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Revision as of 19:25, 18 January 2005

One author, the late psychologist C.A. Tripp, has suggested that Abraham Lincoln, who was married and had four children, was "predominately homosexual," in his recent book The Intimate World of Abraham Lincoln (ISBN 0743266390). Tripp, a well-known sex researcher and follower of Alfred Kinsey who also authored 1975's The Homosexual Matrix, died in May 2003 shortly after completing the book's manuscript.

Abraham Lincoln is known to have lived for four years with Joshua Fry 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. Tripp implies that this relationship was sexual, though Lincoln and Speed may have shared a bed because of their financial circumstances. During this period, moreover, it was not unusual for two men to share a bed. Writes Christine Stansell of that era in her review of Tripp's book in The New Republic, "Travelers piled in with each other at inns; siblings routinely shared beds; women friends often slept with each other as readily on an overnight visit as they took their tea together in the kitchen—and sometimes displaced husbands to do so. Civil War soldiers 'spooned' for comfort and warmth."

Lincoln met Speed in Springfield, Illinois in 1837. Tripp notes that Lincoln and Speed expressed anxiety to each other on their wedding nights, though critics have noted that such anxiety was not unusual in an era when premarital intercourse was not widespread. Tripp notes that Lincoln signed his letters to Speed, "Yours Forever," which Tripp points to as evidence to support his thesis; but Lincoln biographer David Herbert Donald has pointed out that Lincoln used this closing in letters to several other friends.

Despite having some political differences over slavery, Lincoln and Speed corresponded for the rest of their lives and Lincoln appointed Joshua's brother, James Speed, to his cabinet as Attorney General.

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. They shared a bed during the absences of Lincoln's wife, until Derickson was promoted in 1863. Tripp characterizes the relationship between the two as intimate, and it may have been the subject of gossip in Washington at the time, though again, sharing beds was not uncommon during this era and did not imply homosexual activity. Additionally, Derickson married twice and fathered 10 children. Lincoln's stepmother, Sarah Bush Lincoln, is also reported to have said that Lincoln "never took much interest in the girls". Tripp's book has also pointed to gay marriage themes in a poem written by Lincoln when he was 20, more than a century and a half before gay marriage was recognized as a political issue:

• 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

Tripp claims that this poem is "a virtual certification of Lincoln's own engagement in homosexuality." However David Donald notes in a 1996 letter, "The person who tells a joke about 'fags' or 'gays' or 'butch' women may reveal a lack of taste but that does not necessarily indicate homosexual leanings."

As early as 1924, Carl Sandburg's biography hinted at Lincoln as being homosexual. However, Tripp's claims are not widely accepted, at least based on the evidence he has adduced. Tripp, a devoted follower of Alfred Kinsey begins his study with a Kinseyian analysis of Lincoln's early sex life. Tripp concludes that Lincoln reached puberty at age 9, and, since Kinsey claimed that people who undergo puberty early tend to masturbate frequently and have early homosexual experiences, Tripp claims that Lincoln masturbated frequently and had early homosexual experiences. Concludes Richard Brookhiser in the New York Times book review, "The discussion of Lincoln's youth is worthless."

], the leading biographer of Lincoln, disputes Tripp's 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 Tripp's claims. Michael B. Chesson, professor at the University of Massachusetts and another student of David Herbert Donald wrote the afterward and also supports the book's thesis. Gore Vidal lended an enthusiastic blurb for the book jacket.

Tripp's book also includes an afterword by historian and Lincoln biographer Michael Burlingame, in which he states, "Since it is virtually impossible to prove a negative, Dr. Tripp's thesis cannot be rejected outright. But given the paucity of hard evidence adduced by him, and given the abundance of contrary evidence … a reasonable conclusion … would be that it is possible but highly unlikely that Abraham Lincoln was 'predominantly homosexual.'" David Greenberg is in even harsher in his review in Slate: "Tripp produces not circumstantial evidence but facts that resemble evidence only if one starts with a closed mind."

C. A. Tripp began writing the book with Philip Nobile, but they had a falling out. The New York Times quotes Mr. Nobile saying "Tripp's book is a fraud." Nobile wrote a critical review of Tripp's book in the Weekly Standard in which he accuses Tripp of plagiarism.

Critics of the theory that Lincoln is gay point to other aspects of Lincoln's life, including possible pre-marital affairs, his marriage to Mary Todd, and his fathering of four children, as evidence that Lincoln was not "predominately homosexual." 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."

Lincoln possibly had a romance with Ann Rutledge, whose death 1835August 25, led to his first-known severe depression. Lincoln met Mary Owens in 1833 or 1834, and promised her sister Elizabeth to marry Mary after Mary would return to New Salem. Mary returned in 1836; Lincoln dutifully courted her and in 1837 wrote her a marriage proposal, which she rejected. Springfield's Sangamo Journal 1838August 25 edition published an anonymous suicide poem, likely by Lincoln. In Springfield in 1839, Lincoln met Mary Todd. They became engaged in 1840, but Lincoln broke it off at the last minute, 1841January 1, becoming very depressed and again contemplating suicide. Mary Todd was then courted by Stephen A. Douglas, among others. Joshua Speed married Fanny Hennings 1842February 15 and the two men seem to have consulted each other about married life. Mary Todd and Lincoln were brought together again by friends, and then married with little advance notice on 1842November 4. Nine months later, 1843August 1, their first child, Robert Todd Lincoln, was born.

Since it is virtually impossible to prove a negative, it is unlikely this hypothesis (that Lincoln was gay) will ever be either confirmed or rejected (no matter how much evidence is accumulated on either side) and will likely remain an issue of interest and contention as long as Lincoln's name is remembered.

External links

• Book Questions Abraham Lincoln's Sexuality - Discovery Channel
• "The sexual life of Abraham Lincoln" by Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com, Jan. 12, 2005 (requires subscription or viewing an ad before reading)
• Article by Philip Nobile (who quit project with Tripp)
• Critical review of Tripp's book by David Greenberg
• Was Lincoln Gay? New York Times Book Review by Richard Brookhiser
• Some details on the life of Joshua Fry Speed

• Abraham Lincoln