Even among the free, it is not always easy tolive together. There came a time, less than ahundred years ago, when the people of thiscountry disagreed so bitterly among themselves that some of them felt they could notgo on living with the rest. A test of arms was made to decide whetherAmericans should remain one nation or become two. The armies of those who believedin two nations were led by a man namedRobert E. Lee. What about Lee? What kind of man was hewho nearly split the history of the UnitedStates down the middle and made two separate books of it? They say you had to see him to believe thata man so fine could e,xist. He was handsome.He was clever. He was brave. He was gentle.He was generous and charming, noble andmodst, admired and beloved. He had neverfailed at anything in his upright soldier's life.He was a born winner, this Robert E. Lee.Except for once. In the greatest contest of hislife, in the war beween the South and theNorth, Robert E. Lee lost. Now there were men who came withsmouldering eyes to Lee and said: "Let's notaccept this result as final. Let's keep ouranger alive. Let's be grim and unconvinced,and wear our bitterness like a medal. You canbe our leader in this." But Lee shook his head at those men."Abandon your animosities," he said, "andmake your sons Americans." And what did he do himself when his warwas lost? He took a job as president of a tinycollege, with forty students and four profes-sors, at a salary of $1500 a year. He hadcommanded thousands of young men inbattle. Now he wanted to prepare a few hun-dred of them for the duties of peace. So thecountrymen of Robert E. Lee saw how a bornwinner loses, and it seemed to them that indefeat he won his most lasting victory. There is an art of losing, and Robert E. Leeis its finest teacher. In a democracy, whereopposing viewpoints regularly meet for a testof ballots, it is good for all of us to know howto lose occasionally, how to yield peacefully,for the sake of freedom. Lee is our master inthis. The man who fought against the Unionshowed us what unity means.

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