Memorial Day is my somber holiday. My childhood town had a traditional parade, followed by a huge, multi-family picnic. We were taught never to forget the nature of the event.


Memorial Days hence, I made a point of calling my father to thank him for his service in World War II. This is the first year my father won't be home to call.

An historical topic I often discussed with him is my five favorite American political speeches. Memorial Day is an appropriate time to consider them. In order of gravity, they are:

1. The Gettysburg Address

2. Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address

3. Dr. Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream"

4. Daniel Webster's "Liberty and Union, Now and Forever, One and Inseparable"

5. Franklin Roosevelt's First Inaugural Address

Webster's speech in 1830 was first chronologically. It begins as a rebuttal to South Carolina Senator Robert Hayne's support of the doctrine of nullification, asserting the right of individual states to defy federal statues if they choose. Webster warns about the fate of the people if the union should be "torn asunder."

Webster recognized both centripetal forces that hold nations together and centrifugal forces that tear them apart. He urged resisting discordant forces that imperil both union and liberty.

Webster's version of government deriving its power from the people found an echo in the Gettysburg Address, when Lincoln concluded, "Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

Lincoln's Second Inaugural and King's "I Have a Dream" address most directly the great moral stain on the American experience — slavery. Lincoln recognized how deeply slavery contributed to the centrifugal forces causing the Civil War. His unblinking assessment of the war ranks among the most powerful, courageous words ever spoken by a politician:

"Fondly do we hope — fervently do we pray — that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue, until all the bond-man's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn by the lash, shall be repaid by another drawn by the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said, 'the judgements of the Lord, are true and righteous altogether'."

Ninety-eight years later, the Rev. King, from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, revisited the Great Emancipator's "unfinished business" of removing the stain of slavery and elevating all our citizens to their proper stature. Alone among these brilliant leaders, King steadfastly espoused nonviolence.

Franklin Roosevelt's First Inaugural, delivered at the nadir of the Great Depression, famously inveighs against capitulating to fear. FDR stressed the importance of restoring gainful employment and philosophized: "Happiness lies not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, the thrill of creative effort."

Ironically, the results of FDR's economic initiatives were uneven; his greatest leadership success was joining the Allied victory in the most terrible war the world has known. Few dispute the value of the Allies' victory over fascism.

Unfortunately, the tyranny of communism was given a second wind after the war, but Western leadership finally curbed its worst depredations.

On Memorial Day, we owe tribute to leaders who shouldered complex challenges without compromising their own moral stature.

It is fitting to honor leaders who were able to abhor war without disdaining the warrior and to honor our warriors who made the ultimate sacrifice for the advance of liberty.

Tom Gelsthorpe of Cataumet may be e-mailed at