Pennsylvania newspaper apologizes 150 years after the fact, says Gettysburg Address didn't suck after all.

In 1863, after Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address, the Patriot-News of Harrisburg, PA, panned the speech.

Said the newspaper in 1863:

"We pass over the silly remarks of the President. For the credit of the nation we are willing that the veil of oblivion shall be dropped over them, and that they shall be no more repeated or thought of."

Yeah, good luck with that.

Time changes opinions though, and so it changed the Patriot-News' view on things. The paper retracted their previous editorial opinion--150 years later.

Their thoughts in 2013:

"Our predecessors, perhaps under the influence of partisanship, or of strong drink, as was common in the profession at the time, called President Lincoln's words 'silly remarks,' deserving 'a veil of oblivion'. [...] In the fullness of time, we have come to a different conclusion. [...] The Patriot-News regrets the error."

No rush or anything.

Showing they really had their fingers on the pulse of history, the Patriot-News also stated in 1863 that "the Secretary of State is a man of note."

Yeah, I don't know who that was either.




photo: Patriot-News