Lincoln and His Father

[Mike B.]

There is some speculation, I think warrented that Lincoln possibly resented his father favoring his stepbrother Johnston who seems to have been a bit of a ne'er do well.

Lincoln did however, think very highly of his stepmother and went to see her before his trip to Washington for the Presidency. He reportedly said that she had been "his best friend in this world."

I think he remembered the time after his mother's death, when he, his sister, and Denis Hanks were living almost like savages in the Wilderness without Nancy Hanks his mother. In her own words, she washed the Lincolns, and made them look more "human."

I also think she may have shielded Lincoln from his father in that his father would "slash" him for neglecting his work by reading which he thought was a waste of time and a sign of laziness. According to Hanks, and Lincoln's stepmother seems a bit defensive for Thomas Lincoln on this.