In the article “Was Abraham Lincoln
Gay?” By Adam Cecil, the author issues a response to a question written by a
frequenter of the site. The question asks if the assertion of the Log Cabin
Republicans, that Abraham Lincoln was indeed homosexual, is entirely valid. The
author responds by elucidating that, despite the myriad of historic writings
and journal entries by both close associates and even Lincoln himself hinting
at this supposed disposition, their still remains a lack of concrete evidence
to the claims that Abraham Lincoln was gay.
Richard Brookhiser wrote this
editorial piece for the New York Times as a critical analysis and preview of
C.A. Tripp’s book “The Intimate World of Abraham Lincoln.” In the article,
Brookhiser explains that the author had died prior to the release of the book,
leaving only the finished manuscript and never allowing time to fix any of the
potential flaws in his research and sources. The author contends that, no
matter what his sexual orientation, Abraham Lincoln was still a remarkable man
who had remarkable achievements.
David Herbert Donald’s book “We are Lincoln men: Abraham
Lincoln and his friends” is a biography of Abraham Lincoln, told through the
eyes of his closest associates. While the book does not deal primarily with the
question of whether or not Abraham Lincoln was gay, it does gloss over it in an
attempt to lend real credence to the idea that Lincoln may in fact, could have
been homosexual. According to William Herndon, Lincoln’s Illinois Law Partner
of 16 years, Lincoln “was the most reticent and
mostly secretive man that ever existed: he never opened his whole soul to any
man."
This article,
written by Tom Fudge of KBPS, is an interview with author Dorin Kearns Goodwin
(“Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln) on the subject of
whether or not Abraham Lincoln was gay. According to Kearns Goodwin, the
assertion that Abraham Lincoln was gay primarily comes from a basic
misunderstanding of 19th century life and manners. She contends that
what would seem to be daily protocol in the eyes of a man from the 19th
century would seem quite homoerotic to a man in the 21st century,
especially because the man in the 21st century has had far more
exposure to that type of lifestyle (usually through stereotypes and the media)
than the 19th century man.
Harris discusses the new book called “The Intimate World of
Abraham Lincoln” by C.A. Tripp, who was a former researcher for Alfred Kinsey.
The book divulges letters between Lincoln and Speed which may unveil an
intimate relationship. The book’s findings have been disputed by another
researcher, David Donald, making this a political and relevant book for this
controversial subject.
Author Martin P. Johnson, writer for the Journal of the
Abraham Lincoln Association, has written this editorial piece as both an
analysis of the question of whether or not Abraham Lincoln was gay, and as a
summarized review of C.A. Tripp’s manuscript “The Intimate World of Abraham
Lincoln.” Examining several sources of evidence both included in C.A. Tripp’s
book and otherwise, the author asserts that the popular tales told by Lincoln’s
contemporaries through their journals have been scandalized and that, while
there may be truth to them, it is not these sources, but a primary source from
whence the information was born, that would be of interest as concrete evidence
in the quest for an answer to the question, “was Abraham Lincoln gay?”
Carol Lloyd wrote this periodical for Salon magazine back in
1999, when the question of whether or not Lincoln was gay was less a question
posed by random citizens and more relegated to the dark corners of scholarly
articles and speculation. This is the article that, by all accounts, gave the
hypothesis popular credence, as very many of the sources in this annotated
bibliography have cited this article and the sources within as primary evidence
either for or against the idea that Abraham Lincoln was homosexual.
Sylvia Rhue, Ph.D. writes
in an editorial for the Huffington post that Abraham Lincoln’s ambiguous
relationships with several men over the course of his lifetime is proof enough
to assert that Lincoln was actually gay. She goes on to note that “The studied impulse to make Lincoln absolutely heterosexual reflects a discernible societal discomfort with the complexities of human sexuality and sexual orientation, as well as deeply embedded streaks of homophobia.” Additionally, she cites the long held belief that Thomas Jefferson had been sleeping with one of his slaves as once just a myth, but proven after further discussion and research on the subject. Additionally, she provides a potential confidential insight into the possible answer to the question of Abraham Lincoln’s sexuality, when she relates the story told to her by Rev. Cindi Love, the executive director of soulforce. She says, “I have been researching Lincoln and found a lot about his relationships with men, and I am getting this from a many sources," I told her. "But I am puzzled about one thing: William Herndon has not mentioned or written anything that would indicate that Lincoln was gay." Rev. Love replies, "Well, here is the missing piece of your puzzle. My maiden name is Herndon. William Herndon was my great-great-uncle, and he was gay, and he was Lincoln's lover" (She went on to talk about how this information was handed down from generation to generation in the Herndon family).
An essay written for
the History New Network, sponsored by George Mason University and written by
the head of the Log Cabin Republican political action committee, W. Scott
Thompson, asserts that there is overwhelming evidence that President Abraham
Lincoln was undoubtedly homosexual. He references Lincolns ambiguous bonds with
men, his lack of noted attraction to women, his decidedly “bad” marriage to
Mary Todd Lincoln and his characteristics that fall somewhere over the line
into femininity on the spectrum, not only by 21st century standards,
but often enough by 19th century standards as well.
In his final written
manuscript before his death, author C.A. Tripp, protégé to the late Alfred
Kinsey, wrote a book entitled “The Intimate World of Abraham Lincoln.” In the
book, Tripp opines that Abraham Lincoln was assuredly homosexual, and cites the
now familiar evidence and reasons as to why that may be. This book is cited in
nearly every previous source in this annotated bibliography, and to this day is
widely considered the landmark work in the field of psychological analysis
regarding President Abraham Lincoln. The evidence put forth in the pages of
this book analyze President Lincoln’s own journal entries and those of his
contemporaries, comparing and contrasting in order to cross examine what is and
is not reliably factual, and considers the personal opinions of many of
Lincoln’s closes friends and associates regarding his character.
