In 1837 Lincoln moved to Springfield to practise law and met Joshua Speed. They shared a bed for four years. “No two men were ever more intimate,” is how Speed summarised their relationship.
Just how intimate is a touchy subject among scholars. “Such sleeping arrangements were not uncommon on the Illinois frontier,” asserts Michael Burlingame, a historian at the University of Illinois, who does not see any “proof of a homosexual relationship” in Lincoln’s bedsharing. Mattresses, after all, were expensive at the time.
… “Lover of Men” is unlikely to precipitate a wholesale re-evaluation of Lincoln’s legacy. Some Americans will continue to see the great patriot in much the same light as before; others will lambast the documentary’s findings as woke nonsense. In the 21st century, America remains a house divided. ■
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| Michael Burlingame at Chicago's Abraham Lincoln Book Shop in March 2009 |
Was James Buchanan gay?
“Was Abraham Lincoln gay?” (October 5th), asks the latest documentary on the subject. Americans in the 19th century understood perfectly well that men could have sexual relationships with each other and had no hesitation in saying so.
James Buchanan, the 15th president of the United States, was widely believed to have had a sexual relationship with William Rufus King, who briefly served as vice-president under Franklin Pierce. The two lived together in a boarding house in Washington and attended social functions together. Andrew Jackson referred to them as “Miss Nancy” and “Aunt Fancy”. Others described King as Buchanan’s “better half” and his “wife”.
Such claims were never made against Lincoln by his contemporaries, despite being a frequent target of vicious political attacks. Our ancestors were no less observant than we are. Why would any of Lincoln’s opponents have passed up such a cheap shot?
John Dury
Port Townsend, Washington
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