Lincoln and the Pompous

As you can imagine, Lincoln’s tendency to resort to humor for self-therapy grew more intense as the responsibilities of the presidency became more unendurable. He wanted to lessen the tensions in himself and those around him, and he frequently pointed fun at pompous generals when doing this.

He said that he once saw a short, fat general that reminded him of a man he knew in Springfield whose name was Enoch. He said Enoch’s legs were so short that when he walked through the snow the seat of his trousers wiped out his footprints.