Abraham Lincoln Without A Beard

Abraham Lincoln was a cartoonist’s dream. He was tall and lanky, with leathery skin, warts on his face, and enormous hands. He stooped as he walked—most likely to compensate for his immense height. His face was gaunt and wraithlike. His big ears were too large for his head.

His friends were unsure of how to describe him.

Abram J. Dittenhoefer said Lincoln was “a homely man. His tall, gaunt body was like a huge, clothed skeleton. So large were his feet, and so clumsy were his hands that they looked out of proportion to the rest of his figure.”

His long-time friend, Ward Lamon, said: “His cheeks were flabby, and the loose skin fell in wrinkles or folds; there was a large mole on his right cheek, his hair was dark brown, stiff, unkempt…his complexion was very dark, his skin yellow, shriveled, and leathery.“

Before you think his friends were insensitive or rude—Lincoln was the first to joke about his looks. During the Lincoln-Douglas debates, when Stephen Douglas suggested he was two-faced. Lincoln replied, “If I was two-faced, would I show you this one?”

Whatever you think of Abraham Lincoln, he was one of the few presidents to display a sense of humor while in office.

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