Books on The Birthday Boy - Abraham Lincoln

Happy Birthday Abe!
Given that everyone has to make a comment today on the 200th birthday of the great inspirational leader and motivational speaker (who was also extremely humorous), I thought I should get in on the act and show what a well read chap I am!!

I’ve written quite a few book reviews related to this great motivational, inspirational speaker and writer. Below are reviews on:
- The Gettysburg Gospel: The Lincoln Speech that Nobody Knows
-Team of Rivals
- Lincoln at Gettysburg: The Words that Remade America

These and other reviews can be read at Book Reviews on my website.

THE GETTYSBURG GOSPEL: THE LINCOLN SPEECH THAT NOBODY KNOWS
Author: Gabor Boritt

It truly is amazing that so many words and books can be written about a speech that is but 272 words long. Gabor Boritt's book is an enjoyable and easy read on Lincoln's most famous speech. Much of the book deals with the immediate aftermath of the terrible Gettysburg battle with the author painting a vivid picture of the terrible scene which must have greeted the eye on July 4th. It is interesting that the famous address did not get immediate general approval. Boritt shows that the great leader’s speech was almost forgotten until the 1880's. As with most Lincoln supporters, the author attempts to show that the speech was not written on the train to Gettysburg and that Lincoln gave the speech considerable thought. The truth is no one knows, but a good argument can be made for the proposition that Lincoln must have given it little thought prior to the event.

Who in their right mind is going to travel from Washington to Gettysburg and DECIDE to present an address of only 272 words? The words came from the heart and from years of experience and empathy. Just as Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech was somewhat spontaneous (although a very similar speech was presented at Cobo Hall, Detroit some weeks previously), there is strong circumstantial evidence that Lincoln put this speech together at short notice.

I have no idea why the book is sub-titled "The Lincoln Speech that Nobody Knows," but Boritt does provide a number of slightly different versions of the speech in the appendix. Most of the differences are minor to put it mildly. The author's description of how the speech initially got little response but grew to be appreciated over time to be a work of genius is well developed. Paradoxically, the most enjoyable section of the book is the full text of Edward Everett's speech which I read fully for the first time. You can appreciate why Everett was seen as a great orator because of his ability to paint pictures with words although his two hour address can hardly be described as uplifting. Almost all of the speech was taken up with a chronological history of the events at Gettysburg (spoken from memory) and the aging orator failed to properly commend and eulogize the thousands who had given their life on the adjacent battlefield.

Paradoxically, the most enjoyable section of the book is the full text of Edward Everett's speech which I read fully for the first time. You can appreciate why Everett was seen as a great orator because of his ability to paint pictures with words although his two hour address can hardly be described as uplifting. Almost all of the speech was taken up with a chronological history of the events at Gettysburg (spoken from memory) and the aging orator failed to properly commend and eulogize the thousands who had given their life on the adjacent battlefield.

Everett did appreciate that his speech did not match Lincoln's eloquence. He wrote the President, "I should be glad if I could flatter myself that I came as near to the central idea of the occasion, in two hours, as you did in two minutes."

The book has copious appendices, bibliography, notes which provide a rich resource for serious students of Lincoln and Gettysburg. Overall, an enjoyable not too studious read on the topic.
MENTIONS
Ward Hill Lamon, Gettysburg, Abraham Lincoln, Robert Lincoln, The Perfect Tribute, Garry Wills, Mary Lincoln, David Wills, Andrew Curtin, James B. Fry, William Saunders, John Nicolay, John Hay, Salmon Chase, Edwin Stanton, William H. Seward, Edward Everett, Seminary Ridge, Round Top, James C Conkling, Frederick Douglass
_____________
TEAM OF RIVALS
The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln

Author: Doris Kearns Goodwin

The book’s premise is that Abraham Lincoln was not just a great President but one who also had the motivational ability to create a highly effective team comprised of many of his rivals. These were men who had hoped to become President. Instead, they took a subservient role to a President whom Goodwin writes about in hagiographic terms.

The team of rivals consisted of one time Republican presidential candidates William H. Seward, Secretary of State, Salmon P. Chase, Treasury Secretary, and Edward Bates Attorney General. The other major player in this detailed work is Edwin M. Stanton, War Secretary.

This is a very good read although the author is stretched at times to continually bring the overall premise together. The opening section of the book paints individual pictures of the major players, which I did not find particularly interesting. This I think is partly because some of the characters – Chase and Bates, at least to this reader are just not compelling in their own right. Thus it takes quite some time for the book to grasp this reader’s attention.

Although peripheral to the main story, the hardships of live during the first half of the 19th century are very obvious. Chase lost three wives and two daughters before he was forty four, while Stanton between 1841 and 1846 lost his wife, a daughter and his only brother.

Another fascinating and heart rending aspect portrayed is how the Civil War tore families apart. Four of Mary Lincoln’s siblings and three brothers-in-law fought on behalf of the Confederacy, while Chase’s son also too up arms for the seceding states.
Team of Rivals is basically a biography of Lincoln with a different twist. It is not as detailed as other works – especially in relation to some Civil War episodes, because the author tries to paint pictures of so many characters. Her portrait of Lincoln to some extent lacks objectivity. Every Lincoln weakness or vacillation has a logic or rationale.

Lincoln undoubtedly was underestimated by rivals and media. One Democratic newspaper referred to him as “a third rate Western lawyer … a fourth rate lecturer, who cannot speak good grammar.” As a lawyer and in his early presidential years, the term “inspirational” does not come to mind. To some extent, his behavior did warrant this lack of respect.

His lack of authority over his generals in the early stages of the war must have been disturbing for his cabinet. General McClellan treated him with a disdain and discourtesy that was mind boggling. Had Lincoln been more forceful with Generals Meade and McClellan, it is entirely conceivable the war would have ended much earlier. Kearns (and other writers) has tried to paint Lincoln as an accommodating, understanding head of state. It is probably more accurate to suggest as Martin Luther King did that he was at some stages a “vacillating” president. Much has been written about Lincoln’s leadership, but I think, the student of leadership can learn as much from what Lincoln did poorly as he did well.

Lincoln “grew” into the Presidency, winning over doubters and opponents slowly but surely with his down to earth, homely style. He most definitely has won over the author who paints Lincoln in very favorable terms no matter what the occasion. There is a tendency for the reader to become seduced by the portrait. Lincoln becomes more and more likeable, more and more presidential as the book develops. Ultimately, the reader does appreciate what a dreadful tragedy the death of this president was for the nation and almost certainly for what had been the confederate states. Although, no one can say for certain, it does seem likely that the assassinated president would have been able to salve much of the bitterness and hatred that followed the cessation of violence.
______________
LINCOLN AT GETTYSBURG – THE WORDS THAT REMADE AMERICA

Author: Gary Wills

This is one scholarly work. It is also a work that takes slow careful reading. The author devotes more than one page to each of the two hundred and seventy two words in the famous Gettysburg address.

Wills suggests that Lincoln was heavily influenced by the oratorical skills of the Greeks and also Transcendentalists – a nineteenth century philosophical movement much advocated by Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau and other luminaries.

One fascinating aspect of the Gettysburg address is how brief it was. Lincoln was not the featured speaker at the event, indeed by some accounts he was invited as an afterthought. This may well be one of the reasons why his speech was so brief, particularly as short speeches were not the norm. In 1858, Lincoln and Stephen Douglas engaged in three hour debates, while Edward Everett delivered a two hour oration prior to Lincoln’s Gettysburg address. While the three minute address was out of character for the period or indeed any period, the speech proves the point “that less is often more.”

The book should be of particular interest to the Lincoln scholar, but beware, it is a tough book to get through, simply because it is such a detailed, intense work.

One of the many interesting elements in the book is the full reproduction of Everett’s speech. Everett was lauded as the finest speaker of his generation, but to be honest, I found his speech to be tedious, lacking in passion and being primarily a chronology of the events at Gettysburg. Everett wrote to Lincoln following their respective addresses, "I should be glad if I could flatter myself that I came as near the central idea of the occasion, in two hours, as you did in two minutes." How right he was.

_____________________________
_____________________________
Conor Cunneen is a Chicago based Irish keynote speaker – motivational, humorous, inspirational - on topics as diverse as BEAT the RECESSION, Foodservice, Cancer (a two time survivor), Business Growth and Presentation Skills, who likes to repeat keywords such as motivational, humorous, inspirational, Irish, Chicago based, Motivational Humorist in an ongoing effort to garner search engine attention and BEAT the RECESSION.

His Brand Promise is:E4 - Energize, Educate, Entertain AND Easy to work with.

Clients agree:
“In my close to thirty years of association work, I have never seen a speaker as well received as you.” Incentive Marketing Association

“Working with Conor Cunneen has been a pleasure both for our company and our clients. Conor is a great speaker who obviously knows the importance of a good and well planned speech according to the wishes of our clients.” SpeakersForum, Finland.

Obama Grows into Presidency - FAST

We will BEAT this recession. I believe it and Barack Obama is trying to get America to believe it also. The man has probably had the toughest immediate baptism of fire of any President since Lincoln. He is learning fast and it has to be said his obvious knowledge of so many factors - economic, political, military is quite impressive.

His public performances in the past two days show he has got comfortable with the office very fast. Most people accept he is an inspirational, motivational speaker but some might have questioned whether there was steel there. His first press conference dispelled any worries on that front.

The President explained very clearly and cogently just how much trouble the economy is in. That he was able to recount anecdotes from his visit to Elkhart, Indiana was fortunate for him but also effective. Indeed his visit to the unemployment capital of the United States provided him with a lot of credibility and goodwill. But his overall performance was powerful. He was stately and truly presidential. His command of the speech process is uncanny, something that is not necessarily true when he is involved in Q&A sessions where he hesitates, thinks, pauses a lot before he comes out often with pretty vacuous answers.

He overcame this flaw at last night’s conference by answering many questions with almost mini-speeches. He was also feisty, consistently criticizing the previous administration for the huge debt racked up - "It's a little hard for me to take criticism from folks about this recovery package after they presided over a doubling of the national debt." Whether this was accurate or not is questionable as the Dems have controlled the House for the past few years, but hey! as most inspirational motivational speakers know there is nothing wrong with a little bit of hyperbole.

Footnote I: Things must REALLY be serious when 37 million people watched Obama’s press conference last night. That is 7 million more than watched American Idol debut in January.

Footnote II : The foot in mouth award of the week must go to Texas Rep. Pete Sessions who suggested the 2010 GOP strategy should be comparable to that of the Taliban – one of insurgency. The irony is that his statement has some validity. You should learn from effective operational strategy in any environment and unfortunately the Taliban are murderously effective. But you’d think Sessions – a six term representative – would have had more political moxy. The Democrats should send him a case of his favorite beverage for providing such a juicy political morsel. Of course I would never suggest that either parties ability to mangle the truth for their own benefit is Taliban-like. That would just be too cynical.

And remember:
WE WILL BEAT THIS RECESSION - But we MUST work Harder. We MUST work Smarter.

*************************************************************************************
Conor Cunneen is a Chicago based Irish keynote speaker – motivational, humorous, inspirational - on topics as diverse as BEAT the RECESSION, Foodservice, Cancer (a two time survivor), Business Growth and Presentation Skills, who likes to repeat keywords such as motivational, humorous, inspirational, Irish, Chicago based, Motivational Humorist in an ongoing effort to garner search engine attention and BEAT the RECESSION.

His Brand Promise is:
E4 - Energize, Educate, Entertain AND Easy to work with.

Just signed up for Ping.fm which posts to all social sites simultaneously. This is a test

The Creep Who Outed Michael Phelps

Stand up you brave upstanding citizen.
Stand up and tell us who you are, so we can laud you for bringing to our notice the horrible crime that Michael Phelps has committed.
Stand up and show us what a wonderful law-abiding citizen you are.
Stand up - in order that the many companies who are so ethically challenged can hire you immediately to bring honesty, openness, good character, genuine friendship (‘I’m doing this for your own good,’) to the great unwashed.
Yes please stand up so America and the world can salute you.
Stand up and explain to Michael Phelps why you are happy that Kellog’s have pulled their multi-million dollar sponsorship.

Somehow or another I don’t think you will, but I hope you are proud of yourself, because you are probably the only one in the world that is.

Michael Phelps commented that it was “obviously bad judgment.” It was bad judgment. It was bad judgment smoking pot in such an open location, bad judgment in his choice of “friends” and to be honest bad judgment in smoking pot in the first place. But to that age group, pot smoking is the equivalent of driving 12 miles over the speed limit on the highway. The only problem occurs when you get caught.

As an inspirational, motivational, humorous keynote business speaker, I am impressed by inspirational, motivational personalities even if they are not Irish keynote speakers! Phelps is only 23 years old, a kid who has worked incredibly hard to become a genuine success based on phenomenal ability. To the surprise of the media, the man is human. His DUI offence after his first great Olympics was a much more egregious and potentially dangerous offence, but he is a powerful study in having a vision, working incredibly hard to achieve it and then making it happen. We can all learn from him.

Kudos to the major sponsors who are sticking by Phelps. This is a not a knock on Kellogg’s who market aggressively to kids and probably had to drop the gold medal star.

But I’d still like for that upstanding law abiding citizen who outed Phelps to make himself known so he can get the kudos he or she deserves.

Ticketmaster: Held Up Without A Gun

The Bruce Springsteen song title Held up without a gun just about represents the awful, pathetic brand experience from ticketmaster (I wouldn't bother with a capital 'T') when selling tickets to the great rocker's concerts.

When it comes to screwing every last cent out of valued customers, ticketmaster must be top of the heap. The company's ludicrous service and billing charges have long been a bane to ticket buyers but the way the company handled Bruce Springsteen ticket sales this week is appalling.

What is even more appalling is consumers really do not have a choice when purchasing tickets.

Springsteen Chicago tickets went on sale at 10.00am Monday morning. I hit buy tickets at 10.00 on the button and get ‘processing order – one minute’ which goes to ‘three minutes’ to ‘four minutes.’ At about 10.05, ON the ticketmaster website I am offered scalped tickets by a tickmaster subsidiary TicketsNow which claims hands off relationship with ticketmaster. The site claims “Tickets listed on TicketsNow come from licensed brokers, as well as individual sellers.”

I am sure this is correct, but what kind of system provides hundreds of higher priced tickets – purchased supposedly on a hands off basis – within such a short period of time?

TicketsNow was offering hundreds of tickets within five minutes and as I write this today, it has 1,411 tickets for sale for the Chicago concert alone. That is about 7% of the United Center capacity. If you are really interested in seeing The Boss, you can buy 8 good tickets for $6,756 at this site. The good news is that this is the total price as the figure includes a service charge of $108.45 PER ticket. Service charge! $108.45! PER TICKET! The bad news is those tickets were originally listed at $95 on the ticketmaster website.

I do believe TicketsNow is technically operating on a ‘hands off’ basis. ClickitNow, another online scalper had over 800 tickets for sale by 10.30 Monday morning. Where do these companies get these tickets so fast?

In one sense it is a tribute to the entrepreneurial culture that this country so badly needs right now. The profit margins in this business are enormous and the investment in time and infrastructure is well worth the effort. I can even appreciate why ticketmaster wonders why it loses out on the increased premium, but its system stinks. When it comes to awful, bad taste in the mouth brand experience ticketmaster is top of the dung heap.

And the great news is the next time I want to purchase tickets for Springsteen who provides an astonishing BRAND EXPERIENCE, I have to go to ticketmaster.

Even a humorous, inspirational, motivational, business, keynote speaker like me has difficulty in finding a bright spot in that.

Enough of the wailing! As The Boss might sing, It’s hard to be a Saint in the City but we were Born to Run, so I’m Waitin’ on a Sunny Day to get my Springsteen tickets.

In the meantime, I’m going to beat the living daylights out of the recession, work harder, work smarter and fulfill my BRAND PROMISE of E4: Energize, Educate, Entertain AND Easy to work with. Phone me today at 630 718 1643 if you are looking for a speaker to ROCK your next event.

Have a Top o’ the Morning day.

Beat the Recession

Doom and gloom, doom and gloom! No matter where you look, the news seems to be getting worse. “Not bad” is now being termed the “new good.” Yesterday’s 38% decline in auto sales could not even be referred as the “new good.” They were absolutely frightening and with Chrysler’s 55% decline in sales, there must be serious concern that this historic company can survive the recession. As I write this, Costco has issued a warning for this quarter due to a poor January.

So what are you doing to beat the recession? As a keynote speaker (humorous, business growth, foodservice, marketing, cancer, healthcare) I’m in the same boat as everyone else. I’ve had leadership and strategy events cancelled and potential clients say ‘We’re slashing budgets everywhere.’ One thing is certain, doing the same thing, in the same way, to the same target market is not going to get me the same good results I was getting.

A few tips to beat the recession

1) Work Harder
Outgoing Wal-Mart CEO Leo Scott was interviewed recently on CNBC. The comment that really resonated with me was “I’m at my desk at six every morning reviewing yesterday’s figures.” If the chief exec of the world’s largest retailer is at his desk at six, why not you? ‘Why not me?’ I said. In the current environment you HAVE to work harder to get the same results. I am working harder and I am working longer hours than previous including commencing this blog before six this morning. That is one reason why I’m going to beat the recession.

2) Work Smarter
‘Hey, as a motivational humorous speaker on business, you’re not giving me a lot of new ideas,’ I hear you saying. ‘Work smarter’ is a simple concept. DOING IT is not simple. ‘Work smarter’ will help you beat the recession. I have ramped up a number of my activities including:
Better lead follow-up. I recently purchased a new ACT! Software program which is a pain in the butt to work with, but it definitely has improved my productivity with alerts popping up regularly reminding me to contact clients.
Continuous website development. As an Irish motivational humorist – Chicago based, who relies a lot on search engines for business development, I am adding a lot of content to my website with some over the top hyperbolic commentary related to my keywords. I have added more new content this month than any other comparable period – not just blog pages but Mark Twain speeches (the finest most inspirational humorous keynote speaker ever), Great Speeches and State of the Union addresses. All these pages include relevant commentary about the Chicago based Irish humorous keynote business speaker on topics as diverse as cancer, foodservice, business growth, beat the recession etc.

3) Network, Network, Network.
I attend every single cat and dog show that has any relevance to my business. I’ve signed up for more breakfasts, more luncheons than are good for my health. I am particularly interested in business associations which have regular networking meetings.

The more networking you do, the more networking works!

It is difficult to make a solid impression on anyone after one short introduction at a business meeting. However if you see that person again next week and the week after, you are on the way to creating a genuine business connection. Make sure you follow up on every business card you receive. You do not know always know who can make a difference to your business. So keep hammering away! I had a potential client contact me two weeks ago whose name seemed vaguely familiar. I had contacted him and sent a copy of my book Why Ireland Never Invaded America THREE years ago. That’s a long lead time that I don’t want to repeat too often, but the initial contact came about via networking.

Go to it – Beat the recession.

Let’s get more energetic here.

Go to it – Beat the crap out of the recession!