Today, I am thankful for those who eloquently use their words, along with their actions, to sway opinion.
An old adage notes that actions speak louder than words. For the most part, I believe those who espouse to this belief are correct. I have sat through too many meetings in my life where I’ve witnessed colleagues ‘talk the good talk’ but seem to be inconspicuously absent when the time arrives to ‘walk the walk.’ In other words, their majestic words in a meeting in support of a righteous cause are routinely followed by inactivity. On occasion, I’ve even met those shy, soft-spoken individuals who quietly lead the way, diligently working on their programs behind the scenes, but from whom ardent words of support or enthusiasm are often lacking. The ability to have both the willingness to act and courage to speak is a rare combination.
Throughout American history, we can point to stalwarts who galvanized the country in support of their cause, not just by their actions, but also by their words. One can easily point to a simple pastor of humble upbringing, Martin Luther King Jr., who was willing not only to undergo peaceful protest in support of equality of civil rights, but who also possessed a silver tongue that could rally those to his cause. His famous I Have a Dream speech in the summer of 1963 at the foot of the Lincoln Monument garnered worldwide attention in support of the plight of those persecuted by the ‘Jim Crow’ laws intended solely to segregate races in our country. As King would later admit, he drew inspiration that day from Lincoln, whose large statuesque presence at his back and his Emancipation Proclamation issued exactly 100 years prior to his speech, urged him on in his pursuit for an integrated society.
I find it interesting that MLK evoked the memory of the 16th President of the United States. Indeed, Abraham Lincoln was someone who matched his actions to his words. As the President of a nation during the most trying times of the Civil War, Lincoln assiduously toiled day in and out, supporting his generals and the troops in their valiant fight against secession. Despite his awkward appearance and even soft-spoken manner, Lincoln possessed an uncanny ability to articulate his point with both ardor and compassion. His famous Gettysburg Address, delivered at the commemoration of the cemetery four months after the famous battle in the summer of1863, contains those famous opening six words that almost every school child can recite from memory.
Many have wondered how Lincoln, an uneducated ‘rail splitter’ from the ‘backwater’ state of Illinois, could motivate and electrify a nation onwards, despite its heavy losses. Well, the answer is simple. He drew inspiration from someone who Lincoln considered to be the most prolific orator and statesman of his time – Daniel Webster.
Much like Lincoln, Daniel Webster was born a poor child on a farm in New Hampshire. Educated at Dartmouth College, the ‘backwater’ Webster would grow to become a prominent lawyer in Massachusetts and eventually one of the most revered politicians of the first half of the 19th Century. Having served as a US Representative, Senator, and Secretary of State to several administrations, Webster was the consummate statesman whose actions spoke loud and clear. However, what separated Webster from all his peers was his uncanny ability to express his views in a clear, forthright, and fervent manner. So eloquent were his words that he often was called to the US Supreme Court to argue cases in support of federalist viewpoints, such as those in support of a national bank, interstate commerce, and corporate law (ironically enough in defense of his alma mater, Dartmouth College). If there was a monument to be consecrated or an event to be glorified (as was the case of the 200th Landing at Plymouth Rock in 1820, the 50th Anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill in 1825, or the simultaneous funerals of Thomas Jefferson and John Adams in 1826), Webster was usually the one called to deliver the oration. However, it was his fiery debates within the United States Capitol that often gathered the public from afar to hear his arguments. In his famous argument in support of the US Constitution against the desire of the state of South Carolina to nullify certain provisions at the state level, Webster eloquently spoke words that would resonate during the Civil War: “This absurdity (for it seems no less) arises from a misconception as to the origin of this government and its true character. It is, Sir, the people's Constitution, the people's government, made for the people, made by the people, and answerable to the people… Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable!”
When Webster died on this day (Oct 24) in 1852, Lincoln would commemorate the stalwart from New Hampshire by acknowledging that his 1830 oration on the US Senate floor was the greatest speech in the history of America. So much so did Lincoln admire the speech that when he came to penning the last sentence of the Gettysburg Address, he did not look far beyond the 1830 Webster speech to make his closing point:
“It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation shall have a new birth of freedom and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."
So, the next time someone says to you in a meeting that ‘actions speak louder than words’, it might help to agree. However, I would encourage you to remind them that what you say matters, but how you say is also important.
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