Two speeches. President Lincoln's thoughtful and passionate (but ultimately unsuccessful) plea to keep southern states from seceding from the Union and to avoid the coming Civil War, delivered as he entered office during the most divisive time in U.S. history. Delivered March 4, 1861, just two weeks after Jefferson Davis was inaugurated as the president of the Confederacy.
And "With malice toward none, with charity for all..." The end of the Civil War in sight, Lincoln took the oath of office a second time and gave one of the most America's most famous speeches, and the shortest inaugural address in U.S. history. This 1965 speech is inscribed, along with the The Gettysburg Address, in the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. In many ways, Lincoln's second inaugural address was a sequel to the address at Gettysburg, honoring the fallen and reflecting on the guilt and loss of a nation. Delivered March 4, 1865, a month and 10 days before his assassination.