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There is debate about the possibility that Abraham Lincoln may have been gay or bisexual.

Abraham Lincoln is known to have lived for four years with Joshua Speed, when both men were in their twenties. They shared a bed during these years and developed a friendship that would last until their deaths. A number of biographers, beginning with Carl Sandburg in 1926, have suggested or implied that this relationship was sexual, though others have argued that Lincoln and Speed shared a bed because of their financial circumstances, and that at the time it was not unusual for two men to share a bed.

When Speed left Lincoln and returned to Kentucky after their four years of cohabitation, Lincoln is believed to have suffered something approaching a nervous breakdown. He displayed remarkable intimacy and affection in his correspondence with Speed, more so even than in his correspondence with his wife.

Lincoln shared beds with several other men during his life. Amongst these was an army officer, David Derickson, assigned to Lincoln's bodyguard in 1862. Several sources characterise the relationship between the two as intimate, and it was the subject of gossip in Washington at the time. They shared a bed during the absences of Lincoln's wife, until Derickson was promoted in 1863. Again, some biographers have interpreted this as a sexual affair. Lincoln's stepmother is also known to have penned in her journal that Linclon ""never took much interest in the girls". A recent study has also pointed to gay marriage themes in poetry written by Lincoln:

"I will tell you a Joke about Jewel and Mary

It is neither a Joke nor a Story

For Rubin and Charles has married two girls

But Billy has married a boy

The girlies he had tried on every Side

But none could he get to agree

All was in vain he went home again

And since that is married to Natty

So Billy and Natty agreed very well

And mama's well pleased at the match

The egg it is laid but Natty's afraid

The Shell is So Soft that it never will hatch

But Betsy she said you Cursed bald head

My Suitor you never Can be

Beside your low crotch proclaims you a botch

And that never Can serve for me"

The theory is explored in detail in a number of works, most recently in the book The Intimate World of Abraham Lincoln by C. A. Tripp (ISBN 0743266390). David Herbert Donald disputes the findings, but Jean H. Baker, a student of David Herbert Donald and author of Mary Todd Lincoln: A Biography (ISBN 0393305864) wrote the introduction to Tripp's book and supports his claims, and Michael B. Chesson, professor at the University of Massachusetts and another student of David Herbert Donald wrote the afterward and supports the book's thesis.

C. A. Tripp began the book with Philip Nobile, but they had a falling out. The N.Y. Times quotes Mr. Nobile saying "Tripp's book is a fraud" but he provided no details.

Critics of the theory that Lincoln was gay note that Lincoln married and had four children. They claim in their theory Lincoln as a young man displayed heterosexual behavior. Lincoln scholar, Douglas Wilson, in his book entitled "Honor's Voice: The Transformation of Abraham Lincoln," notes the following: according to James Short, a friend of Lincoln's from his New Salem days, Lincoln used to enjoy telling this story about himself: "Once when Mr L was surveying, he was put to bed in the same room with two girls, the head of his bed being next to the foot of the girls' bed. In the night he commenced tickling the feet of one of the girls with his fingers. As she seemed to enjoy it as much as he did he then tickled a little higher up; and as he would tickle higher the girl would shove down lower and the higher he tickled the lower she moved. Mr L would tell the story with evident enjoyment. He never told how the thing ended."

External Links

Book Questions Abraham Lincoln's Sexuality - Discovery Channel

• Abraham Lincoln