Obama Recites Version of Gettysburg Address That Omits 'Under God

UPDATE:

According to a box now on the Ken Burns website learntheaddress.org, Obama was specifically asked to recite one of the other versions of the Gettysburg Address that does not include the phrase "under God."

(Source: learntheaddress.org screen shot)

But it seems that explanation has been either added in response to the budding controversy or moved so as to appear more prominently. A cached version of the page from Friday afternoon shows no such explanation:

(Source: Cachedpages.com screen shot)

TheBlaze has reached out to Burns in an attempt to clarify but has not received a response.

As TheBlaze reported last year, there are several versions (up to 10) of the address. Some of them do not include the phrase "under God." However, the commonly accepted Associated Press version does include it.

"The inclusion of God in the speech is perhaps the most significant difference among the versions," the National Constitution Center says. "The fifth version of the speech, which was signed and dated by Lincoln, was considered the 'final' version and included 'under God' in its last sentence."

Original story below

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Nov. 19 marks the 150th anniversary of President Abraham Lincoln's famous Gettysburg Address, the two-minute speech delivered at the dedication of the national cemetery where thousands of Americans died fighting the Civil War. But according to a video of President Obama reciting the infamous words, "God" isn't in it.

Obama and several other famous faces (from politics, entertainment and business) recorded versions of the address for filmmaker Ken Burns and his project "Learn The Address" created for PBS. But, in the video that Obama recorded on his own, an important word was omitted from the text: God.

Here's the video:

WMAL's Chris Plante noticed that the president dropped "God" and his crew also checked the other recordings. Plante says every single famous face in the Ken Burns video recited the speech and included God, and his team put together a sampling of other people involved in the project using "God":

Here's the PBS mash-up of the address, President Obama opens and closes it:

As TheBlaze reported last year, there are several versions (up to 10) of the address. Some of them do not include the phrase "under God." However, the commonly accepted Associated Press version does include it.

"The inclusion of God in the speech is perhaps the most significant difference among the versions," the National Constitution Center says. "The fifth version of the speech, which was signed and dated by Lincoln, was considered the 'final' version and included 'under God' in its last sentence."

This is also not the first time President Obama has dropped God and "Creator" from speeches.

(H/T: WMAL - Chris Plante)

This story has been updated.

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