Lincoln as Presidential Jokster

At every point in Lincoln’s varied career he used humor often with devastating effect. As president Lincoln had a way of easing a visitor out the door when he wanted the meeting to end.

He would frequently tell a joke to get rid of some unwanted visitor that had over-stayed his visiting time. In these situations he would use a funny story to illustrate a point he was trying to make, and then—while the listeners was still laughing—would ease them out the door.