LiveScience, May 17, 2007 GALVESTON, Texas - Abraham Lincoln might have been in the early stages of a life-threatening type of smallpox when he delivered his Gettysburg Address, lauded as one of history's greatest speeches and an archetype of genius brevity. The speech's powerful first words - "Four score and seven years ago ..." - belied a weak and dizzy President Lincoln, concludes a new study. Nearly one-third of those who contracted this serious form of smallpox in the mid-19th century died - a fate that would have dramatically changed U.S. history had it befallen Lincoln. Though some historians recognize that Lincoln was ill following his Gettysburg speech in 1863, they implicate a mild and non-lethal form of smallpox that occurs in people who have been immunized against the disease. The finding, published in the current issue of the Journal of Medical Biography, suggests future writings on the 16th president should include the nature and gravity of "Lincoln's Gettysburg Illness." Armond Goldman and Frank Schmalstieg, both of the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, reviewed the symptoms of Lincoln's illness cited in various sources. Then they compared this clinical profile with non-smallpox diseases, including monkeypox, chickenpox and herpes simplex type 1 infections, which could mimic smallpox.   (This story has appeared widely in state, national and international news sources, including CNN International and Reuters.)