Posted by
Defend America on Wednesday, November 18, 2009 10:27:41 PM
November 18,
1863
Lincoln travels to Gettysburg
President
Lincoln boards a train for Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, to deliver a short
speech at the dedication for the cemetery of soldiers killed during the
battle there on July 1 to 3, 1863. The address he gave became perhaps
the most famous speech in American history.
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=Article&id=2391
November 18,
1886
Chester Arthur dies in New York
On
this day in 1886, former President Chester Alan Arthur succumbs to
complications from a debilitating and fatal kidney ailment known as
Bright’s Disease. In the words of former President Rutherford B. Hayes,
Arthur’s term as president was most notable for "liquor, snobbery and
worse." Although he had been ambitious as a young man, he was
considered by many of his contemporaries to have been a lazy and
"foppish" president.
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=Article&id=52011
1903 - The U.S. and Panama signed a treaty that granted the U.S. rights to build the Panama Canal.
November 18,
1987
Congress issues final report on Iran-Contra scandal
After
nearly a year of hearings into the Iran-Contra scandal, the joint
Congressional investigating committee issues its final report. It
concluded that the scandal, involving a complicated plan whereby some
of the funds from secret weapons sales to Iran were used to finance the
Contra war against the Sandinista government in Nicaragua, was one in
which the administration of Ronald Reagan exhibited "secrecy,
deception, and disdain for the law." Naming several members of the
Reagan administration as having been directly involved in the scheme
(including National Security Advisor John Poindexter and deceased CIA
Director William Casey), the report stated that Reagan must bear
"ultimate responsibility." A number of government officials were
charged and convicted of various crimes associated with the scandal.
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=Article&id=2488