Lincoln and Girls

Lincoln, particularly the young Lincoln, was always clumsy around girls. When in their presence he either sat on his hands or acted the clown. The truth was, he simply didn’t understand them, was convinced they thought him ugly, felt awkward and stupid in their presence.

And he realized that about himself. As he once said, “Others have been made fools of by the girls, but this can never be with truth said of me. I most emphatically, in this instance, make a fool of myself.”

And his wife seemed to agree. She once described meeting her future husband at a dance where he came up to her and said, “Miss Todd, I want to dance with you in the worse way!”

“And,” she said, “We did.”

“And it was.”