Friday, August 13, 2004

The President Who Can't Speak English

"We have never yet seen a letter, a document or a speech of Mr. ______'s that was not discreditable to a person occupying his exalted official position. It is doubtful whether a single sentence of good English could be squeezed out of him, if he were put under a cider press or run through the 'Universal Clothes Wringer.' "

Fill in the blank? The correct answer would be "Lincoln." The quote is from the Lancaster, Pa., "Intelligencer" of Sept. 15, 1864 [cited in the most recent Journal of the Lancaster County Historical Society].