232 Presidential Addresses 



energies of the strongest leader, then of course the 

 world does not and can not know of the existence 

 of such a leader; and in consequence there are long 

 periods in the history of every nation during which 

 no man appears who leaves an indelible mark in his 

 tory. If, on the other hand, the crisis is one so 

 many-sided as to call for the development and ex 

 ercise of many distinct attributes, it may be that 

 more than one man will appear in order that the re 

 quirements shall be fully met. In the Revolution 

 and in the period of constructive statesmanship 

 immediately following it, for our good fortune it 

 befell us that the highest military and the highest 

 civic attributes were embodied in Washington, and 

 so in him we have one of the undying men of his 

 tory a great soldier, if possible an even greater 

 statesman, and above all a public servant whose lofty 

 and disinterested patriotism rendered his power and 

 ability alike on fought fields and in council cham 

 bers of the most far-reaching service to the Re 

 public. In the Civil War the two functions were 

 divided, and Lincoln and Grant will stand for ever 

 more with their names inscribed on the honor roll 

 of those who have deserved well of mankind by 

 saving to humanity a precious heritage. In similar 

 fashion Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson stand 

 each as the foremost representative of the great 

 movement of his generation, and their names sym 

 bolize to us their times, and the hopes and aspira 

 tions of their times. 



