"Ask Not What Plagiarism Can Do for You…"

(Washington, DC) — One hundred years after the inauguration of Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy took the same oath and, per custom, delivered an inaugural address. But evidence has now surfaced that Kennedy may have used some previously-unknown words from 100 years prior, touching off charges of plagiarism.

Lincoln's stand on slavery is well-known in 2011, but about 150 years ago, it was unclear. Early in Lincoln's legal and political careers, his writings and speeches seem to indicate the search for a solution to a problem for which there were no easy answers. In the late 1850s, he said:

Yet by the time he had begun his campaign for president, his open hostility toward slavery, and his determination to stop its spread into new territories and states, became clear:

And by the end of the Civil War in 1865, Lincoln had begun the call to extend voting rights to men of all colors:

What is most striking, however, is some recently-discovered text from one of Lincoln's many drafts for his inaugural address. Before the 20th Amendment, inaugurations were held on March 4; the first inauguration held on January 20 was in 1937. And 150 years ago, for reasons unknown, he cut the following text from his address:

"This text would seem to indicate Lincoln's strong inclination to side with the abolitionists," said a well-regarded Lincoln historian, speaking on condition of anonymity. "But the potential anger that would have been generated by those who were pro-slavery is what may have led him to remove the line from the address."

Still, the 150-year-old missing line seems eerily similar to a line uttered in another inaugural address only 50 years ago:

"The similarity of this text, which was publicly unknown to exit until just recently, apparently was known to someone in Kennedy's inner circle, and 50 years ago it was plagiarized and used as some of Kennedy's most famous words," said the historian, continuing to speak on condition of anonymity. "Either that, or it's one of the greatest coincidences ever in political history. There are books and books on the similarities between Lincoln and Kennedy, but this takes things to a new level. And if it does turn out to be plagiarism, I don't know how you investigate and prosecute something of this magnitude."

The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library could not be reached for comment, though an employee, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the whole thing was being blown out of proportion and that it was all just "an errah."