The Gettysburg Address with Sam Waterston and Martin Sheen

[@DiNap44]

I still get choked up hearing Sam Waterston give that speech. Thank you Chris for sharing this special moment.

[@VloggingThroughHistory]

We all did. Martin Sheen had tears in his eyes. It was awesome.

[@Nancypautz-xf8ms]

My husband, 16 yr old granddaughter and I were privileged to attend the sunday show with Martin Sheen and Sam Waterston during the Gettysburg Film Festival. We left our home at 4am to get there. Words cannot express the wonderful time we had. When Sam Waterston was reading the Gettysburg Address, I had closed my eyes and I was hearing Lincoln. Very emotional and will remember it always.

[@VloggingThroughHistory]

So glad you were able to come. It was such a fantastic weekend.

[@JohnReedy07163]

This was absolutely incredible. That story about Waterson being at the Library of Congress is very special

[@gabbi111969]

I was kind of shocked when some people were laughing about the story of the contents of his pockets. I don't think they understood the gravity of it. I could tell how much it meant by his expression while telling it. I would have been honored to have shared that experience.

[@andysorensen1737]

Thanks Martin for the idea. Thanks Chris for bringing us along. And thanks Sam for your great rendition.

[@melamusing]

The Martin Sheen jacket flip (2:30)! I'm fangirling....

[@ordinarypeople20]

I was watching this and quickly got my wife to watch him, too. I had heard Sheen always had to put his coats on that way, so I was hoping we would see him do it "live" so to speak. And he did!

[@BOB_EDC]

Man I'm jealous. Martin is my favorite actor

[@VloggingThroughHistory]

Always loved his acting but now I love the man as well. He's legitimately one of the nicest, most genuine people I've ever met. Sam Waterston and Ken Burns were awesome too.

[@katiestanfield8794]

Mine too!

[@MbSaidSo]

You've done it again, Chris. Watching the legendary Sam Waterson give that speech, so reverently, in that place, moved me to tears. Thank you for sharing your good fortune with us.

[@colleen3749]

What a wonderful moment. How could anyone not be moved when hearing those beautiful words. What a powerhouse of a speach packed into 2 minutes.

[@kathleendaugherty4218]

Wow, Sam Waterston is a favorite actor of mine and to hear him read that speech gives me goosebumps. His voice inflections are such that, it is as if you are listening to Lincoln himself!

[@emilygardner4829]

That was incredible! I love the respect and admiration for history that Sam showed when reading the speech and talking about his experience at the LOC. Thanks, Chris!

[@robrosier9797]

Wow. I'm an Aussie, but that was moving. Sam was emotional during that and I felt it as well. Mind you, he had an amazing 272 words to work with. There wouldn't be an author or speech writer anywhere that could make 272 words mean more than those of "The Gettysburg Address"

[@tfd829]

Some of the finest words ever spoken in the English language. And Waterston's reading gave me goosebumps. Thank you so much for sharing this.

[@alexamerling79]

Amazing rendition! Love Sam and Martin! Martin was great in Gettysburg!

[@smudge4481]

This might be one of the best VTH videos of all time. Truly loved hearing Sam recite the speech and tell his story in the library of congress

[@glory2christcmj702]

My grandmother and grandfather and a great uncle of mine are buried at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in San Diego, CA, and when you drive in through the entrance gates, there is a memorial with a large plaque, and on the plaque the entirety of the Gettysburg Address is engraved. One day, I stopped and took the time to read all of it, and I am convinced the Gettysburg Address is the most excellent speech ever produced and spoken in the history of the United States. Every time I read it or hear it, it never fails to stir my emotions.

[@roberthurley1685]

Outstanding. This was really nicely done, sir. Thanks for sharing. The Vidal book and mini-series were better than they could have been. I loved seeing Martin Sheen do the bit with his jacket that he did on West Wing.

[@VloggingThroughHistory]

Haha yeah I only noticed that when I was editing the video.

[@ordinarypeople20]

Apparently due to some physical problem he has to put his coats on that way...not just for his character Barlet....

[@anastasiabeaverhausen.]

Love you both! Thank you from a Veteran 🙏🏼

[@ldg1030]

I got goosebumps. Thank you Chris for sharing.

[@burtreynolds8030]

I really enjoyed how interested mr waterson was with the whole process, when a few people were discussing a debate (about where the stage was) he asks, “debate about what?”, and his face had genuine curiosity. It’s one thing to see some famous person give some speech he’s being told to give, but it is a lovely thing to see someone give a speech about something they are truly invested in

[@helios24601]

When I saw Martin Sheen put on the jacket at 2:34 President Bartlet-style (even though I know that's just how he does it because of a bad shoulder I think) I freaked out a little in a moment of absolute and unashamed faboying.

[@indycarcomplainer2304]

Me too! I saw him hold out the jacket and I was like: “He’s gonna do the thing!” 😀

[@melamusing]

I just posted the same reaction automatically without checking if anybody else already pointed it out.

[@AmericanHistoryCollector]

So powerful Chris. Thank you for sharing this.

[@Dench999or911]

Wow, what an experience that is! Both great actors and Ken Burns to boot!

[@wildfire_writer]

Why is his voice so nice to listen to? 10/10

[@joshbakowski9721]

Just awesome. Ive been to Gettysburg countless times, its like a home away from home. And this is just awesome to see, Thank you for sharing!

[@dbach1025]

That was fantastic. Two great actors and humanitarians. What an experience. No better person to read that great speech. Great job, Chris.

[@b-8437]

Apocalypse Now is one of my favorite movies. Always a fan of Mr. Sheen

[@GettysburgLentz]

Thank you so much for this video. We are privileged that you were able to capture this moment for posterity. The reverence that Sam Waterston has for those powerful words is evident in his delivery. Such a special, and powerful moment.

[@vickistevens423]

What an incredibly special moment. Sam Waterston's reading of the Gettysburg Address had me teary-eyed. Thank you for sharing this with us.

[@ronlinfonte2651]

Maybe one of the best vids you’ve done! Had chills listening to Sam Waterston give the speech! Thank you !

[@adamcohen233]

What a special day with a wonderful group of people. It's astounding how the emotions of that hallowed ground are so strong after all of these years. Thank you for your devotion in keeping our history alive.

[@Skittlz444]

Not American, don't have the patriotic attachment to the Gettysburg Address that some here definitely do, but that story about Sam's experience in the Library of Congress is something incredible and moving. The whole speech is moving for what it did for a large portion of the planet, not just America. So glad you could share this with us.

[@Brooks_M3]

Brought a tear to my eye. Absolutely beautiful and so well timed.

[@jedijessic]

Loved this, I'm jealous. Enjoyed watching both these men on TV and to see them here was a kick.

[@chrisdunn2709]

Chris you have shared a particularly poignant moment and is a memory I will treasure. Thanks to all who participated.

[@EstellaBeard]

Chris, I must admit that this was very moving! It had me crying like a baby! How Beautiful! What an honor for you to share in such a lovely moment of time! Thank you so much for sharing it with all of us!

[@VloggingThroughHistory]

We were all pretty emotional. Such a privilege to be there for that.

[@johnmiwa6256]

That was awesome. What an achievement to be one of the few who was invited. Sam Waterston read the speech slower and with more emotion than he did in the Ken Burns documentary. But he still put the emphasis on "people" instead of "of", "by", and "for", which is what most speakers do. The last time I heard of the controversy over where Lincoln actually stood, it was in the book Lincoln At Gettysburg. I wonder which site they used for this event. The West Wing episode "The Stormy Present" ends with President Bartlet, played by Martin Sheen, reading a note from a prior president that reads "Go see Lincoln and listen".

[@kieranfrancke790]

If you told me this yesterday at the meet and greet i would’ve been crying like I am now. Look Daniel Doubleday played Lincoln excellently but Sam is the one to speak this first he was first he’s played Lincoln more then Daniel has (he narrated him to twice!) this was his day. Hats off the Marty sheen that was an excellent idea! Glad I was able to watch this!

[@seanmckelvie3360]

Wow, really cool to see Sheen there. Great video!

[@Ryan-ri1zg]

I was just there in Gettysburg two days ago on a college trip for our History Club . It was very nice.

[@2104dogface]

Walking both of the cemeteries is a must when visiting Gburg, this is great that they did this and that you got to take part in it thankfully the siren stopped. always fun listening to there stories about getting ready to play there roles.

[@redwallace4575]

Thanks for sharing this with us Chris! What a treat to watch on a Sunday morning.

[@ordinarypeople20]

I ask all of you to watch on KZbin Sam Waterston's great rendition of one of Lincoln's best long speeches. It's listed on KZbin as "Abraham Lincolns 1860 Cooper Union Address," given by Sam almost exactly 20 years ago (May 5, 2004) at the real Cooper Union; it electrified the audience (especially the last 20 minutes of the speech, start at 1:03:25). It was great, here, to see these two great actors/people and hear the emotion in Sam's voice as he spoke the Address. Not at all surprised to see Harold Holzer there, too!🙂

[@VloggingThroughHistory]

I agree it's fantastic.. I actually talked to Sam Waterston about that Cooper Union speech he did. He joked about how Holzer asked him to do a few excerpts of it and somehow he ended up doing the whole speech. You can actually see me having that conversation with him at the end of the History Underground's video shot in the cemetery at the same time as this one.

[@ordinarypeople20]

@@VloggingThroughHistory That's terrific!

[@jim-pe9yt]

What an amazing experience. Thanks for the share

[@agtac76]

How cool! The stories that Sam Waterston told were great to hear about. Thanks for posting! :)

[@johnc.big.3234]

I enjoy many of your episodes. This one is my favorite and I am so jealous of you. Great job my friend

[@bobh5020]

Chris, this was wonderful! Thank you so much for doing this and thanks to Martin Sheen, Sam Waterston and the good folks at ACHS. May we never forget the sacrifice of those who died defending our nation.

[@johnc.big.3234]

One word.. awesome

[@cantoilsol]

Emotion in his voice moves me ❤

[@cedwardgalli]

Oh man, that is absolutely amazing. I love it.

[@jangroh2496]

I just came back from Gettysburg! On Saturday evening, my family went to mass at st francis xavier church. And who was sitting behind me? Martin Sheen and Sam Waterston! After mass Sam ducked out before anyone couls approach him but Martin Sheen actually stayed and asked if anyone would like to take a picture with him! Very nice guy

[@jangroh2496]

I looked it up later as to why they were in town and the article said they were in town for the film festival.

[@VloggingThroughHistory]

Yep we were all there for the festival.

[@doylesgirl73]

Gonna admit, I'm a little jealous but glad you got to film this moment. I have always loved both Martin Sheen and Sam Waterston and to hear Sam read the Gettysburg address is just magic.

[@jacobduncan2142]

Omg! Im rewatching Grace and Frankie right now. What great guys! Today is my B-Day and I got a chance to interact with JJ Mccullough last night. Now this drops and I get a beautiful day in New England to see an eclipse? What a day!

[@mazrimtaim1]

So very cool. Looks like you had a fun time with them

[@krtrains123]

On my Friday morning tour, a family from Kentucky , their eleven year old son had memorized the Gettysburg Address for his family trip

[@conorhilz6039]

What a rich experience. Thank you so much for sharing.

[@1rwjwith]

Beautifilly done !

[@DonBlais25]

Wow! Thank you so much for sharing this. I've been a big fan of Martin and Sam since I was a kid and I remember hearing Sam read the Gettysburg Address in Ken Burns film about the war and he did a great job then and still does!!! Always awesome to see them together.

[@ElijahM1214]

I was at the Getttsburg Film Festival. They did a great job!

[@raymondhummel5211]

Such a powerful speech presented in such a short time that was to be remembered through the generations in written and spoke word. It was carried in his large stove top hat!

[@drdoakcom]

I cannot imagine what my reaction would have been when the Library of Congress guy just handed Sam the artifacts. What a powerful use of the mundane to forge a personal connection to those long since departed. Him reading the speech in that place is a big deal, but that extra story afterwards was the real prize of this.

[@feuilletonie]

Holy moly! Your channel keeps impressing me - how cool to have witnessed that. Thanks so much for sharing.

[@philadelphiagraveyardhisto7650]

Hi Chris, my 2x Great Grandmother is buried in Evergreen Cemetery near Jenny Wade.

[@codyburgess7034]

This was awesome

[@piksy75]

Chris, this is super cool. Thank you for sharing this experience with us. You open the doors of knowledge for me with what you cover on your channel. It's an enjoyable experience.

[@codyburgess7034]

Awesome

[@Lornharding]

Now THAT IS history

[@HeyesFTWYT]

Cant believe I missed this on your channel?! What an experience that must have been, I'm so jealous you got to meet them both!

[@scottbivins4758]

Checking in from the south. NC

[@DynamixWarePro]

Thank you for sharing this. That was awesome and it was great hearing Sam give that speech. I got interested in the civil war after watching the movie Gettysburg then Ken Burns The Civil War series and also finding out that one of my 2nd great-grandmothers cousins,my 2nd cousin, Robert Redman Belshaw, who was born in Ireland and had left Ireland and went to America, was forced into fighting for the Confederates. He didn't want to and was half drowned 3 times in order to get him to join. The British tried to get him out of it as he was still considered a British citizen but there was nothing they could do. He survived the war then left and went back to Ireland and spent the rest of his life living in Dublin.

[@519djw6]

I remember Sam Waterston's reading of The Gettysburg Address from the Ken Burns Civil War series, and wanted to use it for a class I was teaching. There was another recording by a voice-actor whose name I can't remember, and Waterston's reading was so much better. The other actor delivered the speech in a bossy, baritone voice. But Waterston's's rather high-pitched delivery was so much better--as it has been reported that Lincoln had that same high-pitched voice. (It was also good to see Martin Sheen ("Robert E. Lee") in this video.)

[@jackmessick2869]

That other actor may have been Jeff Daniels. He recorded it for use in the film Gettysburg, but it was cut in editing and not used. But you can find it on the soundtrack album, though.

[@519djw6]

@@jackmessick2869 Thank you. It *may* have been Jeff Daniels. I still have the other recording of the Gettysburg Address --but can't find it at the moment.

[@superdude899]

I still can't thank you enough for recommending Gore Vidal's Lincoln a few years ago. It's been one of my favorite films since then!

[@Witcherx2727]

Incredible!

[@tommcdonald1873]

I hope this gets a few million views, Chris.

[@NormaHird]

Great vlog. Thank you for posting. In my opinion the Gettysburg Address is the most important American Document ever written .

[@tejida815]

I ❤that Library of Congress story.

[@benjaylehman]

This is awesome!

[@yellyman5483]

Oh, you got to meet President Josiah Bartlet:) That must have been an honor:) I love Martin Sheen. You can see that Sam Waterston really cares about Lincoln and that he loves his country.

[@nickdepanfilis7895]

So very cool. Thanks!!

[@67beatlefreak]

Whoa! That story Sam told was intense! Can you imagine?! The contents of Lincoln’s pockets put in your hands?

[@cggc9510]

Can we just talk about hiw he held the contents of Lincoln's pockets? I can't even imagine how powerful that feeling must have been.

[@donaldwallace7934]

This was incredible! But, I think it’s unfortunate that the public couldn’t have had the opportunity to experience and enjoy this. In other words, it shouldn’t have been closed to the public!!

[@nanciepluto7149]

Thank you.

[@pizzaman6784]

As a fellow Spanish-American, I have always been a big fan of Ramon Estevez.

[@henrychin4290]

That was an amazing experience! I wish I was there!! I've been to Gettysburg a few times, I have a copy of the Gettysburg Address on my wall, I've watched countless videos of the battle and have watched the movie Gettysburg dozens of times and nothing could top what I just watched! Very cool!

[@BritIronRebel]

EPIC! Thank You....

[@TheApollotd]

So amazing to see 2 A-listers care so much about history and what they represented in their acting careers

[@louisemcmeekin7290]

I just watched the Grace and Frankie episode when Martin’s character turns and says to Sam’s character….”We’ve never even been to Gettysburg….”….so I wanted to rewatch this

[@SeanRCope]

Everybody should stay a night at the Gettysburg Hotel. Just breathes history.

[@Dragantraces]

Beautiful.

[@tomascostanzo3673]

Martin sheen steals every scene of every show he is in

[@barrythatcher9349]

Love Martin Sheen. Says it as it is. Sam Waterton is such an excellent human being.

[@jimgu2578]

This is really amazing!

[@jackmessick2869]

Waterston spoke that 35 years ago for Ken Burns' epic documentary. Martin Sheen played Lee some 32 years ago. Nearly half a lifetime ago.

[@luis_g_77]

Wow!

[@BlueSideUp77]

COOL!!! When I worked for Southern Airways, I met a passenger who looked like Martin Sheen's twin. I asked him if he was related, and he didn't know who Martin was... or so he says. Sometimes I wonder if it was him.

[@CT3127Bumblebee]

Growing up watching 2 and a half men I was very familiar with Charlie and had seen Martin appear on the show but was never familiar with him until he played Uncle Ben in Spider-Man and have since seen so much of his filmography I always got really great vibes that he's a good person glad to hear it's true

[@TheBuckeyeHistoryGuy1776]

Needed the Sheen, Vlogging crossover

[@ryancurley2842]

Holy shit, the jacket flip!

[@jamesdean9183]

You should come down to Abbeville, South Carolina sometime if you’re ever passing through. Abbeville is known as the “Cradle and Deathbed of the Confederacy,” since the very first secession rally was held here on Secession Hill in November 1860, and the last Council of War of Jefferson Davis and his cabinet members was in the Burt-Stark mansion, where he stayed the night. The original bed he slept in is still there in the same room. Secession Hill is only about a 5-10 minute walk from the Burt-Stark mansion, so it’s kinda like the beginning and end of the Civil War happened literally right here. If you’re a Civil War buff, Abbeville is definitely a necessary stop :)

[@sueschaeffer2499]

❤❤❤