Anniversary of Abe Lincoln's Beard

On October 15, 1860 an eleven year old girl wrote a letter to the Republican nominee for President of the United States, Mr. Abraham Lincoln. Mr. Lincoln was a lifelong beardless man at that point. This little girl named Grace Bedell informed Mr. Lincoln that she would love for him to be president of the U.S. and that he could win the vote of her 4 brothers if he'd simply let his whiskers grow. Then she threw in a little personal advice: "you would look a great deal better, for your face is so thin! All the ladies like whiskers and they would tease their husband's to vote for you and then you would be President." And she instructed him to "answer this letter right off!"

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Grace received a reply within 4 days. It seems Lincoln thought if he grew a beard this close to election, it might be suspicious -- a "piece of silly affection." However, when he won the election a month later, he had the beard. And on his way to the Inaugural, his train stopped in Grace's town and he asked if she was present. She was, and they met and there is now a statue of the two of them.

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I just wanted to mention this to remind us of the power of the written word, the power of a letter to a public official, the power of playing to the public, and, especially, the power of the female.

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Happy Anniversary, Abe Lincoln Beard!

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Which reminds me of this previous post in which we played a fun game with the portrait to the right, a modern day Abe Lincoln Beard.

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Have a great October 15th.