Wills and the event committee then asked President Lincoln to join in the ceremony. Wills' letter said, "It is the desire , as Chief Executive of the nation, formally (officially) set apart these a few appropriate (proper) remarks". Lincoln was officially asked to join only 17 days before the ceremony, while Everett had received his invitation 40 days earlier. "Although there is some evidence Lincoln expected Wills's letter, its late date makes the author (writer) appear days was extraordinarily (remarkably) short notice for presidential participation even by nineteenth-century standards". Also, Wills's letter "made it equally clear to the president that he would have only a small part in the ceremonies".