RTL's birth

[Rob Wick]

Gene, while in general I agree with your post, I think it's that type of "gossip" that makes historical figures human. Maybe it's the journalist in me, but I don't see an issue with discussing the "either/or" in this, although I tend to believe that Robert was a honeymoon baby. But biographers have done much to make historical figures into cartoon cutouts or marbelized versions that even the historical figures wouldn't recognize. Would absolute knowledge change our view of the Lincolns? Probably not, but it would be one more block in the foundation of their lives, and given the issues surrounding their marriage and relationship, it is an important question. If we could discover that Mary "trapped" Lincoln into wedlock, that would go a long way in explaining their time together, which is legitimate historical inquiry, and, in a way, I think it would validate some of what Herndon wrote.

And Laurie, while I agree that Burlingame does tend to highlight what makes Mary look bad, he does a valuable service, if only to counter Jean Baker's attempt to make Lincoln look worse. It isn't for nothing that Baker wrote the foreward to C.A. Tripp's book on whether Lincoln's primary erotic response was homosexual.

Best
Rob