Lincoln and Syphilis

[Rob Wick]

Roger,

While, of course, anything is possible, when asking if it was likely in this case, I have to say I don't believe so. I didn't quote from the entire letter because of its length (and I'm getting ready to head into work and this will be an exceptionally busy weekend), so I left some of the salient details out. Lincoln may have told the story as a "how I escaped almost certain death at the hands of an angry father" kind of thing, but I read it more as a time when Lincoln wishes he had taken another direction. But even if he was making a joke out of it, it still doesn't lessen the possibility that the first part of the letter was indeed true.

I'm curious about something else. If some type of documented proof could be produced that Lincoln visited prostitutes, what do those who don't think it's true believe it would say about Lincoln?

Best
Rob