Hoe come Lincoln thought his Gettysburg Address speech was a failure even though…?
Hard question to answer, because in fact, the idea that this Address was a failure is a MYTH!! Sorry, that source linked to in a previous answer, while a nice little script, had many of the facts WRONG, perpetuated a number of myths about the speech. To correct a few: Lincoln did NOT suggest that he thought the speech a failure (that’s someone’s imagination). The whole thing about his not having had time to finish it … and still working on it on the way to Gettysburg and while there is, at best misleading: – Yes, he was “still working on it” to the last minute, but that’s because he ALWAYS worked to the last minute trying to perfect whatever he wrote, though he often had spent MUCH time in writing it – We know the timeline of the invitation… Lincoln had PLENTY of time to write an address of this length, he KNEW that it was supposed to be rather brief from the start. He had also been LOOKING for an appropriate opportunity to speak.
