November not only brings Election Day and Thanksgiving, but the too-often forgotten anniversary of the Gettysburg Address. On Nov. 18, 1863, a humbled president gave from the heart an address to the nation on the hallowed ground of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania—words that still have poignancy today. Noted for its eloquence despite being so brief, it was given by a thoughtful man, self-taught, without the convenient props and high-paid advisors, speechwriters, that have propelled today’s politicians, most often hacks, into powerful and most often undeserved public office.
Now, despite all advances made by this country in science and the arts, in medicine and technology, the best we could come up with for leadership is this?
Michel Spitzer
Jamaica Plain resident