"The single best joke told by every president, from Obama to Washington"

[Eva Elisabeth]

Thank you for posting this, Linda!

Regarding the one liner that is attributed to Lincoln...It has been said that during the Lincoln-Douglas Debates, when opponent Stephen Douglas accused Lincoln of being two-faced, Lincoln turned to the audience and said, "If I were two-faced, would I be wearing this one?"

However, in doing a search of Lincoln's speeches, etc., I have not been able to verify that this ever really occurred.

So, yes, the quote is attributed to Lincoln. But I have not been independently successful in verifying that he actually said it.

I wonder if anyone has had more success than me in researching this quote. I'd love to know if it really happened as tradition indicates.

My favorite Lincoln humorous, self-deprecating story is the following:

A Mr. Addison, a Federal officer from Baltimore, called upon Lincoln to tender his resignation, whereupon Lincoln said: "All right, Addison, I accept your resignation, but nothing can compensate me for the loss of you, for when you retire I will the ugliest man left in the employ of the Government." -- Isaac Markens (from "Lincoln Talks, A Biography in Anecdote" by Emanuel Hertz at page 264)

I've never heard this before, and somehow I do not want to believe Abraham Lincoln said this. Please forgive me, I'm afraid I don't share the kind of humor of this one as IMO it's first of all deprecating Mr. Addison, calling him the ugliest man in the Government. I don't see the fun in saying that to someone. There's a grain of truth in every joke, so it's likely unecessarily hurtful, even if just somewhere deep inside.