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article__ntent-hear"><div data-ttid="ContentHearContaer" class="ContentHearContaer-cGKRbE knDxNq"><div class="ContentHearHedAccredatnWrapper-GFiQf cDNVlV"><div data-ttid="ContentHearTleBlockWrapper" class="ContentHearTleBlockWrapper-cjmSKp ikebRK"><div data-ttid="ContentHearRubric" class="ContentHearRubricBlock-LmpbT hjnEYM"><div data-ttid="ContentHearRubricDateBlock" class="ContentHearRubricDateBlock-kAQcZP fTFWxD"><div class="RubricWrapper-dKmCNX iJOI bric ContentHearRubricContaer-eTudtt edKnIL"><span class="RubricName-fVtemz cLxcNi">V.F. Archive Collectn</span></div></div><div class="RubricWrapper-dKmCNX iJOI bric ContentHearRubricIssueDate-CuIT fFtVss"><span class="RubricName-fVtemz cLxcNi">January 2005 Issue</span></div></div><h1 data-ttid="ContentHearHed" class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ ContentHearHed-NCyCC iUEiRd khNpd gydgrM">Was Lln Bisexual?</h1><span class="ContentHearContentDivir-liIxwf eicslv"></span></div><div class="ContentHearAccredatn-lfctVB etVsnJ ntent-hear__accredatn" data-ttid="ContentHearAccredatn"><div class="ContentHearDek-bIqFFZ fYeNbg">The thor exam C. A. Tripp’s long-awaed, hotly ntted book, <em>The Intimate World of Abraham Lln</em>—and ponrs Amerin sexualy a century before Ksey.</div><div class="ContentHearByle-kmPyCa emiglw"><div class="ContentHearByleContent-dpPmNn DRFq"><div data-ttid="BylWrapper" class="BylWrapper-KIudk irTIfE byl ContentHearByl-cZqgyJ bHLeKI"><p class="ByleWrapper-jWHrLH jqYyWD byle byl__byle" data-ttid="ByleWrapper" emProp="thor" emType="><span emProp="name" class="ByleNamWrapper-jbHncj fuDQVo"><span data-ttid="ByleName" class="ByleName-kwmrLn cYaBaU byle__name"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ BylePreamble-iJolpQ iUEiRd bIbWCO gnILss byle__preamble">By </span><a class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ BaseLk-eNWuiM ByleLk-gEnFiw iUEiRd kIEUAJ lddgzd eErqIx byle__name-lk button" href="/ntributor/gore-vidal">Gore Vidal</a></span></span></p></div><time data-ttid="ContentHearPublishDate" dateTime="2005-01-03T00:00:00-05:00" class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ ContentHearPublishDate-eIBicG iUEiRd bSlZUC cmPkTr">January 3, 2005</time></div></div></div></div><div class="ContentHearLeadAsset-hGbumP cAlrhp lead-asset ContentHearLeadAssetWrapper-hfXHEc bjtV lead-asset--width-small" data-ttid="ContentHearLeadAsset"><figure class="ContentHearLeadAssetContent-kOfYSG dRGWbI"><div class="ContentHearLeadAssetContentMedia-bLEIpi jjhWdS lead-asset__ntent__photo"><span class="SpanWrapper-umhxW jvZaPI rponsive-asset ContentHearRponsiveAsset-bREgIb cZenhb"><div data-tt="aspect-rat-ntaer" class="AspectRatContaer-bJHpJz eIhPZj"><div class="aspect-rat--overlay-ntaer"><picture class="RponsiveImagePicture-cWuUZO dUOtEa ContentHearRponsiveAsset-bREgIb cZenhb rponsive-image"><source media="(max-width: 767px)" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w, 640w, 960w" siz="100vw"/><source media="(m-width: 768px)" srcSet=" 120w, 240w, 320w, 640w, 960w, 1280w, 1600w, 1920w, 2240w" siz="100vw"/><img alt="A photo of Abraham Lln." class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src="></picture></div></div></span><div class="CaptnWrapper-jSZdqE kIXbGQ ptn ContentHearLeadAssetCaptn-hPWmSN jvvN"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ CaptnCred-ejegDm iUEiRd hCJFDV fNaHcW ptn__cred">From Getty Imag.</span></div></div></figure><div data-ttid="ContentHearLeadRailAnchor" class="ContentHearLeadRailAnchor-jYVcDc djtEof"></div></div></div></hear></div><div data-attribute-verso-pattern="article-body" class="ArticlePageContentBackGround-cNiFNN gVjmSM article-body__ntent"><div class="ActnBarWrapperContent-lasBkU cAHp"><div class="ActnBarWrapperComponent-cjwxLS bEeSLb"><div data-attr-viewport-monor="" class="ActnBarWrapper-dhxmQh izlawS viewport-monor-anchor"><button id="bookmark" aria-label="Save" class="ActnBarButton-dyFOZU foKBbl bookmark large-screen"><span class="ActnBarSendaryButtonPrimaryIn-isbvyN cAwccV bookmark-button-in"><svg class="in in-bookmark" width="24" height="24" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" xmlns="><tle>Save this story</tle><path class="in-bookmark-stroke" d="M11.7661 16.3228L4.5 20.1695V3.5H19.5V20.1695L12.2339 16.3228L12 16.199L11.7661 16.3228Z" stroke-lep="square"/></svg></span><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ ActnBarButtonText-bYXYuh iUEiRd kdAzed gkccfO">Save</span></button></div><div data-attr-viewport-monor="" class="ActnBarWrapper-dhxmQh ledqMp viewport-monor-anchor"><button id="bookmark" aria-label="Save" class="ActnBarButton-dyFOZU ePWKOF bookmark mobile"><span class="ActnBarSendaryButtonPrimaryIn-isbvyN cAwccV bookmark-button-in"><svg class="in in-bookmark" width="24" height="24" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" xmlns="><tle>Save this story</tle><path class="in-bookmark-stroke" d="M11.7661 16.3228L4.5 20.1695V3.5H19.5V20.1695L12.2339 16.3228L12 16.199L11.7661 16.3228Z" stroke-lep="square"/></svg></span><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ ActnBarButtonText-bYXYuh iUEiRd kdAzed gkccfO">Save</span></button></div></div></div><div class="ArticlePageChunksContent-etcMtP bwyLBj"><div data-ttid="ArticlePageChunks" class="ArticlePageChunks-fLyCVG eOdfIs"><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK kHBDeH grid grid-margs grid-ems-2 ArticlePageChunksGrid-hfxa bjczjj grid-layout--adrail narrow wi-adrail"><div class="GridItem-buujkM stRKV grid--em grid-layout__ntent"><div class="BodyWrapper-kufPGa lnwCqV body body__ntaer article__body" data-journey-hook="client-ntent" data-ttid="BodyWrapper"><div class="body__ner-ntaer"><p class="has-dropp">As a schoolboy I read most of Carl Sandburg’s six-volume bgraphy of Abraham Lln. Sandburg was a poet-performer, and I tend to skip his rhapsodic passag, th missg some key pots. Even so, I was sufficiently drawn to his Lln … well, to be precise, there is no Sandburg Lln, only a sort of grab bag of anecdot, a do--yourself folklore Lln, g material that, wh time’s passage, has been more and more rejected by those scholar squirrels who are always attendance upon the Lln briga’s stern amic in-dters. Eventually, I me to wre my own Lln, alg wh the master polician as a unterbalance to the folksy figure so beloved of apolil chroniclers, particularly the early part of the 20th century, when the sex life of a Mount Rhmoree was taboo and speculatn was neher enuraged nor pursued by those wh tenure rather than tth md. The Send World War changed everythg. Over 13 ln Amerin mal served Europe, the Pacific, and, most exotic of all, that unknown land the Uned Stat of Ameri, which sudnly beme a place of sexual marvels unknown to prev generatns. But then, 1945, when much of the war end, we were abptly translated om the Land of Oz back to dreary—even bloody—Kansas, not to mentn Indiana, where one Aled C. Ksey was scientifilly analyzg our timatns and dreams of Oz as well as who did what sexually and why. Among Ksey’s rearchers was C. A. Tripp, who had bee terted the sexualy of our greatt print, but I am now ahead of our story.</p><p>In 1948, Aled C. Ksey published <em>Sexual Behavr the Human Male.</em> He also wrote me a note of appreciatn for my “work the field”: <em>The Cy and the Pillar,</em> a novel about a star-crossed love affair between two “normal” young male athlet wh which I had shocked Ameri … well, the <em>New York Tim,</em> by makg the pot that their affair was a perfectly natural bs, spe so many popular superstns rived om our var Bronze Age religns. At about that time I met Tripp, whose posthumo <em>The Intimate World of Abraham Lln</em> has at last been published by Free Prs.</p><p class="paywall">What the Ksey and I had mon so long ago was the knowledge that homosexual and heterosexual behavr are natural to all mammals, and that what differs om dividual to dividual is the balance between the two plementary but not necsarily nflicted driv. So, what has all this to do wh our greatt print?</p><div class="Contaer-bkChBi byNLHx"></div><p class="paywall">The young Lln had a love affair wh a handsome youth and store owner, Joshua Speed, Sprgfield, Illois. They shared a bed for four years, not necsarily, those ontier days, the sign of a smokg gun—only msy male hoekeepg. Neverthels, four years is a long time to be fairly unfortable. The gun proved to be the letters that passed between them when Joshua went home to Kentucky to marry, while Lln was readyg himself for marriage Sprgfield. Each youth betrays nsirable anxiety about the weddg night ahead. Can they hack ? To Sandburg’s cred he picked up on this (who uld not after readg the letters?), but, first time around, I skipped his poetil ments on Lln’s “streak of lavenr and spots soft as May vlets.” Sandburg was a typil Amerin of his time and place; he knew that any male wh sexual feelgs for another male was a main trapped si a male body. Even the great Mae Wt, our first mandg sexologist, was nvced that fairi were simply women, obliged, through no flt of their own, to hab c male bodi: Plangently Doctor Mae mourned her lost sisters.</p><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ ad ad---ntent"><div class="ad__slot ad__slot---ntent" data-no-id="m33lj"></div></div><p class="paywall">Predictably, most Lln thori prefer to ignore the implitns of the Lln-Speed letters. But not Jonathan Ned Katz; 2001 this relentls scholar wrote a study of their “love affair” as an example of sex between men before the ventn of homosexualy; a word and generic ncept that dat back only to the late 19th century, while “heterosexualy,” prevly popularly known as “jt sex,” is now the name for a new admirable team whose first appearance public prt was a 1924 edn of, I fear, the <em>New York Tim.</em> But more to the pot, Tripp not that although Lln was plaly bisexual, as monstrated by the four children that he had wh his wife, there is practilly no other pellg rerd of his heterosexualy. There are no girliends youth. Ann Rutledge (the great love that end her tragic ath, which he forever mourned) prov to have been an ventn of his law partner William Herndon, who, perhaps spectg that the man he had practiced law wh for 16 years had remaed “unfortable” wh women all his life and so need some beefg up the boy-girl partment. Yet all evince suggts that Lln’s stepmother got right when after Lln’s ath she said, “He was not very fond of girls.” Neverthels, Herndon feverishly “rearched” and embellished the Ann Rutledge story for years, but a generatn or two of scholar squirrels have succsfully shot that story down. Later, durg his princy, when most cumbents exprs affectn—and more—for women not their wiv, Lln was already a marble statue to Fay Valu. Now we know that he was never unenthralled by those May vlets.</p><p class="paywall">I knew C. A. Tripp through Dr. Ksey, whose famo report was actually published some months after my novel. In due urse, Ksey and I met, and he took, as they say, my history for his rearch. This volved end qutns about sexual activi wh some trick qutns orr to tch liars. Durg all this, Ksey, a serly gray man, was like a iendly bank manager Sux Falls, South Dakota. Overnight, Ksey beme a natnal hero to many, the vil to others. It is tertg now that we have entered a new Ameri led by Moral Valu; fah-spired attacks are beg ma on Ksey’s fdgs so long after the fact.</p><div data-attr-viewport-monor="le-recirc" class="le-recirc-wrapper le-recirc-observer-target-1 viewport-monor-anchor"></div><p class="paywall">Tripp is scribed by his publisher as a “psychologist, therapist, and sex-rearcher” (for Ksey). His ground-breakg book <em>The Homosexual Matrix</em> (1975) firmly “disvered” that homosexualy is born, not acquired. What Tripp learned om Ksey and associat is a way of ggg the hetero-homo balance men. “Ksey’s figur on the pervasivens of the homosexual experienc of men dazzled the ever quisive Tripp,” as historian Jean Baker wr her troductn to his study of Lln. More to the pot were Ksey’s vtigatns to why some men were more rponsive than others to same-sexualy and how the rpons tend to vary throughout life’s stag. One fdg that Tripp evaluatg Lln: Ksey’s rearch showed that those mal who entered puberty early were more apt to seek homosexual outlets if only bee girls were out of reach. They were also ls apt, as they grew up, to have sexual hang-ups of the sort late bloomers did bee society has more time to doctrate a teenager than a ne-year-old. Much remarked upon Lln’s stic world was his sudn spurt of growth at about ne years old, some four years before the average of other mal. Also, his fascatn wh sex stori whose obsceny alarmed even him—he was an early stand-up ic and, as such, was appreciated the stag world of the law. Dcriptns of his performanc (and the stori told) even suggt a d se of Tourette’s syndrome. Certaly, anal sex was a mon nomator to his tal. Later life when someone suggted he publish his funny stori, he was shocked: he pared them to open privi. Incintally, the one thg that the Ksey report, Tripp’s <em>The Homosexual Matrix,</em> and my <em>The Cy and the Pillar</em> had mon, asi om the unwele ndor about our human tate, was the hysteria we created at <em>The New York Tim.</em> The three books were not only attacked the paper but the <em>Tim</em> refed to advertise Ksey or me once the ntents of our fernal books were known; also, my se, seven novels subsequent to the proscribed book were not reviewed the daily <em>Tim,</em> and never would be, the daily reviewer (Orville Prtt) proudly told my publisher, E. P. Dutton. Now, the 56 years sce 1948, <em>The Cy and the Pillar</em> has never been out of prt English or a number of other languag.</p></div></div></div><div class="GridItem-buujkM fVLMby grid--em grid-layout__asi"><div class="StickyBoxWrapper-jfYB kNleGZ sticky-box"><div class="StickyBoxPrimary-dzWDWL cdhYoN sticky-box__primary"><div class="Contaer-bkChBi byNLHx"></div><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ ad ad--rail"><div class="ad__slot ad__slot--rail" data-no-id="4ugc7t"></div></div><div class="ConsumerMarketgUnThemedWrapper-iUTMTf jssHut nsumer-marketg-un nsumer-marketg-un--display-rail" role="prentatn" aria-hidn="te"><div class="nsumer-marketg-un__slot nsumer-marketg-un__slot--display-rail"></div><div class="journey-un"></div></div><div data-attr-viewport-monor="" class="RecircMostPopularWrapper-bRuGTi jkTTgR recirc-most-popular-wrapper viewport-monor-anchor"><div class="RecircMostPopularConter-jiViNn ktrplG recirc-most-popular-sparrow-trackg hi-asi-ad" 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class="SummaryItemBaseByle-fFbXkY gRtaxp summary-em__byle"><div class="summary-em__byle__ntent"><div data-ttid="BylWrapper" class="BylWrapper-KIudk irTIfE byl"><p class="ByleWrapper-jWHrLH iNSiTG byle byl__byle" data-ttid="ByleWrapper" emProp="thor" emType="><span emProp="name" class="ByleNamWrapper-jbHncj fuDQVo"><span data-ttid="ByleName" class="ByleName-kwmrLn cYaBaU byle__name"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ BylePreamble-iJolpQ iUEiRd bIbWCO gnILss byle__preamble">By </span>Er Vanrhoof</span></span></p></div></div></div></div></div></div></li><li><div class="SummaryItemWrapper-iwvBff cOtZkL summary-em summary-em--has-borr summary-em--ARTICLE summary-em--no-in summary-em--text-align-left summary-em--layout-placement-si-by-si summary-em--layout-posn-image-left summary-em--layout-proportns-33-66 summary-em--si-by-si-align-center summary-em--si-by-si-image-right-mobile-false summary-em--standard RecircMostPopularSummaryItem-jQxxiw jkeAv" role="button" tabx="0"><div class="SummaryItemAssetContaer-gwhFFH VOyg summary-em__asset-ntaer"><a class="SummaryItemImageLk-dshqxb cPpCwE summary-em__image-lk summary-em-trackg__image-lk" href=" aria-hidn="te" tabx="-1" data-ponent-type="recirc-river" data-recirc-id="em-image-3" data-recirc-pattern="summary-em" target="_self"><span class="SpanWrapper-umhxW kGxnNB rponsive-asset SummaryItemRponsiveAsset-hjGIGg egpoQR summary-em__image"><div data-tt="aspect-rat-ntaer" class="AspectRatContaer-bJHpJz hlQxkn"><div class="aspect-rat--overlay-ntaer"><picture class="RponsiveImagePicture-cWuUZO dUOtEa SummaryItemRponsiveAsset-hjGIGg egpoQR summary-em__image rponsive-image"><noscript><source media="(max-width: 767px)" srcSet="" siz="100vw"/><source media="(m-width: 768px)" srcSet="" siz="100vw"/><img alt="The Tan Submersible Disaster Was Years the Makg, New Details Reveal" class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src="></noscript></picture></div></div></span></a></div><div class="SummaryItemContent-eiDYMl clSLtF summary-em__ntent summary-em__ntent--no-bric"><a class="SummaryItemHedLk-civM fPFrPI summary-em-trackg__hed-lk summary-em__hed-lk" data-ponent-type="recirc-river" data-recirc-id="em-hed-3" data-recirc-pattern="summary-em" href=" target="_self"><div data-ttid="ClampWrapper" class="ClampWrapper-kZxfkB hTTNGO clamp SummaryItemHedBase-hiFYpQ hRVxvR summary-em__hed"><div class="ClampContent-hilPkr jVhSBH"><div class="SummaryItemHedTag-TWblf gxaOcP" data-ttid="SummaryItemHed">The <em>Tan</em> Submersible Disaster Was Years the Makg, New Details Reveal</div></div></div></a><div class="SummaryItemByleWrapper-boCfbi hYsZi summary-em__byle-date-in"><div class="SummaryItemBaseByle-fFbXkY gRtaxp summary-em__byle"><div class="summary-em__byle__ntent"><div data-ttid="BylWrapper" class="BylWrapper-KIudk irTIfE byl"><p class="ByleWrapper-jWHrLH iNSiTG byle byl__byle" data-ttid="ByleWrapper" emProp="thor" emType="><span emProp="name" class="ByleNamWrapper-jbHncj fuDQVo"><span data-ttid="ByleName" class="ByleName-kwmrLn cYaBaU byle__name"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ BylePreamble-iJolpQ iUEiRd bIbWCO gnILss byle__preamble">By </span>San Casey</span></span></p></div></div></div></div></div></div></li><li><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ RecircMostPopularSummaryItem-jQxxiw fHLKqj ad ad--asi"><div class="ad__slot ad__slot--asi" data-no-id="rwi02u"></div></div></li></ul><div class="RecircMostPopularFooter-enPjgs eAuebe"></div></div></div></div><div class="StickyBoxPlaceholr-grPmrg dxAvXx"></div></div></div></div><div class="RowWrapper-UmqTg HEhan full-bleed-ad row-mid-ntent-ad"><div class="StickyMidContentAdWrapper-fSBzwl drzyIa ad-stickymidntent"><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ ad ad--mid-ntent should-hold-space"><div class="ad__slot ad__slot--mid-ntent" data-no-id="9e2bk"></div></div></div></div><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK kHBDeH grid grid-margs grid-ems-2 ArticlePageChunksGrid-hfxa bjczjj grid-layout--adrail narrow wi-adrail"><div class="GridItem-buujkM stRKV grid--em grid-layout__ntent"><div class="BodyWrapper-kufPGa lnwCqV body body__ntaer article__body" data-journey-hook="client-ntent" data-ttid="BodyWrapper"><div class="body__ner-ntaer"><p class="paywall">Tripp has tertg “new” material on Lln’s enunters as a young man New Salem, Illois (where Lln lived om 1831-37); he reports on “ntacts” wh merchant A.Y. Ellis and fellow lawyer Henry Whney, the last observg that Lln seemed always to be urtg him: Whney also reported that Lln said that sexual ntact was a “harp of a thoand strgs.” So what form did the ntacts take? One ht is given by Billy Greene, who shared a bed and a grammar teacher (not together) wh Lln New Salem around 1831. Greene scribed Lln’s mcular figure as attractive to him, mentg particular on his powerful thighs, which suggts a form of sexualy much dulged by cizens of classil Athens: sce any cizen would lose cizenship if anally perated by a man, “femoral terurse” was a eful substute; that is, asm, mutual or otherwise, between firm thighs.</p><p class="paywall">What then did rearcher Tripp disver over the last s about Lln’s lavenr streak and those soft May vlets? The answer is a great al of circumstantial tail, of which some is ntrovertible except perhaps to the eye of fah, which, as we all know, is most selective and gen when to the ignorg of evince.</p><p class="paywall">Jean Baker’s troductn to Tripp’s Lln is balanced. She not that as late as the 1980s more than 60 percent of all Amerins found homosexualy an unacceptable “liftyle,” plaly the rult of fierce lifelong doctratn. Tripp fds homosexual (and heterosexual) behavr mon to all mammals and apt to be practiced given sufficient opportuny, energy, sire. Baker not that Tripp was “dazzled” by Ksey’s fdg that more than one-third of Ksey’s sample mal had engaged a homosexual act durg their lifetime even though only a slim 4 to 6 percent intified themselv as exclively homosexual. Baker ocsnally falls to the semantic trap of g adjectiv like homo/heterosexual as nouns to scribe an entire person when the adjectiv n only scribe specific sexual acts and never an actual human beg; hence the difficulti pigeonholg Lln, who, like almost every man of his time and place, duly married, had children, and nformed while yieldg to his homosexual clatns only when evable, as the long affair wh Joshua Speed. The most movg part of their letters after Speed go home to Kentucky to marry, and Lln steels himself to do the same Sprgfield wh Mary Todd. Each is terrified of the prospective weddg night. Lln is like a good basketball ach reassurg a timid player while nfsg to his own anxieti on that sre. It is hard not to spect that Lln was, as far as women were ncerned, a virg on his weddg night. Speed proved to be nonfunctnal on that night and, apparently, all subsequent nights spe much boastg of powerful passns fulfilled. Tripp not that Lln has no problems wh peratn on the grounds that: “tops don’t.” (We give Dr. Tripp his idsyncrasi).</p><p class="paywall">Tripp has vtigated male sexual partners for Lln om early youth to his affair wh the pta of his personal ary guard, David V. Derickson of the Pennsylvania Bucktails’ Company K. This, acrdg to Baker, “is one of at least five verifiable s of Lln’s sexual activy wh other mal.” This guard ually rted the print om the Whe Hoe to the Soldiers’ Home a part of town where he uld pe the equatorial summer heat of riparian Washgton. Prumably the affair began on September 8, 1862, when Lln was at the Soldiers’ Home (Mrs. Lln was safely New York Cy, serly shoppg). Lln sent for the newly assigned Derickson, to get to know him. Derickson, we are told, was five feet ne, ep-set ey, proment nose, thick black hair. At 44, he was ne years younger than Lln. At the start of their affair he was the father of ne children by two wiv; a grown son also served Company K durg the idyll at the Soldiers’ Home. Others have noted that when they shared a bed, Derickson wore one of the print’s nightshirts. Although the Washgton prs was not as prient then as now, was also wartime, which uld well have timidated gossipers, if not Virgia Woodbury Fox, wife of the assistant secretary of the navy. The Fox were iends of Lln; Mrs. Fox also kept a diary about high life Washgton. Entry for November 16, 1862: “Tish [Letia McKean] says, ‘there is a Bucktail soldier here voted to the Print, driv wh him, and when Mrs. L. is not home, sleeps wh him.’ What stuff!” The fal ephet n mean “people will say anythg.” Or as Governor Richards of Texas said reference to a qutn about her divorce: “You know what men are like!” Que a different emphasis. So what did the two fathers whose bed progeny numbered 13 boys actually do? Tripp draws a great al not only om survivg mentari om Lln’s youth but also om Ksey’s fdgs on what sort of experience or simply sexual velopment predispos some mal to be actively attracted to other mal. Happily, Frd is nowhere nsulted.</p><div><div class="ConsumerMarketgUnThemedWrapper-iUTMTf jssHut nsumer-marketg-un nsumer-marketg-un--article-mid-ntent" role="prentatn" aria-hidn="te"><div class="nsumer-marketg-un__slot nsumer-marketg-un__slot--article-mid-ntent nsumer-marketg-un__slot---ntent"></div><div class="journey-un"></div></div></div><p class="paywall">In Tripp’s renstctn of the timate Lln, the fascatg disvery is not the many tails about Lln’s homosexual si as the fact that he had, marriage to one si, so very ltle heterosexual si. Although William Herndon aro some alarm many scholars wh his huge Ann Rutledge romantic tragedy, he do ed have other tal to tell.</p></div></div></div><div class="GridItem-buujkM fVLMby grid--em grid-layout__asi"><div class="StickyBoxWrapper-jfYB jxBcTH sticky-box"><div class="StickyBoxPrimary-dzWDWL cdhYoN sticky-box__primary"><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ ad ad--rail"><div class="ad__slot ad__slot--rail" data-no-id="3f7rv"></div></div><div class="ConsumerMarketgUnThemedWrapper-iUTMTf jssHut nsumer-marketg-un nsumer-marketg-un--display-rail" role="prentatn" aria-hidn="te"><div class="nsumer-marketg-un__slot nsumer-marketg-un__slot--display-rail"></div><div class="journey-un"></div></div><div data-attr-viewport-monor="" class="RecircMostPopularWrapper-bRuGTi jkTTgR recirc-most-popular-wrapper viewport-monor-anchor"><div class="RecircMostPopularConter-jiViNn ktrplG recirc-most-popular-sparrow-trackg hi-asi-ad" data-most-popular-id="mod-most-popular-52"><div 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class="AspectRatContaer-bJHpJz hlQxkn"><div class="aspect-rat--overlay-ntaer"><picture class="RponsiveImagePicture-cWuUZO dUOtEa SummaryItemRponsiveAsset-hjGIGg egpoQR summary-em__image rponsive-image"><noscript><source media="(max-width: 767px)" srcSet="" siz="100vw"/><source media="(m-width: 768px)" srcSet="" siz="100vw"/><img alt="Geia Republins Say They'll Move to Remove Fulton County DA Fani Willis From Office Wh New State Law" class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src="></noscript></picture></div></div></span></a></div><div class="SummaryItemContent-eiDYMl clSLtF summary-em__ntent summary-em__ntent--no-bric"><a class="SummaryItemHedLk-civM fPFrPI summary-em-trackg__hed-lk summary-em__hed-lk" data-ponent-type="recirc-river" data-recirc-id="em-hed-1" data-recirc-pattern="summary-em" href=" target="_self"><div data-ttid="ClampWrapper" class="ClampWrapper-kZxfkB hTTNGO clamp SummaryItemHedBase-hiFYpQ hRVxvR summary-em__hed"><div class="ClampContent-hilPkr jVhSBH"><div class="SummaryItemHedTag-TWblf gxaOcP" data-ttid="SummaryItemHed">Geia Republins Say They'll Move to Remove Fulton County DA Fani Willis From Office Wh New State Law</div></div></div></a><div class="SummaryItemByleWrapper-boCfbi hYsZi summary-em__byle-date-in"><div class="SummaryItemBaseByle-fFbXkY gRtaxp summary-em__byle"><div class="summary-em__byle__ntent"><div data-ttid="BylWrapper" class="BylWrapper-KIudk irTIfE byl"><p class="ByleWrapper-jWHrLH iNSiTG byle byl__byle" data-ttid="ByleWrapper" emProp="thor" emType="><span emProp="name" class="ByleNamWrapper-jbHncj fuDQVo"><span data-ttid="ByleName" class="ByleName-kwmrLn cYaBaU byle__name"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ BylePreamble-iJolpQ iUEiRd bIbWCO gnILss byle__preamble">By </span>Eric Lutz</span></span></p></div></div></div></div></div></div></li><li><div class="SummaryItemWrapper-iwvBff cOtZkL summary-em summary-em--has-borr summary-em--ARTICLE summary-em--no-in summary-em--text-align-left 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siz="100vw"/><source media="(m-width: 768px)" srcSet="" siz="100vw"/><img alt="Meghan Markle Will Be Jog Prce Harry Germany for the Invict Gam" class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src="></noscript></picture></div></div></span></a></div><div class="SummaryItemContent-eiDYMl clSLtF summary-em__ntent summary-em__ntent--no-bric"><a class="SummaryItemHedLk-civM fPFrPI summary-em-trackg__hed-lk summary-em__hed-lk" data-ponent-type="recirc-river" data-recirc-id="em-hed-2" data-recirc-pattern="summary-em" href=" target="_self"><div data-ttid="ClampWrapper" class="ClampWrapper-kZxfkB hTTNGO clamp SummaryItemHedBase-hiFYpQ hRVxvR summary-em__hed"><div class="ClampContent-hilPkr jVhSBH"><div class="SummaryItemHedTag-TWblf gxaOcP" data-ttid="SummaryItemHed">Meghan Markle Will Be Jog Prce Harry Germany for the Invict Gam</div></div></div></a><div class="SummaryItemByleWrapper-boCfbi hYsZi summary-em__byle-date-in"><div class="SummaryItemBaseByle-fFbXkY gRtaxp summary-em__byle"><div class="summary-em__byle__ntent"><div data-ttid="BylWrapper" class="BylWrapper-KIudk irTIfE byl"><p class="ByleWrapper-jWHrLH iNSiTG byle byl__byle" data-ttid="ByleWrapper" emProp="thor" emType="><span emProp="name" class="ByleNamWrapper-jbHncj fuDQVo"><span data-ttid="ByleName" class="ByleName-kwmrLn cYaBaU byle__name"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ BylePreamble-iJolpQ iUEiRd bIbWCO gnILss byle__preamble">By </span>Er Vanrhoof</span></span></p></div></div></div></div></div></div></li><li><div class="SummaryItemWrapper-iwvBff cOtZkL summary-em summary-em--has-borr summary-em--ARTICLE summary-em--no-in summary-em--text-align-left summary-em--layout-placement-si-by-si summary-em--layout-posn-image-left summary-em--layout-proportns-33-66 summary-em--si-by-si-align-center summary-em--si-by-si-image-right-mobile-false summary-em--standard RecircMostPopularSummaryItem-jQxxiw jkeAv" role="button" tabx="0"><div class="SummaryItemAssetContaer-gwhFFH VOyg summary-em__asset-ntaer"><a class="SummaryItemImageLk-dshqxb cPpCwE summary-em__image-lk summary-em-trackg__image-lk" href=" aria-hidn="te" tabx="-1" data-ponent-type="recirc-river" data-recirc-id="em-image-3" data-recirc-pattern="summary-em" target="_self"><span class="SpanWrapper-umhxW kGxnNB rponsive-asset SummaryItemRponsiveAsset-hjGIGg egpoQR summary-em__image"><div data-tt="aspect-rat-ntaer" class="AspectRatContaer-bJHpJz hlQxkn"><div class="aspect-rat--overlay-ntaer"><picture class="RponsiveImagePicture-cWuUZO dUOtEa SummaryItemRponsiveAsset-hjGIGg egpoQR summary-em__image rponsive-image"><noscript><source media="(max-width: 767px)" srcSet="" siz="100vw"/><source media="(m-width: 768px)" srcSet="" siz="100vw"/><img alt="The Tan Submersible Disaster Was Years the Makg, New Details Reveal" class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src="></noscript></picture></div></div></span></a></div><div class="SummaryItemContent-eiDYMl clSLtF summary-em__ntent summary-em__ntent--no-bric"><a class="SummaryItemHedLk-civM fPFrPI summary-em-trackg__hed-lk summary-em__hed-lk" data-ponent-type="recirc-river" data-recirc-id="em-hed-3" data-recirc-pattern="summary-em" href=" target="_self"><div data-ttid="ClampWrapper" class="ClampWrapper-kZxfkB hTTNGO clamp SummaryItemHedBase-hiFYpQ hRVxvR summary-em__hed"><div class="ClampContent-hilPkr jVhSBH"><div class="SummaryItemHedTag-TWblf gxaOcP" data-ttid="SummaryItemHed">The <em>Tan</em> Submersible Disaster Was Years the Makg, New Details Reveal</div></div></div></a><div class="SummaryItemByleWrapper-boCfbi hYsZi summary-em__byle-date-in"><div class="SummaryItemBaseByle-fFbXkY gRtaxp summary-em__byle"><div class="summary-em__byle__ntent"><div data-ttid="BylWrapper" class="BylWrapper-KIudk irTIfE byl"><p class="ByleWrapper-jWHrLH iNSiTG byle byl__byle" data-ttid="ByleWrapper" emProp="thor" emType="><span emProp="name" class="ByleNamWrapper-jbHncj fuDQVo"><span data-ttid="ByleName" class="ByleName-kwmrLn cYaBaU byle__name"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ BylePreamble-iJolpQ iUEiRd bIbWCO gnILss byle__preamble">By </span>San Casey</span></span></p></div></div></div></div></div></div></li><li><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ RecircMostPopularSummaryItem-jQxxiw fHLKqj ad ad--asi"><div class="ad__slot ad__slot--asi" data-no-id="cp3ye"></div></div></li></ul><div class="RecircMostPopularFooter-enPjgs eAuebe"></div></div></div></div><div class="StickyBoxPlaceholr-grPmrg dxAvXx"></div></div></div></div><div class="RowWrapper-UmqTg HEhan full-bleed-ad row-mid-ntent-ad"><div class="StickyMidContentAdWrapper-fSBzwl drzyIa ad-stickymidntent"><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ ad ad--mid-ntent should-hold-space"><div class="ad__slot ad__slot--mid-ntent" data-no-id="0ds4lr"></div></div></div></div><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK kHBDeH grid grid-margs grid-ems-2 ArticlePageChunksGrid-hfxa bjczjj grid-layout--adrail narrow wi-adrail"><div class="GridItem-buujkM stRKV grid--em grid-layout__ntent"><div class="BodyWrapper-kufPGa lnwCqV body body__ntaer article__body" data-journey-hook="client-ntent" data-ttid="BodyWrapper"><div class="body__ner-ntaer"><p class="paywall">Acrdg to Herndon, “About the year 1835-36 Mr. Lln went to Beardstown and durg a vilish passn had nnectn wh a girl and ught the disease [syphilis]. Lln told me this…. About the year 1836-37 Lln moved to Sprgfield … at this time I suppose that the disease hung to him and not wishg to tst our physicians, he wrote a note to Doctor Drake … ” He was treated by him Ccnati: prumably wh mercury. Was he cured? By 1840 he was engaged to the well-born Mary Todd. Lln was a risg man the polil world of Illois and so mt have a wife and a fay. But sudnly he broke off the engagement. Took to his bed. Wrote a poem lled “Suici,” which was published the Sprgfield newspaper, later to be secretly cut out of the file py. Herndon’s mentary on all this is cryptic. He suggts that the early aths of two of Lln’s sons and Tad’s disabily speakg, and then Mary Todd’s headach, breakdowns, madns, tails of which seem to nform to the *Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy’*s scriptn of paris-syphilis—although we have sce learned that an topsy was performed on her head (odd, sce even 1882 the whole body would have been examed). Anyway, there may be a rerd at Walter Reed Hospal or there may not be. More to the pot at hand, why did Tripp not unt the Beardstown girl Lln’s heterosre? And the whore a Sprgfield boardghoe whom Lln vised? She wanted three dollars. He had ls. He asked for cred; then, acrdg to Herndon, she simply charged him nothg.</p><p class="paywall">So here we are; history, too. The magisterial Profsor David Herbert Donald disagre wh Tripp’s terpretatn of Lln’s timate life, but he also rejects Herndon’s versn on a key pot. Sce Profsor Donald wrote a superb book lled <em>Lln’s Herndon,</em> he is turng, as were, on one of his own characters. Profsor Donald is our foremost thory on Lln and so backed by much of the history tablishment. Tripp is a maverick wh new rmatn and a different synthis. Neher Donald nor Tripp nor, ed, Herndon’s ghost n prove his se. Lln’s ghost is no doubt ready to chat—wh, I spect, a story, possibly obscene.</p><div data-attr-viewport-monor="le-recirc" class="le-recirc-wrapper le-recirc-observer-target-2 viewport-monor-anchor"></div><p class="paywall">Some years ago at Harvard, Profsor Donald and I were answerg an dience’s qutns apropos of the Massey lectur that I was givg. One urgent profsor wanted to discs Lln’s homosexualy, which I had ignored my study of his princy and Profsor Donald tend to discred. He and I were also agreement that, te or false, what did sex have to do wh his nduct of the Civil War, the emancipatn of slav?</p><p class="paywall">I have now read Profsor Donald’s <em>We Are Lln Men,</em> and though he do not agree wh Tripp’s nclns, their profsnal relatns seem to have been amiable. Tripp is quick to acknowledge an ocsnal bt to Donald’s work, which might expla the absence of the Beardstown girl Tripp’s study. Profsor Donald is a pre-Kseyan and so do not endorse the possibily of genal ntact between Lln and Speed, and, later, between Lln and Bucktail Capta Derickson. Here is Profsor Donald on Beardstown: “Equally ntroversial, and equally unprovable, is another timate nfsn Lln allegedly ma to Herndon. Late life, Herndon told his lerary llaborator, Weik, that “Lln had, <em>when a mere boy,</em> the syphilis about the year 1835-36.” (Which means that mere boy Lln was 26 or 27, by which time Alexanr the Great had nquered most of the known world … ) “For this story, which Herndon wrote more than fifty years after Lln’s alleged pa and more than twenty years after his ath, there is no nfirmatory evince.” (In so lite a matter, is there apt to be any?) “Lln never told to anyone else.” (How on earth do we know?) “Not even to Joshua Speed, wh whom he was sharg a bed at this time.” (I should thk not particularly to Speed, whose bed might have been ntamated by Lln’s disease, particularly if, like so many men of his day, he suffered om syphilophobia, which, Donald suggts, might have been the orig of Lln’s story to Herndon about his own alleged syphilis, which, if he did tell him such a story, might have been the rult of a mon fear among relatively experienced mal at a time when syphilis, like AIDS today, uld be a killer.) Donald even quot another historian, Charl B. Stozier, who thks that Lln’s nfsn to Herndon—if te—revealed more about his sexual nfn and ignorance than about the state of his health. (About what, then, is he nfed? Of what is he ignorant?) Are we then to believe that a brilliant lawyer nearg 30 knows next to nothg about heterosexualy a town where girls are available for three dollars?</p></div></div></div><div class="GridItem-buujkM fVLMby grid--em grid-layout__asi"><div class="StickyBoxWrapper-jfYB jxBcTH sticky-box"><div class="StickyBoxPrimary-dzWDWL cdhYoN sticky-box__primary"><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ ad ad--rail"><div class="ad__slot ad__slot--rail" data-no-id="upkiae"></div></div><div class="ConsumerMarketgUnThemedWrapper-iUTMTf jssHut nsumer-marketg-un nsumer-marketg-un--display-rail" role="prentatn" aria-hidn="te"><div class="nsumer-marketg-un__slot nsumer-marketg-un__slot--display-rail"></div><div class="journey-un"></div></div><div data-attr-viewport-monor="" class="RecircMostPopularWrapper-bRuGTi jkTTgR recirc-most-popular-wrapper viewport-monor-anchor"><div class="RecircMostPopularConter-jiViNn ktrplG recirc-most-popular-sparrow-trackg hi-asi-ad" data-most-popular-id="mod-most-popular-53"><div 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class="AspectRatContaer-bJHpJz hlQxkn"><div class="aspect-rat--overlay-ntaer"><picture class="RponsiveImagePicture-cWuUZO dUOtEa SummaryItemRponsiveAsset-hjGIGg egpoQR summary-em__image rponsive-image"><noscript><source media="(max-width: 767px)" srcSet="" siz="100vw"/><source media="(m-width: 768px)" srcSet="" siz="100vw"/><img alt="Geia Republins Say They'll Move to Remove Fulton County DA Fani Willis From Office Wh New State Law" class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src="></noscript></picture></div></div></span></a></div><div class="SummaryItemContent-eiDYMl clSLtF summary-em__ntent summary-em__ntent--no-bric"><a class="SummaryItemHedLk-civM fPFrPI summary-em-trackg__hed-lk summary-em__hed-lk" data-ponent-type="recirc-river" data-recirc-id="em-hed-1" data-recirc-pattern="summary-em" href=" target="_self"><div data-ttid="ClampWrapper" class="ClampWrapper-kZxfkB hTTNGO clamp SummaryItemHedBase-hiFYpQ hRVxvR summary-em__hed"><div class="ClampContent-hilPkr 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siz="100vw"/><source media="(m-width: 768px)" srcSet="" siz="100vw"/><img alt="Meghan Markle Will Be Jog Prce Harry Germany for the Invict Gam" class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src="></noscript></picture></div></div></span></a></div><div class="SummaryItemContent-eiDYMl clSLtF summary-em__ntent summary-em__ntent--no-bric"><a class="SummaryItemHedLk-civM fPFrPI summary-em-trackg__hed-lk summary-em__hed-lk" data-ponent-type="recirc-river" data-recirc-id="em-hed-2" data-recirc-pattern="summary-em" href=" target="_self"><div data-ttid="ClampWrapper" class="ClampWrapper-kZxfkB hTTNGO clamp SummaryItemHedBase-hiFYpQ hRVxvR summary-em__hed"><div class="ClampContent-hilPkr jVhSBH"><div class="SummaryItemHedTag-TWblf gxaOcP" data-ttid="SummaryItemHed">Meghan Markle Will Be Jog Prce Harry Germany for the Invict Gam</div></div></div></a><div class="SummaryItemByleWrapper-boCfbi hYsZi summary-em__byle-date-in"><div class="SummaryItemBaseByle-fFbXkY gRtaxp summary-em__byle"><div class="summary-em__byle__ntent"><div data-ttid="BylWrapper" class="BylWrapper-KIudk irTIfE byl"><p class="ByleWrapper-jWHrLH iNSiTG byle byl__byle" data-ttid="ByleWrapper" emProp="thor" emType="><span emProp="name" class="ByleNamWrapper-jbHncj fuDQVo"><span data-ttid="ByleName" class="ByleName-kwmrLn cYaBaU byle__name"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ BylePreamble-iJolpQ iUEiRd bIbWCO gnILss byle__preamble">By </span>Er Vanrhoof</span></span></p></div></div></div></div></div></div></li><li><div class="SummaryItemWrapper-iwvBff cOtZkL summary-em summary-em--has-borr summary-em--ARTICLE summary-em--no-in summary-em--text-align-left summary-em--layout-placement-si-by-si summary-em--layout-posn-image-left summary-em--layout-proportns-33-66 summary-em--si-by-si-align-center summary-em--si-by-si-image-right-mobile-false summary-em--standard RecircMostPopularSummaryItem-jQxxiw jkeAv" role="button" tabx="0"><div class="SummaryItemAssetContaer-gwhFFH VOyg 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summary-em__ntent--no-bric"><a class="SummaryItemHedLk-civM fPFrPI summary-em-trackg__hed-lk summary-em__hed-lk" data-ponent-type="recirc-river" data-recirc-id="em-hed-3" data-recirc-pattern="summary-em" href=" target="_self"><div data-ttid="ClampWrapper" class="ClampWrapper-kZxfkB hTTNGO clamp SummaryItemHedBase-hiFYpQ hRVxvR summary-em__hed"><div class="ClampContent-hilPkr jVhSBH"><div class="SummaryItemHedTag-TWblf gxaOcP" data-ttid="SummaryItemHed">The <em>Tan</em> Submersible Disaster Was Years the Makg, New Details Reveal</div></div></div></a><div class="SummaryItemByleWrapper-boCfbi hYsZi summary-em__byle-date-in"><div class="SummaryItemBaseByle-fFbXkY gRtaxp summary-em__byle"><div class="summary-em__byle__ntent"><div data-ttid="BylWrapper" class="BylWrapper-KIudk irTIfE byl"><p class="ByleWrapper-jWHrLH iNSiTG byle byl__byle" data-ttid="ByleWrapper" emProp="thor" emType="><span emProp="name" class="ByleNamWrapper-jbHncj fuDQVo"><span data-ttid="ByleName" class="ByleName-kwmrLn cYaBaU byle__name"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ BylePreamble-iJolpQ iUEiRd bIbWCO gnILss byle__preamble">By </span>San Casey</span></span></p></div></div></div></div></div></div></li><li><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ RecircMostPopularSummaryItem-jQxxiw fHLKqj ad ad--asi"><div class="ad__slot ad__slot--asi" data-no-id="g7l3ag"></div></div></li></ul><div class="RecircMostPopularFooter-enPjgs eAuebe"></div></div></div></div><div class="StickyBoxPlaceholr-grPmrg dxAvXx"></div></div></div></div><div class="RowWrapper-UmqTg HEhan full-bleed-ad row-mid-ntent-ad"><div class="StickyMidContentAdWrapper-fSBzwl drzyIa ad-stickymidntent"><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ ad ad--mid-ntent should-hold-space"><div class="ad__slot ad__slot--mid-ntent" data-no-id="i5ydv"></div></div></div></div><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK kHBDeH grid grid-margs grid-ems-2 ArticlePageChunksGrid-hfxa bjczjj grid-layout--adrail narrow wi-adrail"><div class="GridItem-buujkM stRKV grid--em grid-layout__ntent"><div class="BodyWrapper-kufPGa lnwCqV body body__ntaer article__body" data-journey-hook="client-ntent" data-ttid="BodyWrapper"><div class="body__ner-ntaer"><p class="paywall">Sce Donald rejects Herndon’s story, Tripp doubtls feels ee to ignore the Beardstown girl, too. This buttrs his se that Lln was not fond of girls. Donald’s rejectn of Herndon this matter is no doubt due to a certa reluctance to adm that so great a man uld have had syphilis or trafficked wh a three-dollar whore. Sce none of has much to go on beyond what Herndon says Lln said, why should anyone thk that Herndon was makg up a story that sts no glory, rather the reverse, on his hero? Ann Rutledge is his one great untth, which do make the young Lln sound like a totally normal youth heartbroken to have lost his first love. This was a faiar 19th-century dodge of the lifelong bachelor tryg to expla why he had never found Miss Right. Print Buchanan had some succs this le.</p><p class="paywall">Although I did once agree wh Profsor Donald that Lln’s sex life sheds no particular light on his public life, I am now trigued by some of the generali Dr. Ksey ma about mal who go early to puberty. Prec sexually, they are apt to be prec psychologilly. Lln’s unrstandg of the adult world began early, and this gave him not only a sense of the broad picture but cled him to empathy for others unlike himself. He had also avoid the hang-ups of those doctrated their teens wh the folklore of the time which nmned masturbatn and same-sexualy as evils, while Lln knew firsthand that they were not. From that sgle sight was no great step to regnize that the enslavement of one race by another was, spe St. Pl’s plaisance, a te evil.</p><p class="paywall">Some have plored Lln’s difference to Christiany. But was not relign, was religsy that put him off. Fally, as the Civil War got more and more bloody, he began to adjure Heaven and the Almighty though not any particular creed. On this pot Tripp mak much of Lln’s preference for ethics over moraly. The first word om the Lat for “ctoms” and the send om the Greek for “ctoms,” but there is a world of difference between the two words. Moraly, wh which Lln had ltle to do, is relig-based, which means that the name of relign, say, homosexualy uld be proscribed as immoral—and was—while ethics tends to al wh law, e and effect, logic, empiricism. Tripp wr, “Sce boyhood Lln displayed a marked pacy to see the big picture life and to not be swerved asi by smaller (moral) nsiratns.” This already sounds much like ethics, based on wily shared valu and pol apart om the petty differenc honored by oppose sis of the (proverbial) railroad tracks.</p><p class="paywall">Over the years, Herndon nvassed many of Lln’s iends and acquatanc about Lln’s character and beliefs. The lawyer Leonard Swett’s reply was dated January 17, 1866. After scribg a masterful handlg of a bet crisis that saved Lln’s admistratn, Swett sums up: “One great public mistake of his character as generally received and acquiced —he is nsired by the people of this untry as a ank, guilels, unsophistited man. There never was a greater mistake. Beneath a smooth surface of ndor and an apparent claratn of all his thoughts and feelgs, he exercised the most exalted tact and the wist discrimatn. He handled and moved man <em>remotely</em> as we do piec upon a chsboard. He retaed through life, all the iends he ever had, and he ma the wrath of his enemi to praise him. This was not by cunng, or trigue the low acceptatn of the term, but by far seeg, reason and discernment. He always told enough only, of his plans and purpos, to duce the belief that he had munited all; yet he rerved enough, fact, to have munited nothg. He told all that was unimportant wh a ghg ankns; yet no man ever kept his real purpos more closely, or perated the future further wh his ep signs.”</p><p class="paywall">Fally, whout this great ethil Lln there would be no <em>Uned</em> Stat and spe our current divisns, we should be forever grateful not only to him, but of urse to his Creator, who, on our behalf, brought him to an early puberty; th, makg our rtored Unn God’s untry.</p><p class="paywall"><strong>One of Ameri’s pre-ement historians and novelists, Gore Vidal is the thor of <em>Lln: A Novel,</em> among many other tl.</strong></p></div></div></div><div class="GridItem-buujkM fVLMby grid--em grid-layout__asi"><div class="StickyBoxWrapper-jfYB jxBcTH sticky-box"><div class="StickyBoxPrimary-dzWDWL cdhYoN sticky-box__primary"><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ ad ad--rail"><div class="ad__slot ad__slot--rail" data-no-id="chjnqm"></div></div><div class="ConsumerMarketgUnThemedWrapper-iUTMTf jssHut nsumer-marketg-un nsumer-marketg-un--display-rail" role="prentatn" aria-hidn="te"><div class="nsumer-marketg-un__slot nsumer-marketg-un__slot--display-rail"></div><div class="journey-un"></div></div></div><div class="StickyBoxPlaceholr-grPmrg dxAvXx"></div></div></div></div></div><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK kHBDeH grid grid-margs grid-ems-2 PaywallInleBarrierWhWrapperGrid-fyrGfS kLQIUk grid-layout--adrail narrow wi-adrail"><div class="GridItem-buujkM stRKV grid--em grid-layout__ntent"><div class="body body__le-barrier article__body"><div class="ntaer ntaer--body"><div class="ntaer--body-ner"><asi class="PaywallInleBarrierWrapper-iBnuqk lfXXa-D" data-ttid="PaywallInleBarrierWrapper"><div class="ConsumerMarketgUnThemedWrapper-iUTMTf jssHut nsumer-marketg-un nsumer-marketg-un--paywall-le-barrier" role="prentatn" aria-live="pole" aria-hidn="te"><div class="nsumer-marketg-un__slot nsumer-marketg-un__slot--paywall-le-barrier"></div><div class="journey-un"></div></div></asi></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK kHBDeH grid grid-margs grid-ems-2 ContentWrapperGrid-fvkmBv brYtrA grid-layout--adrail narrow wi-adrail"><div class="GridItem-buujkM stRKV grid--em grid-layout__ntent"><div class="body body__ntaer"><div class="ntaer ntaer--body"><div class="ntaer--body-ner"></div></div></div></div></div></div></article><div class="ContentFooterWrapper-jVNdRG dTJkpP ArticlePageContentFooterGrid-ccsXYy eMZRHU article-body__footer"><div class="ContentFooterContributorSpotlightWrapper-jglHff edmTAt"><sectn data-ttid="ContributorSpotlightContaer" class="ContributorSpotlightContaer-ccVxgz fwlOPD"><div class="ContributorSpotlightInnerContaer-elBox jSvXVx"><div class="ContributorSpotlightSgleColumn-idLiJU goRdaE"><sectn class="ContributorSpotlightSummaryGrid-jZdHDE hJMn"><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK hvFIAc grid grid-ems-2 ContributorSpotlightMaSectnGrid-kYVLYK gpZeIC"><div class="GridItem-buujkM eHLzLy grid--em"><div class="ContributorHearWrapper-cMHleS bnIcwz"><div class="ContributorGrid-fKcSKO fnuDrA"><div class="ContributorHearContent-gJdnVA cyzBPN"><div class="ContributorDenseHearWrapper-gwHjlj jdTgya"><div class="ContributorNameAndTleWrapper-jlSeaF ifAFdg"><h1 data-ttid="ContributorHearName" class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ ContributorHearName-fNrWXe iUEiRd cSfQOi clPwUE">Gore Vidal</h1></div></div><a href="/ntributor/gore-vidal" class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ BaseLk-eNWuiM ContributorHearSeeMoreLk-iRIKOz iUEiRd bJVYxx UDwfc gkcXuI">See More By Gore Vidal <!-- -->»</a></div></div></div></div><div class="GridItem-buujkM eHLzLy grid--em"></div><div class="GridItem-buujkM kHPPIF grid--em"></div></div></sectn></div></div></sectn></div><div class="RowWrapper-UmqTg HEhan"><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK kHBDeH grid grid-margs grid-ems-2 grid-layout--adrail narrow wi-adrail"><div class="GridItem-buujkM stRKV grid--em grid-layout__ntent"></div></div></div><div data-ttid="ContentFooterBottom" class="ContentFooterBottom-jwWZfC kcbyiW"><div class="ntent-bottom-anchor"></div><div class="ConsumerMarketgUnThemedWrapper-iUTMTf jssHut nsumer-marketg-un nsumer-marketg-un--article-footer" role="prentatn" aria-hidn="te"><div class="nsumer-marketg-un__slot nsumer-marketg-un__slot--article-footer"></div><div class="journey-un"></div></div><div data-attr-viewport-monor="" class="recirc-list-wrapper viewport-monor-anchor"><div class="RowWrapper-UmqTg HEhan ContentFooterRelated-kEBiFe kVUuwq"><div class="GridWrapper-cAzTTK eRggVV grid grid-margs grid-ems-0 SummaryCollectnGridComponent-ktyEog bdTTVU summary-llectn-grid RecircListDefltOverlaySummaryCollectnGrid-AHJhY bEaXiL recirc-list__ems summary-llectn-grid--four-lumns summary-llectn-grid--TextBelowLeft"><div class="GridItem-buujkM kHPPIF grid--em"><div class="SummaryCollectnGridContent-eVUpRm gOErDJ"><div class="SectnTleRoot-dBGvdq gZGsZC SummaryCollectnGridSectnTle-fCmYwG izjbVn" data-ttid="SectnTle"><hear class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ SectnTleHed-dKqZet dxqEAa ktpdQe jttyjJ">Read More</hear></div><div class="SummaryCollectnGridItems-DZShR iWpCgr hi-read-more-ad" data-ttid="SummaryCollectnGridItems"><div class="SummaryItemWrapper-iwvBff fKazuH summary-em summary-em--has-le summary-em--ARTICLE summary-em--no-in summary-em--text-align-left summary-em--layout-placement-text-below summary-em--layout-posn-image-left summary-em--layout-proportns-50-50 summary-em--si-by-si-align-center summary-em--si-by-si-image-right-mobile-false summary-em--standard SummaryCollectnGridSummaryItem-WColm jKSnXN" role="button" tabx="0"><div class="SummaryItemAssetContaer-gwhFFH VOyg summary-em__asset-ntaer"><a class="SummaryItemImageLk-dshqxb cPpCwE summary-em__image-lk summary-em-trackg__image-lk" href=" aria-hidn="te" tabx="-1" data-ponent-type="recirc-river" data-recirc-id="em-image-1" data-recirc-pattern="summary-em" target="_self"><span class="SpanWrapper-umhxW kGxnNB rponsive-asset SummaryItemRponsiveAsset-hjGIGg bDvSkO summary-em__image"><div data-tt="aspect-rat-ntaer" class="AspectRatContaer-bJHpJz hlQxkn"><div class="aspect-rat--overlay-ntaer"><picture class="RponsiveImagePicture-cWuUZO dUOtEa SummaryItemRponsiveAsset-hjGIGg bDvSkO summary-em__image rponsive-image"><noscript><source media="(max-width: 767px)" srcSet="" siz="100vw"/><source media="(m-width: 768px)" srcSet="" siz="100vw"/><img alt="Moni Lewsky: 25 “Randoms” on the 25th Anniversary of the Bill Clton Calamy" class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src="></noscript></picture></div></div></span></a></div><div class="SummaryItemContent-eiDYMl clSLtF summary-em__ntent"><div class="RubricWrapper-dKmCNX hXRWeY bric bric--disvery SummaryItemRubric-dguGKN lapGFj summary-em__bric"><span class="RubricName-fVtemz cLxcNi">News</span></div><a class="SummaryItemHedLk-civM cxlTHI summary-em-trackg__hed-lk summary-em__hed-lk" data-ponent-type="recirc-river" data-recirc-id="em-hed-1" data-recirc-pattern="summary-em" href=" target="_self"><div data-ttid="ClampWrapper" class="ClampWrapper-kZxfkB hTTNGO clamp SummaryItemHedBase-hiFYpQ drYWLe summary-em__hed"><div class="ClampContent-hilPkr jVhSBH"><div class="SummaryItemHedTag-TWblf gxaOcP" data-ttid="SummaryItemHed">Moni Lewsky: 25 “Randoms” on the 25th Anniversary of the Bill Clton Calamy</div></div></div></a><div class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ SummaryItemDek-CRfsi iUEiRd ijSOpT jDyfzW summary-em__k">My name beme public 25 years ago this week. What have I observed and learned the quarter century sce? Oh, plenty.</div><div class="SummaryItemByleWrapper-boCfbi hYsZi summary-em__byle-date-in"><div class="SummaryItemBaseByle-fFbXkY gRtaxp summary-em__byle"><div class="summary-em__byle__ntent"><div data-ttid="BylWrapper" class="BylWrapper-KIudk irTIfE byl"><p class="ByleWrapper-jWHrLH iNSiTG byle byl__byle" data-ttid="ByleWrapper" emProp="thor" emType="><span emProp="name" class="ByleNamWrapper-jbHncj fuDQVo"><span data-ttid="ByleName" class="ByleName-kwmrLn cYaBaU byle__name"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ BylePreamble-iJolpQ iUEiRd bIbWCO gnILss byle__preamble">By </span>Moni Lewsky</span></span></p></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="SummaryItemWrapper-iwvBff fKazuH summary-em summary-em--has-le summary-em--ARTICLE summary-em--no-in summary-em--text-align-left summary-em--layout-placement-text-below summary-em--layout-posn-image-left summary-em--layout-proportns-50-50 summary-em--si-by-si-align-center summary-em--si-by-si-image-right-mobile-false summary-em--standard SummaryCollectnGridSummaryItem-WColm jKSnXN" role="button" tabx="0"><div class="SummaryItemAssetContaer-gwhFFH VOyg summary-em__asset-ntaer"><a class="SummaryItemImageLk-dshqxb cPpCwE summary-em__image-lk summary-em-trackg__image-lk" href=" aria-hidn="te" tabx="-1" data-ponent-type="recirc-river" data-recirc-id="em-image-2" data-recirc-pattern="summary-em" target="_self"><span class="SpanWrapper-umhxW kGxnNB rponsive-asset SummaryItemRponsiveAsset-hjGIGg bDvSkO summary-em__image"><div data-tt="aspect-rat-ntaer" class="AspectRatContaer-bJHpJz hlQxkn"><div class="aspect-rat--overlay-ntaer"><picture class="RponsiveImagePicture-cWuUZO dUOtEa SummaryItemRponsiveAsset-hjGIGg bDvSkO summary-em__image rponsive-image"><noscript><source media="(max-width: 767px)" srcSet="" siz="100vw"/><source media="(m-width: 768px)" srcSet="" siz="100vw"/><img alt="“Fuck Bin,” “Don’t Tread on Me,” and a Wisns Death Trip for Our Tim" class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src="></noscript></picture></div></div></span></a></div><div class="SummaryItemContent-eiDYMl clSLtF summary-em__ntent"><div class="RubricWrapper-dKmCNX hXRWeY bric bric--disvery SummaryItemRubric-dguGKN lapGFj summary-em__bric"><span class="RubricName-fVtemz cLxcNi">Polics</span></div><a class="SummaryItemHedLk-civM cxlTHI summary-em-trackg__hed-lk summary-em__hed-lk" data-ponent-type="recirc-river" data-recirc-id="em-hed-2" data-recirc-pattern="summary-em" href=" target="_self"><div data-ttid="ClampWrapper" class="ClampWrapper-kZxfkB hTTNGO clamp SummaryItemHedBase-hiFYpQ drYWLe summary-em__hed"><div class="ClampContent-hilPkr jVhSBH"><div class="SummaryItemHedTag-TWblf gxaOcP" data-ttid="SummaryItemHed">“Fuck Bin,” “Don’t Tread on Me,” and a Wisns Death Trip for Our Tim</div></div></div></a><div class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ SummaryItemDek-CRfsi iUEiRd ijSOpT jDyfzW summary-em__k">The thor knocks on the doors bearg the darkt symbols, behd which lie guns, ammo, antisemism, antiabortn dogma—and a belief the g civil war.</div><div class="SummaryItemByleWrapper-boCfbi hYsZi summary-em__byle-date-in"><div class="SummaryItemBaseByle-fFbXkY gRtaxp summary-em__byle"><div class="summary-em__byle__ntent"><div data-ttid="BylWrapper" class="BylWrapper-KIudk irTIfE byl"><p class="ByleWrapper-jWHrLH iNSiTG byle byl__byle" data-ttid="ByleWrapper" emProp="thor" emType="><span emProp="name" class="ByleNamWrapper-jbHncj fuDQVo"><span data-ttid="ByleName" class="ByleName-kwmrLn cYaBaU byle__name"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ BylePreamble-iJolpQ iUEiRd bIbWCO gnILss byle__preamble">By </span>Jeff Sharlet</span></span></p></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="SummaryItemWrapper-iwvBff fKazuH summary-em summary-em--has-le summary-em--ARTICLE summary-em--no-in summary-em--text-align-left summary-em--layout-placement-text-below summary-em--layout-posn-image-left summary-em--layout-proportns-50-50 summary-em--si-by-si-align-center summary-em--si-by-si-image-right-mobile-false summary-em--standard SummaryCollectnGridSummaryItem-WColm jKSnXN" role="button" tabx="0"><div class="SummaryItemAssetContaer-gwhFFH VOyg summary-em__asset-ntaer"><a class="SummaryItemImageLk-dshqxb cPpCwE summary-em__image-lk summary-em-trackg__image-lk" href=" aria-hidn="te" tabx="-1" data-ponent-type="recirc-river" data-recirc-id="em-image-3" data-recirc-pattern="summary-em" target="_self"><span class="SpanWrapper-umhxW kGxnNB rponsive-asset SummaryItemRponsiveAsset-hjGIGg bDvSkO summary-em__image"><div data-tt="aspect-rat-ntaer" class="AspectRatContaer-bJHpJz hlQxkn"><div class="aspect-rat--overlay-ntaer"><picture class="RponsiveImagePicture-cWuUZO dUOtEa SummaryItemRponsiveAsset-hjGIGg bDvSkO summary-em__image rponsive-image"><noscript><source media="(max-width: 767px)" srcSet="" siz="100vw"/><source media="(m-width: 768px)" srcSet="" siz="100vw"/><img alt="Rupert Murdoch and Ann Lley Smh Call Off Their Engagement" class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src="></noscript></picture></div></div></span></a></div><div class="SummaryItemContent-eiDYMl clSLtF summary-em__ntent"><div class="RubricWrapper-dKmCNX hXRWeY bric bric--disvery SummaryItemRubric-dguGKN lapGFj summary-em__bric"><span class="RubricName-fVtemz cLxcNi">Bs</span></div><a class="SummaryItemHedLk-civM cxlTHI summary-em-trackg__hed-lk summary-em__hed-lk" data-ponent-type="recirc-river" data-recirc-id="em-hed-3" data-recirc-pattern="summary-em" href=" target="_self"><div data-ttid="ClampWrapper" class="ClampWrapper-kZxfkB hTTNGO clamp SummaryItemHedBase-hiFYpQ drYWLe summary-em__hed"><div class="ClampContent-hilPkr jVhSBH"><div class="SummaryItemHedTag-TWblf gxaOcP" data-ttid="SummaryItemHed">Rupert Murdoch and Ann Lley Smh Call Off Their Engagement </div></div></div></a><div class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ SummaryItemDek-CRfsi iUEiRd ijSOpT jDyfzW summary-em__k">The 92-year-old media mogul announced his engagement to the 66-year-old former ntal hygienist a snt two weeks ago, followg last year’s divorce om his fourth wife, Jerry Hall.</div><div class="SummaryItemByleWrapper-boCfbi hYsZi summary-em__byle-date-in"><div class="SummaryItemBaseByle-fFbXkY gRtaxp summary-em__byle"><div class="summary-em__byle__ntent"><div data-ttid="BylWrapper" class="BylWrapper-KIudk irTIfE byl"><p class="ByleWrapper-jWHrLH iNSiTG byle byl__byle" data-ttid="ByleWrapper" emProp="thor" emType="><span emProp="name" class="ByleNamWrapper-jbHncj fuDQVo"><span data-ttid="ByleName" class="ByleName-kwmrLn cYaBaU byle__name"><span class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ BylePreamble-iJolpQ iUEiRd bIbWCO gnILss byle__preamble">By </span>Gabriel Sherman</span></span></p></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="AdWrapper-dQtivb fZrssQ SummaryCollectnGridSummaryItem-WColm jKSnXN ad ad--read-more"><div class="ad__slot ad__slot--read-more" data-no-id="lipyx"></div></div><div class="SummaryItemWrapper-iwvBff fKazuH summary-em summary-em--has-le summary-em--ARTICLE summary-em--no-in summary-em--text-align-left summary-em--layout-placement-text-below summary-em--layout-posn-image-left summary-em--layout-proportns-50-50 summary-em--si-by-si-align-center summary-em--si-by-si-image-right-mobile-false summary-em--standard SummaryCollectnGridSummaryItem-WColm jKSnXN" role="button" tabx="0"><div class="SummaryItemAssetContaer-gwhFFH VOyg summary-em__asset-ntaer"><a class="SummaryItemImageLk-dshqxb cPpCwE summary-em__image-lk summary-em-trackg__image-lk" href=" aria-hidn="te" tabx="-1" data-ponent-type="recirc-river" data-recirc-id="em-image-4" data-recirc-pattern="summary-em" target="_self"><span class="SpanWrapper-umhxW kGxnNB rponsive-asset SummaryItemRponsiveAsset-hjGIGg bDvSkO summary-em__image"><div data-tt="aspect-rat-ntaer" class="AspectRatContaer-bJHpJz hlQxkn"><div class="aspect-rat--overlay-ntaer"><picture class="RponsiveImagePicture-cWuUZO dUOtEa SummaryItemRponsiveAsset-hjGIGg bDvSkO summary-em__image rponsive-image"><noscript><source media="(max-width: 767px)" srcSet="" siz="100vw"/><source media="(m-width: 768px)" srcSet="" siz="100vw"/><img alt="COVID-19 Origs: Invtigatg a “Complex and Grave Suatn” Insi a Wuhan Lab" class="RponsiveImageContaer-eybHBd fptoWY rponsive-image__image" src="></noscript></picture></div></div></span></a></div><div class="SummaryItemContent-eiDYMl clSLtF summary-em__ntent"><div class="RubricWrapper-dKmCNX hXRWeY bric bric--disvery SummaryItemRubric-dguGKN lapGFj summary-em__bric"><span class="RubricName-fVtemz cLxcNi">Polics</span></div><a class="SummaryItemHedLk-civM cxlTHI summary-em-trackg__hed-lk summary-em__hed-lk" data-ponent-type="recirc-river" data-recirc-id="em-hed-4" data-recirc-pattern="summary-em" href=" target="_self"><div data-ttid="ClampWrapper" class="ClampWrapper-kZxfkB hTTNGO clamp SummaryItemHedBase-hiFYpQ drYWLe summary-em__hed"><div class="ClampContent-hilPkr jVhSBH"><div class="SummaryItemHedTag-TWblf gxaOcP" data-ttid="SummaryItemHed">COVID-19 Origs: Invtigatg a “Complex and Grave Suatn” Insi a Wuhan Lab</div></div></div></a><div class="BaseWrap-sc-gjQpdd BaseText-ewhhUZ SummaryItemDek-CRfsi iUEiRd ijSOpT jDyfzW summary-em__k">The Wuhan Instute of Virology, the cuttg-edge btech facily at the center of swirlg spicns about the panmic’s onset, was far more troubled than prevly known, explosive documents unearthed by a Senate rearch team reveal. 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abraham lincoln gay letters

THE BACK PAGE humor lumn on evince that Abraham Lln was gay.

Contents:

A FAY HISTORY PROVIS MORE EVINCE THAT LLN WAS GAY

Forthg book The Intimate World of Abraham Lln by late psychologist, gay wrer and former sex rearcher C A Tripp nclus that Abraham Lln was gay; other scholars, cludg Harvard profsor emer David Herbert Donald, disagree; evince scribed; photos (M) * abraham lincoln gay letters *

Tripp's rearch and disputed his Tripp was the thor of "The Homosexual Matrix, " a 1975 book that disputed the Frdian notn of homosexualy as a personaly disorr.

Tripp matas that other wrers, cludg Ida Tarbell and Margaret Leech, also found evince of Lln's homosexualy but shied away om fg as such or omted ccial Tripp c Lln's extreme privacy and acunts by those who knew him well. She said that Lln's homosexualy would expla his temptuo relatnship wh Mary Todd, and "some of her agoni and anxieti over their relatnship. Baker qutn of Lln's sexualy is plited by the fact that the word homosexual did not fd s way to prt English until 1892 and that "gayns" is very much a morn Baker said the foc of 19th-century moral opprobrium was masturbatn, not homosexualy.

"A versn of this article appears prt on, Sectn E, Page 1 of the Natnal edn wh the headle: Fdg Homosexual Threads Lln's Legend. "Many historians are quick to say that men shared beds due to a bed shortage and that surely Lln, the savr of the Unn, uld not have been gay.

BUT WERE THEY GAY? THE MYSTERY OF SAME-SEX LOVE THE 19TH CENTURY

Many historians are quick to say that men shared beds due to a bed shortage and that surely Lln, the savr of the Unn, uld not have been gay. The impulse to make Lln absolutely heterosexual reflects a discernible societal disfort wh the plexi of human sexualy. * abraham lincoln gay letters *

The studied impulse to make Lln absolutely heterosexual reflects a discernible societal disfort wh the plexi of human sexualy and sexual orientatn, as well as eply embedd streaks of homophobia. " By 1911, there was enough awarens of homosexualy that when Fields pulled together a posthumo volume of Jewett's letters, edor Mark Antony DeWolfe Howe urged her to censor out the pet nam. Tripp produc evince that one of Ameri's greatt Prints had a long-term relatnship wh a youthful iend, Joshua Speed, and shared his bed wh David Derickson, pta of his, a former rearcher for sex scientist Aled Ksey and an fluential gay wrer, clus asis by many of Lln's close iends.

FURTHER PROOF THAT LLN WAS GAY

* abraham lincoln gay letters *

However, crics say that the pneer days men sleepg together rough circumstanc was not Tripp has disvered letters between Lln and Speed which supposedly betray a ep Tripp's book really breaks new ground s exhstive portrayal of many of Lln's possible gay lovers, cludg one man who said Lln's thighs 'were as perfect as a human beg uld be'. 'Make no mistake - Abe Lln was gay, ' said Profsor Stt Thompson, om the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at David Donald, a Harvard profsor and rpected Lln bgrapher, has disputed Tripp's fdgs his own book, We Are Lln Men, published last year, and says there is no five proof of Lln havg affairs wh any men.

A REPUBLIN HERO, BUT WAS ABE LLN GAY?

It is news guaranteed to make many Republins squirm. Was Abraham Lln, founr of the party now seekg a nstutnal amendment to ban gay marriage Ameri, actually gay himself? * abraham lincoln gay letters *

Tripp is not the first to argue that Lln was homosexual -- earlier wrers have parsed his iendship wh Joshua Speed, the young store owner he lived wh after movg to Sprgfield, Ill. Sce the other print sometim thought to have been gay is the wretched Jam Buchanan, what gay activist wouldn't want to tra up to Lln? Sce Ksey nclud that early maturg boys tend to bee wty masturbators wh lots of homosexual experience, Tripp nclus the same of Lln.

Tripp argu that a cultural nocence -- the word "homosexual" had not yet been ed -- allowed acts of physil closens between men that had no eper meang, as well as acts that did but uld pe scty. Scholars have bated whether Lln suffered om a host of physil ailments, whether or not he was clilly prsed, and — perhaps most trigugly to some — if Abraham Lln was gay.

WAS LLN GAY?

Rumors abound on the 16th print's sexualy. Here is the historil tth which suggt why Abraham Lln may have been gay. * abraham lincoln gay letters *

An accatn of this sort uld even lead to ser prison time, so ’s no surprise that the historil rerd om the 19th century is sparse openly gay public figur. For many years, a kd of gay-revisnist history has been wrten, which this or that historil figure is held up to tense scholarly scty and clared by one activist historian or another to have been gay, transgenred, or bisexual.

It’s evable that virtually all of the proment homosexuals of the Victorian Age would go to extreme lengths to keep their affairs as private as possible, and this mak hont scholarship on the subject challengg at bt.

WAS ABRAHAM LLN OUR FIRST GAY PRINT?

Was Abraham Lln gay? More and more historians are sayg 's likely. * abraham lincoln gay letters *

From the mixed rerds we do have, an distct picture n be drawn that pats the 16th print as anythg om a eply closeted homosexual to an enthiastic heterosexual. After readg about the evince about whether or not Abraham Lln was gay, vis our post on the fotten story of the Lln assassatn and tertg facts about Lln you’ve probably never heard before. The first reference to him possibly beg “homosexual” me om notable Lln expert Carl Sandburg his 1926 bgraphy, Abraham Lln: The War Years.

Those who attempt to refute Lln’s possible “homosexualy” ually foc on one particular cint — of the many — that supports the theory: his relatnship wh Speed. In his attempts to refute Lln’s possible homosexualy, Donald claims his book “Lln’s Men” (2004) that while Speed and Lln slept together for four years the same bed, they both were romancg women durg two of those years.

Doris Kearns Goodw, an terview on C-SPAN about her 2006 Lln bgraphy “Team of Rivals: The Polil Geni of Abraham Lln, ” said, “Homosexuals didn’t exist before the word was ed 1868 … ” She most likely meant the term didn’t exist, but this clearly monstrat a lack of sensivy by non-gay historians. Lln, ” he imag a sensive story about two men who were the bt of iends and maybe Lln was gay or bisexual has never been substantiated, and the evince is weak. Some of the most popular theori about whether there has ever been a gay print surround Print Jam Buchanan, one-term print om 1857-1861.

THE MEN BEHD THE MAN: ABRAHAM LLN’S GAY LOVERS

“It might be more accurate to say that there may have been prints the past who sired men, or had sexual experienc wh men… they wouldn’t have necsarily intified as gay a 21st century sense. For Buttigieg to say that another print may have been gay the way that ’s unrstood the 21st century, “’s jt farcil, ” Balcerski says. Even if the two had some sort of attractn to other men, they wouldn’t have intified as gay bee that notn of livg as an out gay man didn’t exist, both historians say.

“I thk that there were always gray areas and nuanc and plenty of possibili for men the late 19th and 20th century to have sex wh other men and not nsir themselv gay, ” Clev says. “I fd that the early 19th century, ironilly, almost prents an era where the same kds of pathologi [agast gay men] that will be prent all the way through the pre-Stonewall era aren’t que place yet. Balcerski says ’s important to chronicle gay history, but he says popular theori about the lik of Buchanan and Lln are too simplistic.

“As we bee more and more terted broang the tt, so to speak, of LGBT history, what we fd is we’ve taken people, who for one reason or another, don’t f to a normative pattern of heterosexual marriage and we basilly put this label on them as gay, ” Balcerski says.

WAS ABRAHAM LLN GAY?

“I asked where I would get the paper to wre this on, the gui answered (oftentim would be Marie Corelli) that I uld get om old books and gaye me a list of books that Lln ed at that perd of his life. But was this relatnship romantic and/or sexual, or somethg more monplace an age that was blsed wh a more diverse range of male relatnships than our morn, hypersensive, “no homo” era?

Men Lln’s time often shared beds for enomic reasons, jt as they share apartments now, and homosocial exprsns of affectn were pletely acceptable, even enuraged.

And spe what provotr-wh-a-book-to-sell Larry Kramer would have you believe—he was partly rponsible for sparkg the scholarly tert Lln’s boudoir, thanks to a 1999 lecture which he claimed the Amerin hero as a kd of gay forefather—textual overton are all we have to go on.

PETE BUTTIGIEG SAYS THERE HAVE PROBABLY BEEN GAY PRINTS. HERE'S WHY THAT THEORY IS COMPLITED

If you’ve read your Fouult, you know that homosexualy—which is to say, a total inty predited on same-sex attractn as opposed to discrete sex acts—was only vented as a possibily wh the rise of psychoanalysis and the medil and legal tablishments’ creasg tert “perversn” the late 19th century. While historians will probably never terme for sure if Lln nsummated his relatnships wh Speed or other men close to him, the new film provis a perfectly reasonable space for imagg what a “gay” Lln might look like. “My Old Kentucky Homo: Abraham Lln, Larry Kramer, and the Polics of Queer Memory, ” Charl E Morris III,  Queerg Public Addrs: Sexuali Amerin Historil Disurse.

At about that time I met Tripp, whose posthumo The Intimate World of Abraham Lln has at last been published by Free the Ksey and I had mon so long ago was the knowledge that homosexual and heterosexual behavr are natural to all mammals, and that what differs om dividual to dividual is the balance between the two plementary but not necsarily nflicted driv.

HOW GAY IS LLN?

But not Jonathan Ned Katz; 2001 this relentls scholar wrote a study of their “love affair” as an example of sex between men before the ventn of homosexualy; a word and generic ncept that dat back only to the late 19th century, while “heterosexualy, ” prevly popularly known as “jt sex, ” is now the name for a new admirable team whose first appearance public prt was a 1924 edn of, I fear, the New York Tim. “Ksey’s figur on the pervasivens of the homosexual experienc of men dazzled the ever quisive Tripp, ” as historian Jean Baker wr her troductn to his study of Lln. One fdg that Tripp evaluatg Lln: Ksey’s rearch showed that those mal who entered puberty early were more apt to seek homosexual outlets if only bee girls were out of reach.

*BEAR-MAGAZINE.COM* ABRAHAM LINCOLN GAY LETTERS

Further Proof That Lln Was Gay | The New Yorker .

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