[ArmyTeach]

I understand that Lincoln also had a rather unfortunate speaking voice.

[Marauder]

True. It was rather high-pitched, and a very countrified accent. Frinstance, he'd pronounce "chair" as "cheer."

IIRC, I read this in Carl Sandburg's Abraham Lincoln.

But Lincoln had a remarkable command of the language; in a day when orators prided themselves on how long they could go on speaking, he said more in a couple of minutes than the others in as many hours.