The recent tragedy at Fort Hood prompted President Obama to modify previously scheduled comments to a Native American group in order to comment on the horrific shootings (http://tinyurl.com/yjg4pyz).  The President’s comments demonstrate both the opportunities and the pitfalls of this sort of leadership speech, and bear comparison to President Reagan’s much-quoted speech on the Challenger disaster of January 28, 1986 (http://tinyurl.com/yzsv4dl), not to mention Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address and Pericles’ funeral oration on the death of Greek soldiers during the first year of the Peloponnesian War. 

We expect leaders to speak on tragic occasions like this one.  Their comments should comfort us and let us know that the deaths of the fallen have not gone unnoticed.  There are certain demands of the genre and the occasion; it is the job of the leader to say something about the larger significance of the cause upon which the fallen were engaged.  The leader should further address some specific audiences: the relatives of the dead, who have special reason to mourn, and perhaps other groups who are particularly affected. 

Primarily, we look to the leader to give us some sense of continuity, reassuring us that the cause, and life, will go on.  In the presence of death, then, we look to our leaders to help us find resilience and endurance – to re-orient us toward life. 

How did President Obama’s comments compare to the great examples of the genre provided by presidents Reagan and Lincoln, as well as the Ancient Greeks?

Not well, unfortunately.  Reagan canceled his State of the Union address to speak solely about the Challenger disaster.  Obama squeezed his comments in the end of a speech on other matters.  The choice of the latter to continue with his other business diminishes the sense of occasion. 

Reagan’s eulogy is a brief masterpiece; Lincoln’s an even briefer, even more magnificent piece of prose.  Both earlier presidents’ speeches acknowledge the role of the fallen in the larger cause.  Both speeches point the way forward, making the argument that the dead have not died in vain because the cause goes on.  And both speeches help their audiences rededicate themselves to the larger purpose involved, whether it is the exploration of space, or the creation of a more perfect union.  In this re-dedication, the two speeches echo Pericles’ oration, which argues passionately for his listeners’ continued allegiance to the city-state Athens and its role in the world as a beacon of freedom. 

Obama’s speech, on the other hand, is primarily tactical.  He talks about getting to the bottom of the mystery of the shooting, and the involvement of various governmental bodies in that pursuit.  He does note that the soldiers who died are heroes in service to their country, but the comment is brief and perfunctory and does nothing to specify either the particular mission of the soldiers in question or particular groups affected beyond the obvious, the families of the fallen.

His delivery is flat and distracted, as if his attention was split between the audience in front of him and the events at Fort Hood.  Reagan, on the other hand, is completely focused, evincing sympathy, compassion, and comfort in equal measure, his eyebrows drawn together, his head tipped slightly to one side, and his voice full of concern. 

Reagan’s speech mentions the fallen astronauts by name.  He addresses the families of the dead directly, and takes time further to speak to the schoolchildren who were watching the Challenger flight because a teacher was on board.  And he makes an eloquent case that space exploration will go on:

I’ve always had great faith in and respect for our space program, and what happened today does nothing to diminish it.  We don’t hide our space program.  We don’t keep secrets and cover things up.  We do it all up front and in public.  That’s the way freedom is, and we wouldn’t change it for a minute.  We’ll continue our quest in space.  There will be more shuttle flights and more shuttle crews, and yes, more volunteers, more civilians, more teachers in space.  Nothing ends here; our hopes and our journeys continue. 

Similarly, Lincoln makes the case that Gettysburg’s fallen have not died in vain because the living will take up their cause and soldier on:

The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated (this ground), far above our poor power to add or detract.  The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.  It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.  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, under God, 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. 

In times of great mourning, we look to our leaders to find the meaning that allows us to go on.  President Obama should call upon all his eloquence and help the families of Fort Hood – and the nation – deal with this most recent tragedy with words and demeanor more suited to the occasion.