The Intimate World of Abraham Lincoln

C.A. Tripp's valedictory study of Abraham Lincoln has raised predictable ire from self-styled patriots and right-wingers who recoil in horror at the idea that one of America's most beloved icons might have had lustful thoughts about other men and acted on them, specifically with Captain Derickson, a handsome military man and Lincoln's bodyguard; and Joshua Speed, with whom Lincoln shared a bed for no less than four years. In truth, the evidence Tripp presents, though often strong, is not irrefutable. In addition, the published text suffers from structural and editing problems due to the death of its author soon after the manuscript's completion. Tripp would undoubtedly have cleaned up some sentence fragments and other bits of untidy writing; he might also have reconsidered the somewhat haphazard construction of the book, which begins as more or less a chronological account of Lincoln's early life and abruptly switches to a series of almost self-contained essays concerning his relationships with various people, including his wife (a truly harrowing portrait) and other women, concluding with broader views at Lincoln's attitudes toward sex and religion. However unsatisfying their arrangement, these chapters are full of interest that is not the least bit prurient--they paint a portrait of the man that is no less compelling for being not a bit like the marbelized figure most Americans carry in their mind from elementary school mythologizing. Indeed, considering the portrait that Tripp paints of a conflicted, frequently deeply depressed man, caught in a singularly loveless marriage to a harridan, with a fundamentally bleak view of life quite at odds with conventional Christian piety, Lincoln's indelible accomplishments as a statesman are all the more remarkable and moving. Whether or not he was gay in the modern sense ultimately becomes irrelevant--Lincoln in these pages emerges as a human being. All of the homophobic rantings of the book's detractors (including many of the reviewers below) cannot erase this singular achievement. I believe "The Intimate World of Abraham Lincoln" will eventually take its place beside "The Homosexual Matrix" as one of the cornerstones of serious writing and research about alternative sexuality.

C. A. Tripp (The Homosexual Matrix) has written a controversial though scholarly treatise on the sexuality of our greatest president. The text is supported by voluminous footnotes and bibliography. There is a thoughtful introduction by the historian Jean Baker as well as three essays in the "Afterward" by Michael Burlingame, Michael Chesson and Alice Fennessey. Additionally the appendices contain relevant correspondence (the Speed letters as well as Lincoln's youthful attempt at doggerel.) A psychologist and associate of Alfred Kinsey, Tripp uses both the research gathered by Kinsey on human sexuality and factual information from Lincoln's life to arrive at his conclusions. He ascertained that Lincoln arrived at puberty very early, at age nine or ten, and from Kinsey's research, hypothesized that Lincoln would have been more likely to have been homosexual or bisexual because of that. On Kinsey's seven-point continuum, with zero being completely heterosexual and six exclusively homosexual, he opined that Lincoln would fall at five. Although there are other men mentioned-- Billy Greene, a lad who helped Lincoln with his grammar, often slept with him and said of the small cot they slept on that when one of them turned over the other had to do likewise-- Tripp discusses in detail three men that Lincoln may have had a romantic or sexual interest in. David Derickson was a captain in the Union Army, from a "socially prominent" family in Pennsylvania and nine years younger than Lincoln. For a time, when Mrs. Lincoln was away from the White House, this young man slept with Lincoln. Colonel Elmer Ellsworth was the "first casualty of the Civil War" and someone who had come to Lincoln's attention through a Col. John Cook. Lincoln invited him to study law at the Lincoln law office and later wrote letters to the Secretary of War recommending promotions for him. Ellsworth was killed in an effort to tear down a Confederate flag that waved across the Potomac in Alexandria that Lincoln could see from the White House. Upon learning of this young man's death, the President was distraught. The most compelling evidence, however-- though of course circumstantial-- comes from Lincoln's relationship with Joshua Speed. These two men shared the same bed for four years in Springfield, Illinois. When Speed moved out and moved back to Kentucky, Lincoln had a nervous breakdown. Speed later married and had promised to write to Lincoln the following day to report on "how the wedding night had gone." Lincoln responded as follows: "I opened the latter [letter] with intense anxiety and trepidation; so much, that although it turned out better than I expected, I have hardly yet, at the distance of ten hours, become calm." It is Tripp's belief that these men had concerns over whether Speed would be able to perform on his wedding night and that this letter is the closest we have of a smoking gun. Speed and his wife never had children. There are other interesting facts: apparently Li

When I carry THE INTIMATE WORLD OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN with me, people comment on the book's content and express their opinion. However, I discover that few of these people have actually read the book! Clearly, this is a controversial book that generated a great deal of TV talk, but the talk lacks substance. Mostly frustratingly, people will draw conclusion regarding the validity of Tripp's position without reading the book. Thus, my first recommendation is to read the book and assess Tripp's methodology. Don't buy the TV talk. Tripp (deceased just prior to publication), a well known clinical psychologist, has hypothesized that Lincoln was not a heterosexual. This is considerably different from stating that Lincoln was a homosexual - which is how people who haven't read the book (i.e., Bill O'Reilly) interpret Tripp's findings. Besides failing to read the book, many people lack the biological, historical and sociological background to understand Tripp's findings. Here is where a solid liberal arts education pays off and perhaps herein lays the major criticism of Tripp's work. Tripp fails to build the biological, historical and sociological foundation that provides the legitimacy for Tripp's conclusions. I can give examples of critical foundation issues that Tripp failed to address. First, he needed to review the function of genes in human biology. Many people with limited knowledge believe that genes provide discrete and clear cut outcomes - male/female; blue eyes/brown eyes. Many genes don't function in this manner. This biological tidbit has profound implications for sexual orientation. Second, Tripp needed to address the fundamentals of linguistic and sociological theory regarding the consequences for NOT having the term "homosexual" during Lincoln's life span. "Homosexuality" as a social science concept didn't exist until after Lincoln's assassination. The sociological and linguistic implications are profound and would have an impact on Lincoln's sexual activities. Third, he failed to address statistical theory. Forty-two (42) men were presidents. According to the current state of the art for estimating homosexuality among men, every 10th man is homosexual. Thus, employing the central limit theorem, our best estimate includes the notion that less than 4.2 of our Presidents have homosexuality tendencies. So, who are the gay presidents? The major contribution of Tripp's work is that he forces us to realize "so what!" If Lincoln was gay, it doesn't change anything. Nevertheless, Tripp's work is an excellent exercise of one' critical thinking skills.

First, let me say that I completely concur with the reviews posted by Cheryl Clarke and B. Chin on this topic. I would add that C.A. Tripp is greatly respected for the integrity of his research. He would certainly not stoop to defame any historical character with bogus writings. I am sure that this book is as accurate as possible. I am likewise sure that the conservative contingent that has "stuffed the ballot box," as B. Chin noted, are smarting from the Karma coming down on one of their heroes due to this publication. If they'd just let sleeping dogs lie with whatever other dogs they like and stay out of other peoples' bedrooms, they'd come to realize that we're all just human beings - hetero or homo -- and that Lincoln lived in a tragic time when he could not be truthful. Ironic for someone called "Honest Abe." As a grandmother of three, I hope that we move toward a more liberal view of others and embrace all humanity. Then books like this won't have such shock value, and people won't be so threatened by the truth.

Readers interested in opinion about C. A. Tripp's book on Abraham Lincoln should look beyond the truly awful article that Mr. Nobile published in The Weekly Standard. The article does not reflect Nobile's vigorous endorsement, made in 2001 on the History News Network, of the thesis that Lincoln was bisexual. Search the Net for "Homophobia in Lincoln Studies" and you will find that Nobile tried mightily to publish his own book on Lincoln's bisexuality, and when rebuffed, complained loudly that his evidence was not taken seriously because of "homophobia." This same evidence he attacks and derides in his current article on Tripp's book. Yes, his interpretation of the evidence differs in some ways from Tripp's, but only in nitpicking about very minor issues. I call this intellectual dishonesty. Nobile's distortions, when examined for what they are, do not diminish the integrity of Tripp's scholarship. His book contains hundreds of footnotes and careful analyses of Lincoln's relations with the key men and women in his life. It adds up to much more than a discussion of sexuality. This is a thoughtful new view of Lincoln the whole man, of his personality, his character, the many traits that made him extraordinary. Check out the reviews in the New York Times, The New Republic, and Publishers Weekly. They will give you a much better sense than does Nobile's article of what Intimate World is all about. Disclosure: I replaced Nobile as Tripp's personal editor in late 2000. This fact perhaps raises questions about my objectivity. But it perhaps also indicates that I know whereof I speak. The name signed below is my real name. I find it baffling that one must disclose credit card information to validate a "real name." Lewis Gannett