Abraham Lincoln’s second inaugural address used tone to show his vision for the future of America. He made this inaugural address short in order to avoid redundancies from his previous speech, saying specifically “there is less occasion for an extended address than there was at the first,” within the first couple lines. He was well known for shorter, powerful speeches so this one wasn’t really any different. The first rhetorical device he uses is tone. The tone he uses is of a more annoyed parent that has had enough of his children’s bickering than a president of a country midst war. He doesn’t enjoy the fact that his country is at war with itself, and doesn’t seem too pleased that the people have chosen him to be the one to guide them through
