When I was a fourth grader at J.J. Burns School, our teacher Jean Quinn required everyone in the class to memorize and deliver the "Gettysburg Address."

When a kid is an introvert, it's the equivalent of asking them to stand and sing on Times Square or climb Mount Everest barefoot.

But we all did it and I remain grateful for it.

Just 272 words, Lincoln's dedication of the Gettysburg National Cemetery on Nov. 19, 1863, stands as one of the greatest speeches in American history.

As we currently dog paddle in a roiling sea of rhetoric, Lincoln's address reveals the beautiful mind of a president who sought to heal with the understanding that the nation had endured unimaginable hurt.

Brilliant in its brevity, the message that this nation is worth fighting for transcends time.

Lincoln's

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