"Herndon was born mediocre"

[Rob Wick]

I've always gone against the grain where Herndon is concerned. Without Herndon, much of what we know about Lincoln's early life would have been lost. While one certainly has to use his interviews with caution, I've never accepted that distance from events automatically makes remembrance suspect. In sharp detail, maybe, but it doesn't mean the broad outlines are incorrect.

I think much of what he said about Lincoln was either true or something that Lincoln told him. Whether Lincoln told him in confidence, for example, that he thought his mother was illegitimate I've always wondered why would Herndon make up something that specific? Of all the things a person could make up about Lincoln, why focus on his mother, especially something that volatile? I also believe Herndon where Ann Rutledge in concerned. I think it's quite possible that she could have been his one true love, although that doesn't discount my view that he did love Mary as well. Speaking from experience, it's quite possible to be in love with someone but not as deeply as one might have been with someone else. When he gave the Rutledge lecture, Herndon obviously was trying to goad Mary, but what would be more effective than something she knew, or may have believed, to be the truth?

Herndon had his own demons, most notably alcohol. Also, being attacked vociferously by people who, let's face it, were mere hagiographers, and who gave the people the Lincoln they wanted, would be enough to make anyone bitter.

Bill asks what positive qualities attracted Herndon to Lincoln. I think Lincoln saw a kindred spirit in Herndon. Both were intellectual. Both had their problems with organized religion. Both were attracted to the law and both had strong reasoning skills and logical ability. Lincoln saw past the flaws, which, let's face it, are present in everyone.

Best
Rob