WEBVTT - GAY-braham Lincoln??? Bedfellows Headfellows Part 2 0:00:08.285 --> 0:00:15.165 School of Humans. Hello, filth heads. We're going back to 0:00:15.245 --> 0:00:18.885 the same subject as last week, but this time with 0:00:18.965 --> 0:00:23.725 a different couple of fellas. But like I said last week, 0:00:23.925 --> 0:00:26.205 you know, back in the day, it was pretty common 0:00:26.245 --> 0:00:30.165 for men to share beds. But the thing is, some 0:00:30.405 --> 0:00:35.245 men were sharing more than just bed sheets. Yeah, some 0:00:35.325 --> 0:00:46.165 of them were sharing bed skeet club, airhorn, being pampiano. Ah, 0:00:46.325 --> 0:00:48.565 I'm sorry. I have a couple of really horrendous jokes 0:00:48.605 --> 0:00:55.925 in here, so we're gonna have fun. You have. Sometimes 0:00:55.925 --> 0:01:00.285 these bedfellows became a headfellows. Last week it was pro 0:01:00.485 --> 0:01:04.605 slavery sexual abuser James H. Hammond and his friend and 0:01:04.725 --> 0:01:10.485 future confederate at Jeffrey Withs. And after last week's episode 0:01:10.565 --> 0:01:13.045 came out, I did keep looking at their letters a 0:01:13.125 --> 0:01:15.925 little bit more, and I just want to say that 0:01:15.965 --> 0:01:18.165 while they were written in a very cheeky way, I 0:01:18.165 --> 0:01:21.245 think we can almost give some bonus points to Weathers 0:01:21.365 --> 0:01:25.045 for almost being a good person. Like he's not a 0:01:25.085 --> 0:01:27.925 good person, but hear me out, because a lot of 0:01:27.965 --> 0:01:31.605 the letters are Withers warning Hammond that if he keeps 0:01:31.645 --> 0:01:35.245 acting up the way he does with quote flaming excess 0:01:35.245 --> 0:01:38.645 of your lustful appetite he might soon be dragged down 0:01:38.685 --> 0:01:45.525 by the quote vengeance of supernal power. So Weathers was 0:01:45.565 --> 0:01:48.685 like kind of almost being a good ally being, like, hey, man, 0:01:48.805 --> 0:01:51.565 maybe you shouldn't try to force yourself onto so many 0:01:51.605 --> 0:01:55.805 people all the time. But unfortunately, we're not going to 0:01:55.885 --> 0:01:59.445 give Withers the ally badge because he mostly seemed concerned 0:01:59.485 --> 0:02:02.405 about what would happen to Hammond as opposed to what 0:02:02.405 --> 0:02:04.165 would happen to all the people who had to deal 0:02:04.245 --> 0:02:08.885 with his flesh and pull elongated protuberance or two Latin 0:02:08.925 --> 0:02:13.325 words indecipherable. But enough about those guys, we already heard 0:02:13.325 --> 0:02:18.085 all about them, because today we're gonna talk about an 0:02:18.085 --> 0:02:25.525 even spicier bedfellow headfellow combo, because some people have speculated 0:02:26.005 --> 0:02:29.125 that another political figure from history might have dabbled in 0:02:29.205 --> 0:02:34.245 some homosexual heavy petting. And that person is none other 0:02:34.325 --> 0:02:41.485 than the tall, depressed Abraham Lincoln, or was he actually 0:02:41.525 --> 0:02:53.845 perhaps Gabraham Lincoln? Cue the theme song wamp blamp wham blamp, 0:02:54.005 --> 0:02:57.565 wham bamp bam bam. This is American filth, and I'm 0:02:57.645 --> 0:03:00.165 Gabby Watts. Every week I tell you a filthy story 0:03:00.205 --> 0:03:05.085 from American history, and this week we got bedfellows headfellows 0:03:05.165 --> 0:03:17.285 part too. They were just roommates. Do do do do 0:03:17.405 --> 0:03:24.045 do do do do do? Okay, okay, I can hear 0:03:24.165 --> 0:03:26.925 some of you from across the pod. I can I 0:03:27.045 --> 0:03:29.325 see I hear what you're saying. Some of you are shouting. 0:03:29.845 --> 0:03:34.245 There's literally no evidence that Abraham Lincoln did homosexual heavy petting. 0:03:34.965 --> 0:03:38.725 I get it. I will acknowledge that many historians have 0:03:38.845 --> 0:03:43.925 said there is absolutely no way that that happened. The 0:03:44.045 --> 0:03:49.245 sort of Lincoln historical establishment is like, no, that's just wild, 0:03:49.485 --> 0:03:53.765 wild conjecture and just you making assumptions about people you 0:03:53.885 --> 0:03:58.245 don't know what's up. For example, this one historian was like, 0:03:58.805 --> 0:04:05.365 some irresponsible authors have suggested that Abraham Lincoln was a homosex. 0:04:06.445 --> 0:04:12.285 There was no evidence for this claim. But the irresponsible 0:04:12.405 --> 0:04:16.445 author that that historian was referring to is probably this 0:04:16.605 --> 0:04:22.125 guy named c. A. Trip. He was a writer and 0:04:22.205 --> 0:04:25.725 a psychologist who studied under Alfred Kinzie, you know, the 0:04:25.925 --> 0:04:32.005 sex psychologist the Kinsey scale, etc. And Trip worked under him, 0:04:32.045 --> 0:04:35.085 and he spent most of the nineteen seventies being like, hey, 0:04:35.765 --> 0:04:39.645 I don't think being gay is a personality disorder. Trip 0:04:39.845 --> 0:04:44.085 himself was a gay man, He's like, I'm fine, there's 0:04:44.125 --> 0:04:47.845 nothing wrong with me. But he wrote a book that 0:04:47.965 --> 0:04:50.685 came out in two thousand and five called The Intimate 0:04:50.805 --> 0:04:54.885 World of Abraham Lincoln, and that's where he summarized his 0:04:55.085 --> 0:04:58.165 years of research on proving that, yes, in fact, our 0:04:58.325 --> 0:05:02.605 log cabin Depressed six or for President was in fact 0:05:03.245 --> 0:05:06.845 a little bit gay. Yeah. What he's saying is that 0:05:07.005 --> 0:05:10.285 the night John Wilkes Booth shot Abraham Lincoln in the head, 0:05:10.965 --> 0:05:15.485 that wasn't the first time Lincoln had his brains blown out. Yeah, 0:05:15.565 --> 0:05:18.685 that's a terrible oral sex joke. I'm sorry. Am I 0:05:18.885 --> 0:05:22.365 canceled now? I hope? So, I'm tired. I want to 0:05:22.405 --> 0:05:31.365 go live with my mom. Hi, Hi Mom, how are you? 0:05:32.085 --> 0:05:35.605 I'm good. It sounds like your weekend was fun. Oh yeah, 0:05:35.645 --> 0:05:38.565 it was a good time. Uh. So, I just made 0:05:38.605 --> 0:05:41.165 a really horrendous joke on my podcast, mom, and I 0:05:41.285 --> 0:05:43.485 was just wondering if I get canceled, is it okay 0:05:43.485 --> 0:05:48.205 if I come and live with you? Well, as long 0:05:48.285 --> 0:05:52.765 as you don't tell anybody that I live with you? Yes? 0:05:53.685 --> 0:05:56.525 What is I embarrassing for you or embarrassing for me? No? 0:05:56.685 --> 0:05:58.605 I thought it was being funny. I thought you were 0:05:58.685 --> 0:06:03.525 recording me. I am recording you, mom. We're just gonna 0:06:03.565 --> 0:06:06.925 see what works for the podcast. Well, what would work 0:06:06.965 --> 0:06:09.685 for the podcast? I would say, but of course, honey, 0:06:10.925 --> 0:06:15.485 Well you could say that, or you could also say, no, 0:06:16.005 --> 0:06:23.725 don't get canceled, Gabby, don't get canceled. Yeah, that felt 0:06:23.765 --> 0:06:28.605 really authentic. Okay, but if you do, of course you 0:06:28.725 --> 0:06:32.125 can come live with me. Okay, thanks, Mom, You can 0:06:32.205 --> 0:06:35.765 pick any of those. Okay. So the bit didn't really work. 0:06:36.645 --> 0:06:40.005 So I need to get an actor to be my mom. 0:06:40.685 --> 0:06:43.045 But that might be in the next episode. But anyway, 0:06:43.445 --> 0:06:50.365 back to the subject matter at hand. Job. So, before C. A. 0:06:50.525 --> 0:06:53.645 Trip had published that book about Lincoln sexuality in two 0:06:53.685 --> 0:06:56.525 thousand and five, he had actually already written a bunch 0:06:56.565 --> 0:07:01.845 of stuff about Lincoln maybe being gay, which really riled 0:07:01.925 --> 0:07:06.125 the feathers of the Lincoln historical establishment, who were like, 0:07:06.405 --> 0:07:12.445 this is poppy cock. Lincoln's cock never popped for the boys. 0:07:13.765 --> 0:07:16.885 But once this argument was brought to the greater public, 0:07:17.325 --> 0:07:22.165 unfortunately Tripp was not there to argue it because he 0:07:22.365 --> 0:07:30.685 died two weeks after finishing this book. Now, what evidence 0:07:30.805 --> 0:07:33.845 do we have that would say that would point to 0:07:34.405 --> 0:07:40.205 that might suggest that Abraham Lincoln was a homosexual. Let's 0:07:40.245 --> 0:07:43.445 take a look at some hot takes in the Gabraham 0:07:43.605 --> 0:07:50.125 Lincoln conspiracy. This first one is just something I thought 0:07:50.165 --> 0:07:55.965 about as a member of the LGBTQ community myself. Let 0:07:56.045 --> 0:08:00.325 me tell you, gay people love to rhyme and then 0:08:00.405 --> 0:08:07.645 think about it. What did Abraham Lincoln do the Emancipation Proclamation? Gay? 0:08:09.605 --> 0:08:15.765 Also great? But gay? But here's to trip's more rigorous evidence. 0:08:15.805 --> 0:08:19.805 And by more rigorous I mean kind of. I think 0:08:19.845 --> 0:08:21.925 if you read his book, you'll see that he's applying 0:08:21.965 --> 0:08:25.365 a lot of psychological ideas to the past. And it's like, yeah, 0:08:25.405 --> 0:08:29.285 I don't know if it works like that. I think 0:08:29.325 --> 0:08:32.405 you're just making some assumptions. But let me tell you 0:08:33.245 --> 0:08:36.405 the speculation, the conjecture. It is so much more exciting 0:08:36.485 --> 0:08:38.765 to think about than what most people say about Abraham 0:08:38.845 --> 0:08:42.765 Lincoln based on facts and letters and blah blah blah. 0:08:42.805 --> 0:08:47.005 Who cares. Let's look at human behavior and analyze it 0:08:47.085 --> 0:08:49.685 in the past. This is actually one of my favorite 0:08:49.725 --> 0:08:52.125 types of history because it really is a big part 0:08:52.165 --> 0:08:54.405 of history is that people will go back in time 0:08:54.445 --> 0:08:57.925 and be like, who's gay, Let's figure it out. It's 0:08:57.965 --> 0:09:00.845 this type of history I like to call gay or nay. 0:09:04.325 --> 0:09:06.405 So one thing that Trip points to is that when 0:09:06.445 --> 0:09:10.525 Abraham Lincoln was a much younger man, he had written 0:09:10.565 --> 0:09:14.725 some satirical poetry in a manuscript he called the Chronicles 0:09:14.925 --> 0:09:19.445 of Ruben. That's right, again, he's doing poetry, and again 0:09:19.605 --> 0:09:24.165 that's rhyming, and that's usually gay. But within the Chronicles 0:09:24.205 --> 0:09:31.205 of Ruben, Lincoln actually refers to homosexuality. He wrote, for 0:09:31.365 --> 0:09:34.405 Ruben and Charles have married two girls, but Billy has 0:09:34.485 --> 0:09:37.685 married a boy. The girls he had tried on every side, 0:09:37.765 --> 0:09:40.525 but none he could get to agree. All was in vain. 0:09:40.645 --> 0:09:44.285 He went home again. And since that he's married to Natty. 0:09:47.205 --> 0:09:50.125 Look at that Billy and Natty. I send them my 0:09:50.285 --> 0:09:54.885 best nuptial regards. And the reason Trip included this in 0:09:54.965 --> 0:09:57.885 his book was that he was like, hey, this proves 0:09:57.925 --> 0:10:00.485 that even when Lincoln was younger, he had an awareness 0:10:00.605 --> 0:10:06.805 that homosexual people existed. But also Trips like, how did 0:10:06.845 --> 0:10:09.845 he know that they existed? Like why would that occur 0:10:09.965 --> 0:10:13.125 to him? Maybe it's because he himself was having some 0:10:13.285 --> 0:10:16.205 gay thoughts and he liked the idea of two men 0:10:16.325 --> 0:10:21.765 getting married. Also Trip points to this quote from Lincoln's stepmom, 0:10:22.285 --> 0:10:24.045 who said, at some point that when he was younger, 0:10:24.165 --> 0:10:27.805 Lincoln was not very fond of girls, and then when 0:10:27.845 --> 0:10:30.965 he got older, Lincoln had a pretty hard time talking 0:10:31.085 --> 0:10:34.765 to women. He wasn't a good flirt. So, I mean, 0:10:34.805 --> 0:10:36.685 we could also just read the poem as he just 0:10:36.805 --> 0:10:39.605 really loves hanging out with the boys because he doesn't 0:10:39.645 --> 0:10:42.485 know what to do with the goals. But Trip's like, no, 0:10:42.645 --> 0:10:48.805 he's gay. Some other historians have also kind of echoed 0:10:48.885 --> 0:10:52.485 this idea, where they've said things like, oh what, Lincoln 0:10:52.525 --> 0:10:58.205 in general seemed pretty ambivalent about marrying Mary Todd, like 0:10:58.285 --> 0:11:01.325 their courtship was really painful, and like it was a 0:11:01.405 --> 0:11:06.125 real will they won't they situation. Lincoln actually called off 0:11:06.205 --> 0:11:12.685 the engagement and then had this huge mental breakdown, and 0:11:12.885 --> 0:11:15.205 you know, we don't know exactly why he did that, 0:11:15.445 --> 0:11:20.005 but you know, Trip, he's coming back in being like, hey, 0:11:20.125 --> 0:11:22.285 maybe the reason he called it off is because he's gay. 0:11:23.245 --> 0:11:26.005 And Trip's also like, yeah, Lincoln was depressed all the time, 0:11:26.085 --> 0:11:29.325 he had all these bounts of depression. Maybe the reason 0:11:29.405 --> 0:11:32.205 he was so depressed was because he was gay. And 0:11:32.325 --> 0:11:34.805 let's just say, the eighteen forties not the best time 0:11:34.885 --> 0:11:38.165 to be gay. So yeah, throughout his book, Trip sort 0:11:38.165 --> 0:11:42.845 of points to these random little moments where he's like, hmm, 0:11:43.565 --> 0:11:49.485 that's suspicious. That's suspicious. But the main evidence that he 0:11:49.725 --> 0:11:53.085 relied on for this book was that Lincoln had very 0:11:53.245 --> 0:11:59.005 close friendships with men, and Trip says, hmm, they might 0:11:59.085 --> 0:12:04.565 have been a little too close. Because here's the tea. 0:12:05.885 --> 0:12:08.445 I've said it many times already. But back in the day, 0:12:08.605 --> 0:12:12.885 men were sharing beds, so that was normal. But what 0:12:13.125 --> 0:12:16.045 was abnormal was sharing a bed with a man for 0:12:16.165 --> 0:12:21.765 an extended period of time. And Lincoln, well, he shared 0:12:21.805 --> 0:12:26.125 a bed with his best friend, Joshua Speed. Not for 0:12:26.205 --> 0:12:30.845 a night, not for a week, but for four years. 0:12:32.965 --> 0:12:39.085 We'll be right back after these soothing advertisements. When Abraham 0:12:39.165 --> 0:12:43.005 Lincoln was twenty eight and eighteen thirty seven, he moved 0:12:43.085 --> 0:12:46.965 to Springfield, Illinois, and that's where he met twenty three 0:12:47.045 --> 0:12:51.685 year old Joshua Speed. The reason Lincoln moved there was 0:12:51.725 --> 0:12:54.445 to pursue his studies in a career as a lawyer. 0:12:55.525 --> 0:12:58.485 He had recently failed as a store owner and was 0:12:58.605 --> 0:13:01.605 in a bunch of debt. You know, he grew up 0:13:01.685 --> 0:13:05.085 poor in that log cabin and hardly had a penny 0:13:05.125 --> 0:13:07.965 to his name. I mean, he didn't know it at 0:13:08.005 --> 0:13:10.565 the time, but soon every single penny would just have 0:13:10.685 --> 0:13:13.245 his name on it. I mean, at least his face, 0:13:13.285 --> 0:13:18.445 I guess. So anyway, Lincoln got on a borrowed horse 0:13:19.325 --> 0:13:23.325 headed to Springfield, ready to try to make something of himself. 0:13:26.885 --> 0:13:29.485 Joshua Speed, on the other hand, came from a rich 0:13:29.605 --> 0:13:34.285 family in Kentucky and was a bona fide gentleman, and 0:13:34.405 --> 0:13:37.605 at that time, Speed was also trying to make something 0:13:37.645 --> 0:13:40.845 of himself. He was the owner of a general store 0:13:40.885 --> 0:13:46.205 in Springfield, and Lincoln walked in one day looking for betting. 0:13:47.285 --> 0:13:49.365 He was like, how much are the furnishings for a 0:13:49.485 --> 0:13:54.165 single bed? And Speed looked up the price of the mattress, 0:13:54.285 --> 0:13:57.805 the blankets, the sheets. He was like, it's gonna be 0:13:57.845 --> 0:14:02.565 about seventeen dollars, and oh boy, was Lincoln unable to 0:14:02.645 --> 0:14:07.965 pay that bed. Wrote about this encounter many times, and 0:14:08.045 --> 0:14:11.045 here's what he said. Lincoln said that that was pretty 0:14:11.165 --> 0:14:13.845 cheap enough, but small as the sum was, he was 0:14:14.005 --> 0:14:16.885 unable to pay it. But if I would credit him 0:14:16.925 --> 0:14:20.565 till Christmas and his experiment as a lawyer was a success, 0:14:21.445 --> 0:14:28.365 he would pay then, saying in the saddest tone, if 0:14:28.445 --> 0:14:30.805 I fail in this, I do not know that I 0:14:30.925 --> 0:14:35.165 can ever pay you. I looked up, and I think 0:14:35.285 --> 0:14:39.205 now that I had never seen a sadder face. I 0:14:39.365 --> 0:14:42.845 said to him, you seem to be so pained at 0:14:42.965 --> 0:14:46.885 contracting so small a debt. I think I can suggest 0:14:46.965 --> 0:14:49.605 a plan by which you can avoid the debt and 0:14:49.725 --> 0:14:53.245 at the same time attain your end. I have a 0:14:53.365 --> 0:14:56.525 large room with a double bed upstairs, which you are 0:14:56.725 --> 0:15:00.405 very welcome to share with me. Where is your room, 0:15:00.765 --> 0:15:06.325 said he? Upstairs, said, I point to a pair of 0:15:06.405 --> 0:15:09.925 winding stairs which led from the store to my room. 0:15:11.365 --> 0:15:14.845 Lincoln took his saddle bags in his arm, went upstairs 0:15:15.405 --> 0:15:18.365 and set them down on the floor, and came down 0:15:18.405 --> 0:15:24.925 with the most changed countenance, beaming with pleasure. He exclaimed, Well, Speed, 0:15:25.325 --> 0:15:29.965 I am moved. Doesn't this sound like the beginning of 0:15:30.045 --> 0:15:34.925 a porno? Poor young, ambitious man wants to be lawyer 0:15:35.245 --> 0:15:38.685 but can't afford a room, so sexy rich store clerk 0:15:38.765 --> 0:15:42.685 suggest his own bed. Yeah, it's not the most fluid 0:15:42.725 --> 0:15:45.445 of titles, but don't worry. In the porno there will 0:15:45.525 --> 0:15:51.845 be a lot of fluid. So yeah, Speed often told 0:15:51.925 --> 0:15:54.045 this version of the story of how the two met, 0:15:55.245 --> 0:16:00.525 but trip Our Gaitar historian psychologist. He's like, when I 0:16:00.645 --> 0:16:02.765 read this, I don't think it actually happened like that, 0:16:03.605 --> 0:16:09.645 because apparently Speed was already aware of Abraham Lincoln because 0:16:09.685 --> 0:16:12.805 he had seen him the previous summer in eighteen thirty six, 0:16:13.445 --> 0:16:16.605 when Lincoln had given a speech and had basically roasted 0:16:16.645 --> 0:16:19.805 one of his opponents very well, you know, So that's 0:16:19.925 --> 0:16:22.965 sus Like, why didn't Speed mentioned to Abraham Lincoln that 0:16:23.045 --> 0:16:26.685 he had seen him before. Trip's like, I mean, it's 0:16:26.725 --> 0:16:30.445 probably because he desired Lincoln and thought he would be 0:16:30.525 --> 0:16:34.685 a great bedfellow, so he was like, yes, Lincoln, come 0:16:34.725 --> 0:16:38.005 into my bad that's fine. And as for the whole 0:16:38.085 --> 0:16:41.765 story of Lincoln going up to the room by himself 0:16:41.925 --> 0:16:45.365 and putting his saddle bags down, Trip was like, no 0:16:45.525 --> 0:16:48.485 one would do that. Speed would have shown him the room, 0:16:48.685 --> 0:16:51.485 and then they would have looked at the bed, and 0:16:51.525 --> 0:16:53.885 then they might have looked at each other and been like, hmmm, 0:16:54.245 --> 0:16:57.005 I guess we can sleep in this bud together, with 0:16:57.165 --> 0:17:02.365 like a sexual implication. Trip also said that Speed's invitation 0:17:02.685 --> 0:17:05.725 for Lincoln to stay it didn't have any of the 0:17:05.885 --> 0:17:08.245 usual qualifiers that you would have like, oh, yeah, you 0:17:08.285 --> 0:17:12.125 could stay for a few days or until you get settled. Instead, 0:17:12.165 --> 0:17:15.045 it was just immediately like, yeah, come live with me 0:17:15.165 --> 0:17:19.445 and sleep in my bed. My dude, Trip was like, 0:17:19.685 --> 0:17:23.045 who the heck would just invite a random guy to 0:17:23.165 --> 0:17:26.325 sleep in their bed for an unlimited amount of time 0:17:27.085 --> 0:17:30.965 unless they were trying to bone And then Trip also 0:17:31.045 --> 0:17:33.205 makes this other point, and he's like, well, honestly, that 0:17:33.325 --> 0:17:37.805 bed they slept in was pretty small, and Abraham Winkin 0:17:38.005 --> 0:17:42.365 was pretty big, so skin to skin contact would have 0:17:42.485 --> 0:17:46.365 been inevitable. And you know, once you touch skin, you 0:17:46.445 --> 0:17:50.205 might as well touch other skins for skins. That's what 0:17:50.245 --> 0:17:54.245 I'm saying. Maybe they were circumcised. I don't know. Someone 0:17:54.285 --> 0:17:59.965 probably does know if you do, pervert. And again I 0:18:00.045 --> 0:18:04.125 will say that the Abraham Lincoln historical establishment, they're like, no, 0:18:05.485 --> 0:18:08.485 they weren't boning. They were just boys in the bed. 0:18:09.205 --> 0:18:13.645 They were just good friends. But there's this other historian, 0:18:13.725 --> 0:18:15.645 Thomas A. Foster, and he does a lot of work 0:18:15.805 --> 0:18:20.045 on the history of sexuality in America. What he says 0:18:20.125 --> 0:18:24.045 about Speed and Lincoln sharing a bed and becoming close friends, 0:18:24.165 --> 0:18:27.965 he said, without a doubt, given the cultural acceptance of 0:18:28.085 --> 0:18:32.365 close bonds between members of the same sex, individuals had 0:18:32.405 --> 0:18:37.605 the opportunity for private physical intimacy because their public bond 0:18:37.965 --> 0:18:42.205 would not have raised much concern. That's right, he's saying 0:18:42.845 --> 0:18:47.005 if they wanted to fuck, they could. And Speed himself 0:18:47.085 --> 0:18:50.885 said at one point about their friendship that no men 0:18:51.245 --> 0:18:56.685 were ever so intimate. Does he just mean BFFs for 0:18:56.845 --> 0:19:00.445 life or does he mean I've been intimate because I've 0:19:00.445 --> 0:19:06.805 been up in those guts. So after they became bedfellows 0:19:07.365 --> 0:19:11.485 and became friends and maybe headfellows as well. Speed was 0:19:11.565 --> 0:19:15.125 the one who helped Lincoln get involved with socializing and 0:19:15.445 --> 0:19:19.365 society and stuff like that. They ran a discussion group 0:19:19.485 --> 0:19:22.725 called the Young Men's Lyceum. This was in the back 0:19:22.765 --> 0:19:24.805 of the store, and they gathered a bunch of other 0:19:24.925 --> 0:19:28.125 men and they would talk about ideas and stuff. And 0:19:28.205 --> 0:19:30.845 then Speed also taught Lincoln how to flirt with women, 0:19:32.325 --> 0:19:35.965 because Speed he was very good at flirting. In fact, 0:19:36.085 --> 0:19:40.485 later on Mary Todd Lincoln called Speed one of the 0:19:40.565 --> 0:19:43.405 birds of passage. She said of him he had an 0:19:43.525 --> 0:19:50.085 ever changing heart, basically calling him a little slut. But yeah, 0:19:50.165 --> 0:19:53.245 Mary Todd was one of those ladies whose Speed helped 0:19:53.325 --> 0:19:57.525 Lincoln flirt with, and her and Lincoln's relationship was very 0:19:57.685 --> 0:20:02.045 frustrating for her, Lincoln was sending a bunch of mixed messages. 0:20:03.045 --> 0:20:09.565 It was rocky. But anyway, after all this socializing, Lincoln 0:20:09.605 --> 0:20:12.965 and Speed were still sharing a bed, and remember they 0:20:13.045 --> 0:20:17.245 shared a bed for four years. But when their bedfellowing 0:20:17.365 --> 0:20:22.805 came to an end, that's when Lincoln started unraveling. Speed 0:20:22.925 --> 0:20:26.925 moved back to Kentucky in early eighteen forty one, and 0:20:27.085 --> 0:20:32.125 then Lincoln called off his engagement with Mary Todd. Are 0:20:32.165 --> 0:20:34.725 these two things related, I don't know. What we know 0:20:35.045 --> 0:20:39.285 is that Lincoln was very distraught, so Speed invited him 0:20:39.325 --> 0:20:44.485 to come stay with his family in Kentucky. Meanwhile, while 0:20:44.565 --> 0:20:47.925 Speed had been in Kentucky already, he had started courting 0:20:48.005 --> 0:20:51.485 this woman named Fanny Henning, and he was like, Hey, Lincoln, 0:20:52.045 --> 0:20:53.925 I need you to meet this lady so that you 0:20:54.045 --> 0:20:55.525 can see if it would be a good idea to 0:20:55.605 --> 0:20:59.085 like court her and then like maybe marry her. It 0:20:59.205 --> 0:21:02.445 seems that Lincoln was like, yeah, she's a good person. 0:21:02.645 --> 0:21:09.045 I guess because Speed and got engaged, and apparently Lincoln 0:21:09.085 --> 0:21:11.845 had a great time in Kentucky and it helped him 0:21:11.885 --> 0:21:13.805 get back on his feed after all of his mental 0:21:13.845 --> 0:21:18.085 health problems. Then, at the end of Lincoln's stay, he 0:21:18.405 --> 0:21:22.565 and Speed didn't part. What happened is that Speed apparently 0:21:22.645 --> 0:21:25.005 had like the flu or something, but he was still 0:21:25.085 --> 0:21:28.645 determined to go on this boat trip with Lincoln. You know, 0:21:28.885 --> 0:21:31.965 just two dudes out there fishing. Nothing gay has ever 0:21:32.045 --> 0:21:36.965 happened in that situation. And then after they did that trip, 0:21:37.405 --> 0:21:40.645 then Speed went back to Springfield with Lincoln and they 0:21:40.725 --> 0:21:44.245 rented a room together, and then Speed just stayed there 0:21:44.325 --> 0:21:48.805 for months, even though his betrothed was in Kentucky. Speed 0:21:48.965 --> 0:21:52.725 left Springfield for the second time in January eighteen forty 0:21:52.765 --> 0:21:57.325 two because he had to go and get married. Now, 0:21:57.445 --> 0:21:59.685 some historians are like, well, maybe Speed went to go 0:21:59.805 --> 0:22:02.165 hang out with Lincoln because he was really anxious about 0:22:02.165 --> 0:22:05.045 getting married. You know, he was nervous. He needed a 0:22:05.165 --> 0:22:09.565 friend end. But still it's suspicious staying in the same 0:22:09.685 --> 0:22:13.765 room together for months right before Speed was getting married. 0:22:14.845 --> 0:22:23.245 Sas sas usparund Pound now. Speed and Lincoln they sent 0:22:23.365 --> 0:22:26.565 a lot of letters back and forth. So of course 0:22:26.605 --> 0:22:29.685 people have perused those letters, and some of them are 0:22:29.885 --> 0:22:34.285 quite interesting for this topic we are speaking about, because 0:22:34.325 --> 0:22:36.725 when you look at the tone of how Lincoln writes, 0:22:37.525 --> 0:22:42.285 it's filled with like yearning and insecurity, and it just 0:22:42.565 --> 0:22:51.285 feels very emotional, very sensual in a way. For example, 0:22:51.365 --> 0:22:56.365 there's one letter dated February thirteenth, eighteen forty two, and 0:22:56.445 --> 0:22:59.125 Lincoln wrote this to Speed just a few days after 0:22:59.285 --> 0:23:03.645 Speed had gotten married to Fanny Hinning, and in that 0:23:03.805 --> 0:23:08.565 letter he says, quote, you know, my desire to befriend 0:23:08.685 --> 0:23:13.045 you is everlasting, that I will never cease while I 0:23:13.205 --> 0:23:17.245 know how to do anything I do. Finally hope that 0:23:17.405 --> 0:23:24.125 you will never again need any comfort from abroad. Comfort 0:23:24.205 --> 0:23:28.485 from abroad, you say, what kind of comfort? But it 0:23:28.605 --> 0:23:33.285 does seem that Speed and Lincoln had discussed at some 0:23:33.605 --> 0:23:37.845 point that they were both nervous about having sex with women. 0:23:38.445 --> 0:23:41.565 They're like, we don't know how to do it. I'm 0:23:41.645 --> 0:23:43.925 nervous that it's not going to work. What do you do? 0:23:45.685 --> 0:23:48.245 So even if they aren't gay, they might have spent 0:23:48.365 --> 0:23:51.965 those many months together at the end of eighteen forty 0:23:52.005 --> 0:23:54.885 one just trying to figure out how to bang a woman, 0:23:56.525 --> 0:23:59.125 which that in fact is not very gay, That is 0:23:59.205 --> 0:24:01.685 not very gay of them at all. At the end 0:24:01.725 --> 0:24:05.245 of the letter, Abraham Lincoln says something that's pretty sus 0:24:06.085 --> 0:24:09.445 I would desire you to give my particular respects to Fanny. 0:24:10.005 --> 0:24:12.285 But perhaps you will not wish her to know you 0:24:12.405 --> 0:24:15.885 have received this, lest she should desire to see it. 0:24:16.845 --> 0:24:22.685 Write me whenever you have leisure yours forever A Lincoln ps. 0:24:23.565 --> 0:24:29.805 I have been quite a man since you left. Okay, 0:24:29.845 --> 0:24:33.205 because this is suspicious, because he's like, hey, maybe don't 0:24:33.245 --> 0:24:35.725 let Fanny read this letter, and so like, why would 0:24:35.725 --> 0:24:37.445 it be bad for Fanny to read this letter? What 0:24:37.645 --> 0:24:42.045 is it? Is the comfort talking about boning? Did she 0:24:42.205 --> 0:24:45.205 have suspicions about them having a relationship that was more 0:24:45.245 --> 0:24:48.445 than just BFFs? Or you know, you can do the 0:24:48.565 --> 0:24:51.045 other route too, being like maybe he doesn't want his 0:24:51.285 --> 0:24:53.605 wife to know that he's nervous about having sex with 0:24:53.685 --> 0:24:57.245 her or has any sort of anxiety about their relationship. Fine, 0:24:57.285 --> 0:25:00.405 you could read it that way, but that's less fun. 0:25:01.885 --> 0:25:04.805 In another letter that Lincoln wrote a few days later, 0:25:05.725 --> 0:25:08.605 and this letter again, it seems that Speed is nervous 0:25:08.685 --> 0:25:13.965 about consummating his marriage with Fanny. But then there's this 0:25:14.045 --> 0:25:18.085 odd passage in this letter. Lincoln says, you say that 0:25:18.245 --> 0:25:22.805 something indescribably horrible and alarming still haunts you. You will 0:25:22.845 --> 0:25:25.085 not say that three months from now. I will venture 0:25:25.365 --> 0:25:28.365 when your nerves once get steady. Now, the whole trouble 0:25:28.445 --> 0:25:32.685 will be over forever. Nor should you become impatient at 0:25:32.725 --> 0:25:36.765 there being even very slow and becoming steady again. You 0:25:36.885 --> 0:25:39.725 say you much fear that that elysium of which you 0:25:39.805 --> 0:25:44.245 have dreamed so much is never to be realized. Well, 0:25:44.365 --> 0:25:47.005 if it shall not, I dare swear it will not 0:25:47.165 --> 0:25:49.365 be the fault of her, who is now your wife. 0:25:50.205 --> 0:25:53.725 I now have no doubt it is the peculiar misfortune 0:25:53.805 --> 0:25:56.565 of both you and me to dream dreams of elysium 0:25:56.765 --> 0:26:02.205 far exceeding all that anything earthly can realize. So what 0:26:02.405 --> 0:26:05.165 is this elysium? Is it just like butt sex Island? 0:26:06.965 --> 0:26:08.805 And then again, I guess you know you could say 0:26:08.845 --> 0:26:11.525 this again because Lincoln maybe didn't want Fanny to see 0:26:12.205 --> 0:26:16.085 them talking about being nervous about having sex. So again 0:26:16.165 --> 0:26:20.485 Lincoln's like, I write another letter inclosing this, which you 0:26:20.525 --> 0:26:23.845 can show her if she desires it. I do this 0:26:24.005 --> 0:26:26.965 because she would think strangely, perhaps should you tell her 0:26:27.045 --> 0:26:30.005 that you receive no letters from me, or telling her 0:26:30.085 --> 0:26:33.045 you do should refuse to let her see them. I 0:26:33.165 --> 0:26:37.365 close this, entertaining the confident hope that every successive letter 0:26:37.485 --> 0:26:39.965 I shall have from you, which I hear pray may 0:26:40.085 --> 0:26:43.605 not be few nor far between, may show you possessing 0:26:43.685 --> 0:26:46.645 a more steady hand and cheerful heart than the last 0:26:46.725 --> 0:26:53.445 preceding it, As ever your friend Lincoln. Then it seems 0:26:53.525 --> 0:26:57.165 that Joshua Speed wrote Abraham Lincoln a letter that was like, Hey, 0:26:58.165 --> 0:27:01.325 me and Fanny, we finally boned. And this letter that 0:27:01.405 --> 0:27:05.125 Lincoln writes is the most yearning, sad letter I have seen. 0:27:06.045 --> 0:27:09.605 He says, Dear Speed, your letter announcing that Miss Fanny 0:27:09.645 --> 0:27:13.125 and you are no more twain but one flesh reached 0:27:13.165 --> 0:27:15.605 me this morning. I have no way of telling you 0:27:15.725 --> 0:27:18.605 how much happiness I wish you both, though I believe 0:27:18.685 --> 0:27:21.525 you both can conceive it. I feel somewhat jealous of 0:27:21.645 --> 0:27:24.805 both of you. Now you will be so exclusively concerned 0:27:24.845 --> 0:27:28.325 for one another that I shall be forgotten entirely. My 0:27:28.405 --> 0:27:31.005 acquaintance with Miss Fanny was too short for me to 0:27:31.165 --> 0:27:34.805 reasonably hope to long be remembered by her, and still 0:27:34.885 --> 0:27:37.725 I am sure I shall not forget her soon. I 0:27:37.805 --> 0:27:39.845 regret to learn that you have resolved to not return 0:27:39.925 --> 0:27:43.765 to Illinois. I shall be very lonesome without you. How 0:27:43.925 --> 0:27:47.165 miserably things seem to be arranged in this world if 0:27:47.205 --> 0:27:49.885