I heard James Garfield Stewart give a lecture one day,
He held a group of women spellbound with what he had to say.
He was asked to compare the lives of Washington and Lincoln, he did it beautifully,
Just like George and Abe were old friends that he’d known personally.
Remember, he was talking to women, and this proves he is very wise –
He gave much of the credit for their success to their very charming wives
He said, the only way he could think of that these two men were alike,
Was that they were both very tall, measuring over six feet in height.
Outside of that they were as different as two men could ever be,
In dress, in social position, and in personality.
That Washington was a flashy dresser, fiery tempered, and ugly when he was crossed,
He knew what he wanted, demanded it, and did not like to be bossed.
While Lincoln was slouchy in dress, backward, willing to let others be the judge –
You could insult him, deny him, defy him and he never held a grudge.
Mr. Stewart mixed humor with his talk in a very clever way,
Saying: “Martha Washington was beautiful (though buxom) but that was no disgrace in her day.
That when Lincoln was asked how many D’s there were in Todd,
He replied, “Oh, there had to be two for that family, but one was enough for God. “
When President Lincoln reprimanded one of his generals, demanding a daily report,
On what the army was doing, he received this sarcastic retort:
“Honorable President Lincoln, kindly instruct the army what to do, as they have captured two cows” –
Lincoln answered in two words, “Milk them” and he enclosed directions how,
Mayor Stewart added a bit of political humor that got a laugh from the women there,
Showing he thought the present administration was sadly in need of repair
He said, “It seemed whenever the country needed them most, God sent a Lincoln or Washington around our way
Ami II he would only see our need now and please send us someone today.
But the thing that impressed me most was how quickly he changed my mind
About Mary Todd (Lincoln’s wife) who I always thought was unkind.
That she sorta pushed poor Lincoln around, and led him a merry chase –
I even thought she was to blame for that sad expression on his face.
But Mr. Stewart proved Lincoln needed that pushing; if he hadn’t gone her way,
He would never have been the great President we are honoring today.
That Mary Todd knew Abraham Lincoln better than he knew himself –
So she forced him into what she knew he could do, and she helped him do it herself.
You know it worried me just a little when I heard one woman say:
“I wonder if I could make a President out of my husband if I pushed him around that way?”
But for my biased opinion of Mary Todd, I felt a pang of shame –
And I thought how often in this old world, the wrong one gets the blame.
I’m sure I was not the only woman there who had a change of heart.
For Lincoln’s wife, who in his life played a very important part.
So I take my hat off to James Garfield Stewart, he’s tops wherever he goes –
And from now on I’ll thank God for Mary Todd, whom he changed from a thorn to a rose.
