Will mark ! the gettysburg address is a remarkable speech. it is only 272 words long and took only two minutes to deliver. but it had a profound effect on the nation—both then and now. president lincoln was not even the principal speaker on november 19, 1863 at the dedication of the gettysburg national cemetery, just four months after the battle there. the key speaker was edward everett, a renowned orator who talked for over two hours. later everett wrote lincoln to say that "i should be glad if i could flatter myself that i came as near to the central idea of the occasion in two hours as you did in two minutes." just what was this central idea? analyze each of these excerpts and see if you can arrive at its central idea.