Lincoln and Syphilis

[Rob Wick]

One thing I've noticed from reading Ida Tarbell's papers is how promiscuous people on the frontier were. The number of illegitimate people in Lincoln's family alone is testament to that fact. So I don't have any issue accepting that not only was Lincoln a sexual being before marriage, his fear of contracting syphilis was legitimate. Again, if one looks at the criticism that Herndon received, it's usually not that he was incorrect, but that he brought out things that were better left unwritten. That Lincoln fathered no illegitimate children would almost seem a miracle.

Best
Rob