So, aside from the stuff I obviously made up—like Lincoln suddenly popping out of a cardboard box—how much of this book is based on real history?
A lot of it, actually. Abraham Lincoln really was born in a log cabin in Kentucky, and he really was so busy working on his family’s farm that he hardly ever went to school. And it’s true that he loved to read. “The things I want to know are in books,” twelve-year-old Abe once said. “My best friend is the man who’ll get me a book I ain’t read.”
As Lincoln told the kids in the school library, he didn’t get along with his father and left home to work on a riverboat on the Mississippi. This is where he saw enslaved African Americans for the first time and began thinking about how cruel and evil slavery was.
Settling in Illinois, he found work as a clerk in a general store. Once, realizing a customer had paid too much for something, Lincoln walked four miles to return the woman’s change. That’s when people started calling him “Honest Abe”—a nickname he hated, apparently.
He became a lawyer and, at the age of twenty-three, ran for a seat in the Illinois state legislature. He came in eighth. It was not the last election he’d lose. After losing a race for the US Senate in 1858, he told friends, “I feel just like a boy who stubbed his toe—too badly hurt to laugh, and too proud to cry.”
That’s classic Lincoln—he had a joke for every situation. As president, he was famous for starting meetings with funny stories, puns, or riddles. This annoyed some people, but it was Lincoln’s way of dealing with the incredible stress of his job. The jokes I included in this book are all jokes Lincoln really told.
If you didn’t think they were very funny, you’re not alone. Mary Lincoln was not a fan of her husband’s gags.
Lincoln really did love to play handball in an alley near his law office in Springfield, and yes, his horse truly was named Old Bob. Anyone who’s seen photos of Lincoln knows he really did wear a tall, stovepipe hat. At six-foot-four, he’s the tallest president in American history, so he already stood out in a crowd. But he liked really standing out, which is part of the reason he wore the tall hat. Also, he really did keep papers and notes in the lining of his hat. The kids of Springfield knew this and had fun figuring out ways to knock Lincoln’s hat off.
The beard story is totally true. Historians have found the full text of Grace Bedell’s letter to Lincoln in which she suggests the beard, and there are newspaper stories about Lincoln meeting Grace on his way to Washington, DC.
Who came up with the design of Lincoln’s distinctive beard? The most likely answer is William de Fleurville, an immigrant from Haiti who owned several businesses, including a barbershop, in Springfield. Fleurville sometimes hired Lincoln to do legal work, and Lincoln went to Fleurville’s shop for shaves and haircuts. They were friends for over twenty years. So when Lincoln decided to start growing a beard, it’s only logical that Fleurville would have been involved.
WILLIAM DE FLEURVILLE
In the scene with Abby and Doc in the family living room, Mr. Douglass gives a very quick summary of the Civil War. This was by far the deadliest war in American history and way too big and complicated to explain here. I’m hoping you’ll be curious enough to find out more. Anyway, just to finish the story … Lincoln was reelected in 1864. In April 1865, the United States finally defeated the Confederacy. More than six hundred thousand soldiers had died in the Civil War. The Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution banned slavery in the United States.
On the evening of April 14, 1865, Abraham and Mary Lincoln went to a play at Ford’s Theatre in Washington. During the show, an actor named John Wilkes Booth, who was bitter about the South’s defeat, sneaked up behind Lincoln and shot him. Abraham Lincoln died early the next morning. His body was taken back to Springfield, Illinois, where friends built him a tomb and monument that you can still visit today.
You can—and should—form your own opinions. But I guess you can tell I’m a big Abraham Lincoln fan. I’d argue that he had the hardest job of any president in the history of the United States. When historians rank the best presidents, they usually put Lincoln number one, and I totally agree.
He was also never, ever boring.
Oh, and one more thing. Abraham Lincoln really is in the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.
Look it up.