully by using one syllable words to get right at the heart of the matter. He was also one to use religious language that people could relate to and understand.
Great journal, I never even thought of how Presidents of the past spoke in public. It is very interesting to learn that Lincoln did not have the common speaking voice that many other presidents did. I like that you explained why Lincoln’s speeches were so powerful and effective.
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