 A group of us got together and we marched up to the White House to serenade the president. As we were singing, he came out on the balcony and we shouted, speech, speech. There was no one better at speechifying than Abe Lincoln, and we expected something very special this evening. After all, he was the man who had led us through this terrible time. But old Abe, he hated to speak off the cuff.