Oddities of the Lincoln assassination

[Houmes]

(12-24-2014 08:09 AM)Jim Garrett Wrote:  "The Last Lincolns" by Charles Lachman is a great read. Lachman has a real gift for writing and after reading it, you get a real feeling for the family. He really did a terrific job of developing Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith and after reading about him you feel like you could have known him. Beckwith walks into his attorney's office bragging he's going to be a father. Well maybe his wife is going to be a mother, but..................

I've been puzzled by Lachman's account of Beckwith's sterility ever since the book was published. The author gives no reference for the reported prostatectomy or which technique was used. Complete prostatectomy in 1962 guaranteed impotence--important nerves were destroyed during the surgery back then--and I doubt Robert Beckwith would have agreed to that. Plus, a vasectomy properly performed then would have been unnecessary with a complete prostatectomy. Only a fool surgeon would have neglected to emphasize to Beckwith that he would be sterile after a vasectomy. Nerve-sparing prostatectomy wasn't common until the 1970's. It's more likely he didn't have a prostatectomy but a TURP (transurethral resection of the prostate--think "Roto-Rooter") which would have no effect on his virility and social antics. It's been the standard procedure for prostate obstruction since 1909. Plus a prostatectomy back then was generally reserved for cancer, unless of course, he had rather severe, recurrent urinary infections or sexually transmitted disease.