Absence of evidence has never stopped the insistent, and
in 1995, during his book tour for his Lincoln Prize winning biography,
David Herbert Donald found this most commonly asked question: “was Lincoln
gay?” When ABC called me from Australia last year to ask that very question,
it grew once again clear to me that not only Lincoln, but the subject of
his private life has a global audience. The personal is political, feminist
scholars believe, and nearly all would concede that the private life of
public figures can influence the course of public events. And so we, students
of history, can be grateflul to Jean Baker for summing up and refining
her views, stating the case for the Lincolns, as she sees them. In this
the 157th anniversary year of their wedding, the conversation continues.
About their marriage, about them, about America, and, at some level, about
the way we are on the eve of a new millennium.
Gabor Boritt
Thanksgiving Day, 1999
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Misty Meadows
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Bolton, Massachusetts
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