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On November 19 1863, crowds flocked to see US PRFESIDENT Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) speak at the dedication of the Gettysburg national cemetery, where he gave a rousing two-hour speech. True or false?

Answer: False. The individual who gave a two-hour speech to rapturous applause was politician Edward Everett (1794-1865). While Lincoln did speak afterwards, he did so only for just over two minutes, and few in the crowd considered it significant. Only subsequently, when Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address” was published, did it become one of the most famous speeches in American history.

Source: Edward Everett – The Intellectual in the Turmoil of Politics by Paul Varg

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