the featured speaker that day was edward everett, the noted orator of the time. he spoke almost two hours. that's what people came to hear. people would applaud when he came back to the main theme out of just the beauty of the construction of the english language. the president was an afterthought to add a few appropriate remarks. and he nailed it. but it took a while for that to catch on. the chicago newspaper said the cheek of every american must tingle with shame when it reads the silly dish watery utterances of the man who had to be pointed out to intelligent foreigners as the president of the united states. if you're wringing your hands about partisan politics in america, it has been going on since the beginning of the republic erie it -- of the republic. edward everett said i wish i could have come as close to the heart of the matter in two hours as you did in two minutes. all of a sudden had meaning and not just for some americans, for all americans. what it meant is that we were going to be in the pursuit of happiness. it was not just a limited all men ar

he comes to the now quiet battlefield to add a few appropriate remarks after edward everett's speecht home and this is the operating system that still is our operating system. >> what's interesting is how short it was but think about it in today's age of sound bites. people would have taken off heres if it didn't fit on twitter. >> the real anxiety i have is what if somebody gave a gettysburg address today, maybe c span might have it. certainly we wouldn't be able to pick it up in the speed and rapidity in our news cycles -- >> maybe he understood before any of us the digital age. >> but nobody -- >> too wordy. >> i have a feeling that lincoln would be able to cut through. >> yeah. >> and i think his brevity -- >> but you don't think somebody -- >> even on twitter. >> you don't think would say the president came to gettysburg to distract attention from his disastrous military campaign out west. >> i will leave it there. it's called the address and airs tuesday 9:00 p.m. on pbs. thank you for coming around. that is all for our discussion. thanks for the round table. we'll be back next