On November 19, 1863, at the dedication of a military cemetery
at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, during the American Civil War,
President Abraham Lincoln delivered one of the most memorable speeches in American history. In fewer than 275 words, Lincoln
brilliantly and movingly reminded a war-weary public why the
Union had to fight, and win, the Civil War.

The Battle of Gettysburg, fought some four months earlier, was
one of the single bloodiest battle of the Civil War. Over the course
of three days, more than 45,000 men were killed, injured, captured
or went missing. The battle also proved to be the turning point of
the war: General Robert E. Lee’s defeat and retreat from Gettysburg marked the last Confederate invasion of Northern territory and the beginning of the Southern army’s ultimate decline.

The original uncropped photo of the speakers stand at Gettysburg.

Abraham Lincoln’s original Gettysburg Address in an Illinois museum.

On October 5, 1947, President Harry S Truman (1884-1972)
made the first-ever televised presidential address from the
White House, asking Americans to cut back on their use of
grain in order to help starving Europeans.

At the time of Truman’s food-conservation speech, Europe
was still recovering from World War II and suffering from
famine.

America’s first president George Washington addressed the
assembled Congress with the first State of the Union on this
day in history, Jan. 8, 1780.

Washington’s address took place at Federal Hall in New York
City — and addressed a variety of topics including national
defense, foreign policy, economics and education.

Federal Hall in New York City.

On October 5, 1947, President Harry Truman (left/above) made the
first-ever televised presidential address from the White House,
asking Americans to cut back on their use of grain in order to
help starving Europeans.

At the time of Truman’s food-conservation speech, Europe was
still recovering from World War II and suffering from famine.

Truman, the 33rd commander in chief, worried that if the U.S. didn’t provide food aid, his administration’s Marshall Plan for European economic recovery would fall apart.

He asked farmers and distillers to reduce grain use and requested
that the public voluntarily forgo meat on Tuesdays, eggs and
poultry on Thursdays and save a slice of bread each day.

On January 4, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson delivered the
first televised evening State of the Union Address.

Johnson laid out for Congress a laundry list of legislation needed
to achieve his plan for a Great Society.

As a result Congress enacted sweeping legislation in the areas of
civil rights, health care, education and the environment. 

The 1965 State of the Union address heralded the creation of Medicare/Medicaid, Head Start, the Voting Rights Act, the Civil
Rights Act, the Department of Housing and Urban Development
and the White House Conference on Natural Beauty.

President Lyndon Baines Johnson signs the Voting Rights
Act of 1965.