1862 State of the Union Address

Speech by US President Abraham Lincoln February 2026 February 2025 1862 State of the Union Address 1862 12 01 House Chamber, United States Capitol State of the Union Address Abraham LincolnHannibal HamlinGalusha A. Grow Format Written Previous 1861 State of the Union Address Next 1863 State of the Union Address Abraham Lincoln series Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln O-77 matte collodion print (3x4 close cropped).jpg Abraham Lincoln 1862 signature.svg text-align:center; Personal yPersonal y Early life and career Family Health Religious views Sexuality Patent Artifacts and relics Photographs Black Hawk War text-align:center; Political yPolitical y Spot Resolutions Political career, 1849–1861 Douglas debates Views on slavery text-align:center; 16th President of the United States y16th president of the United States y Presidency Transition Inaugurations first second text-align:center; Tenure yTenure y American Civil War The Union Emancipation Proclamation Ten percent plan 13th Amendment Reconstruction text-align:center; Presidential campaigns yPresidential campaigns y 1860 election convention 1864 election convention text-align:center; Speeches and works ySpeeches and works y Inaugural speeches first second State of the Union 1861 1862 1863 1864 Lyceum Peoria Lost Speech House Divided Cooper Union Farewell address Gettysburg Poetry "The Suicide's Soliloquy" Bixby letter McCullough letter text-align:center; Assassination yAssassination y Baltimore Plot State funeral Tomb Catafalque Flags Hearse Lincoln–Kennedy coincidences text-align:center; Legacy yLegacy y Historical reputation Memorials Depictions Lincoln's Birthday Ghost Bibliography Topical guide The 1862 State of the Union Address was written by the 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, and delivered to the 37th United States Congress, on Monday, December 1, 1862, amid the ongoing American Civil War.Second Annual Message The American Presidency Project March 11, 2024 https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/second-annual-message-9 This address was Lincoln's longest State of the Union Address, consisting of 8,385 words.Length of State of the Union Messages and Addresses in Words Gerhard Peters The American Presidency Project March 11, 2024 https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/presidential-documents-archive-guidebook/annual-messages-congress-the-state-the-union-3 In the closing paragraphs of this address, Lincoln penned words which have been remembered and quoted frequently by presidents and other American political figures. Lincoln's concluding remarks were as follows: The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country. Fellow-citizens, we can not escape history. We of this Congress and this Administration will be remembered in spite of ourselves. No personal significance or insignificance can spare one or another of us. The fiery trial through which we pass will light us down in honor or dishonor to the latest generation. We say we are for the Union. The world will not forget that we say this. We know how to save the Union. The world knows we do know how to save it. We, even we here, hold the power and bear the responsibility. In giving freedom to the slave we assure freedom to the free—honorable alike in what we give and what we preserve. We shall nobly save or meanly lose the last best hope of earth. Other means may succeed; this could not fail. The way is plain, peaceful, generous, just—a way which if followed the world will forever applaud and God must forever bless. Last best hope of Earth Lincoln in this address coined the phrase that the United States is the "last best hope of Earth." This phrase has been echoed by many US presidents: Franklin D. Roosevelt closed his 1939 State of the Union Address by quoting these words from Lincoln.Annual Message to Congress Franklin D. Roosevelt January 4, 1939 The American Presidency Project March 11, 2024 https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/annual-message-congress This generation will 'nobly save or meanly lose the last best hope of earth. . . . The way is plain, peaceful, generous, just-a way which if followed the world will forever applaud and God must forever bless.' Lyndon B. Johnson quoted it in a special message to Congress on equal rights.Special Message to the Congress on Equal Justice Lyndon B. Johnson February 15, 1967 The American Presidency Project March 11, 2024 https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/special-message-the-congress-equal-justice The issue of the struggle was, as Lincoln said, whether 'we shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last, best hope of earth.' Richard Nixon cited this phrase in his acceptance of the nomination at the 1960 Republican National ConventionAddress Accepting the Presidential Nomination at the Republican National Convention in Chicago Richard Nixon July 28, 1960 The American Presidency Project March 11, 2024 https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/address-accepting-the-presidential-nomination-the-republican-national-convention-chicago and again as president in his remarks establishing the Lincoln Home National Historic Site.Remarks on Signing Bill Establishing the Lincoln Home National Historic Site in Springfield, Illinois Richard Nixon August 18, 1971 The American Presidency Project March 11, 2024 https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-signing-bill-establishing-the-lincoln-home-national-historic-site-springfield Lincoln also had a very profound sense of destiny about the United States of America—what it was, what it meant to its own people, and what it meant to the world. We all remember what he said: that the United States of America was man's last, best hope on earth. Gerald Ford quoted these words in his remarks on the United States Bicentennial.Remarks on the Eve of the Bicentennial Year. Gerald Ford December 31, 1975 The American Presidency Project March 11, 2024 https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-the-eve-the-bicentennial-year Behind us lie 200 years of toil and struggle, 200 years of accomplishment and' triumph. We remain, in Lincoln's words, 'the last, best hope of earth.' Jimmy Carter quoted the phrase in a live, televised address on national security.Peace and National Security Address to the Nation on Soviet Combat Troops in Cuba and the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty. Jimmy Carter October 1, 1979 The American Presidency Project March 11, 2024 https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/peace-and-national-security-address-the-nation-soviet-combat-troops-cuba-and-the-strategic At another time of challenge in our Nation's history, President Abraham Lincoln told the American people: 'We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last best hope of earth.' Ronald Reagan was especially fond of this phrase, as he quoted it at least 50 times in various speeches and writings.Results The American Presidency Project March 11, 2024 https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/advanced-search?field-keywords=%22last+best+hope%22&field-keywords2=&field-keywords3=&from%5Bdate%5D=&to%5Bdate%5D=&person2=200296&items_per_page=100 Reagan first quoted it in his 1964 "A Time for Choosing" speech.Address on Behalf of Senator Barry Goldwater: "A Time for Choosing" Ronald Reagan October 27, 1964 The American Presidency Project March 11, 2024 https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/address-behalf-senator-barry-goldwater-time-for-choosing We will preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on Earth, or we will sentence them to take the last step into a thousand years of darkness. He also alluded to it in four of his State of the Union Addresses (1981,Address Before a Joint Session of the Congress on the Program for Economic Recovery Ronald Reagan February 18, 1981 The American Presidency Project March 11, 2024 https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/address-before-joint-session-the-congress-the-program-for-economic-recovery-0 I'm here tonight to reaffirm that pledge and to ask that we share in restoring the promise that is offered to every citizen by this, the last, best hope of man on Earth. 1982,Address Before a Joint Session of the Congress Reporting on the State of the Union Ronald Reagan January 26, 1982 The American Presidency Project March 11, 2024 https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/address-before-joint-session-the-congress-reporting-the-state-the-union-2 ...saying that we met the test and preserved for them in their day the sacred flame of liberty—this last, best hope of man on Earth. 1984,Address Before a Joint Session of the Congress on the State of the Union Ronald Reagan January 25, 1984 The American Presidency Project March 11, 2024 https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/address-before-joint-session-the-congress-the-state-the-union-4 How can we not believe in the greatness of America? How can we not do what is right and needed to preserve this last best hope of man on Earth? and 1987Radio Address to the Nation on the State of the Union Ronald Reagan January 24, 1987 The American Presidency Project March 11, 2024 https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/radio-address-the-nation-the-state-the-union-0 And in President Lincoln's second message, we read of America as 'the last, best hope of Earth.' Freedom, Lincoln stated, is a way that is 'plain, peaceful, generous, just—a way which, if followed, the world will forever applaud, and God must forever bless.') as well as his Second Inaugural Address.Inaugural Address Ronald Reagan January 21, 1985 The American Presidency Project March 11, 2024 https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/inaugural-address-10 ...we are all Americans, pledged to carry on this last, best hope of man on Earth. George H. W. Bush cited the quote in remarks he made to the American Society of Newspaper Editors.Remarks to the American Society of Newspaper Editors George H. W. Bush April 9, 1992 The American Presidency Project March 11, 2024 https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-the-american-society-newspaper-editors It's a mission that can advance our economic and security interests while upholding the primacy of American values, values which, as Lincoln said, are the 'last, best hope of Earth.' Bill Clinton quoted these words in a radio address after the 1994 Northridge earthquake.The President's Radio Address Bill Clinton February 12, 1994 The American Presidency Project March 11, 2024 https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-radio-address-575 George W. Bush alluded to the phrase in a commencement address at Ohio State University.Commencement Address at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio George W. Bush June 14, 2002 The American Presidency Project March 11, 2024 https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/commencement-address-ohio-state-university-columbus-ohio You will show your love and allegiance to the United States, which remains what it has always been, a citadel of freedom, a land of mercy, the last, best hope of man on Earth. Barack Obama also used the phrase frequently in his speeches, such as when he gave remarks commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Thirteenth Amendment.Remarks Commemorating the 150th Anniversary of the 13th Amendment Barack Obama December 9, 2015 The American Presidency Project March 11, 2024 https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-commemorating-the-150th-anniversary-the-13th-amendment Joe Biden quoted these lines during his remarks after the January 6 United States Capitol attack.Remarks to the Nation by President-elect Joe Biden in Wilmington, Delaware Joseph R. Biden January 7, 2021 The American Presidency Project March 11, 2024 https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-the-nation-president-elect-joe-biden-wilmington-delaware Watching the scenes from the Capitol, I was reminded of Abraham Lincoln's words in an annual message to the Congress whose work has today been interrupted by chaos. President Lincoln said: 'We shall nobly save or meanly lose, the last best hope of earth....' References Abraham Lincoln's Second State of the Union Address 1862 State of the Union Address 1861 State of the Union Address 1863 State of the Union Address State of the Union addresses 1 1862 Category:Speeches by Abraham Lincoln Category:Presidency of Abraham Lincoln Category:37th United States Congress State of the Union Address State of the Union Address State of the Union Address State of the Union Address Category:Politics of the American Civil War Category:December 1862 in the United States Category:1860s State of the Union addresses Category:1862 works