Most people have heard of Albert Einstein receiving poor grades in school and Ernest Hemingway getting a "C" in his high school English class.

In February, as we celebrate President's Day, I am reminded of another famous man who was given a less-than-stellar "grade" for his efforts, only to be vindicated by the passage of time.

On Nov. 19, 1863, at the dedication of the soldiers' national cemetery in Gettysburg, President Abraham Lincoln was chastised by the Chicago Sun-Times for the remarks he delivered at the ceremony. Lincoln spoke for only two minutes, and he followed one of the greatest orators of the 19th century to the podium, Edward Everett, who talked for two hours.

The editors at the newspaper didn't think much of Lincoln's brief, simple prose. They wrote in a review of the event: "The cheek of every American must tingle with shame as he reads the silly and dishwatery utterances of the man who has to be pointed out to intelligent foreigners as the President of the United States. Lincoln cannot speak five grammatical sentences in succession."

In fact, the Gettysburg Address was seven sentences long, 269 words, and has been called the mostly widely recognized prose in the world today. Recited by countless American school children — I memorized it in the eighth grade — it is considered by many the greatest speech ever given in American history.

Most people know Lincoln's speech for its famous beginning: "Four score and seven years ago …" That line has made its way into many aspects of our lives, recited over and over again in countless school pageants but also given added longevity through several popular TV shows, including "The Simpsons," where it was parodied at the Duff's President Hall of Fame as follows: "Four score and seven years ago, our forefathers brewed a refreshing drink from hops and barley. ..."

While "Four score and seven years" may have been the most widely recognized phrase from Lincoln's speech, it is not my favorite, at least not in light of the presidential rhetoric we hear today. President Bush recently delivered his fifth State of the Union Address, which had more than 5,600 words and lasted 30 times longer than the Gettysburg Address. But unlike Lincoln's speech, which helped to unify a divided country, Bush's speech, like most of the presidential speeches of the modern era, was divisive.

Add to this the unrelenting hyperbole of the 2008 presidential elections, which, by the way, already includes 18 candidates and is still more than 600 days away.

When considering presidential politics, I can't help but favor another selection from Lincoln's address, where he humbly acknowledges the small role of an individual in the larger scheme of history: "The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here."

Such humility is woefully missing from the presidential rhetoric we hear today, no matter which side of the aisle you sit on. And how ironic that one of America's greatest presidents should think his words would one day be lost to posterity.

Linda K. Schmitmeyer is a freelance writer living in Middlesex Township. Her e-mail address is lks260@zoominternet.net.