Lincoln: The Gay Blade?

Posted on January 19, 2005

David Greenberg of Slate dives into the controversy surrounding The Intimate World of Abraham Lincoln and the author's assertion that President Abraham Lincoln was bisexual. Greenberg examines the evidence put forth by the late psychologist C.A. Tripp -- Lincoln 's sleeping in the same bed with other men (a common practice of the times), his nervousness about his impending nuptials (he went on to have four children) and his penchant for signing his letters "Yours Forever" (overreaching, we'd say), and Lincoln's bed-sharing friend Billy Greene's comments about Lincoln's handsome, muscular thighs (ok, that sounds pretty gay)-- and concludes that Tripp's evidence is sketchy. Still, it makes for interesting reading.