Lincoln, Kinsey, and the Violets of May

Gore Vidal has reviewed C.A. Tripp's new book on Abe Lincoln. I found the review fascinating, though I probably wouldn't want to read the book-length treatment of the subject. I've never been particularly interested in this topic, but it was intriguing to learn there's considerable evidence that Lincoln was homosexual, or at least bisexual. This is a conclusion that's been drawn before (Carl Sandburg, according to Vidal, noted Lincoln had a "lavendar streak" and a fondness for the "violets of May"), but apparently never in such detail or with such overwhelming evidence.

Tripp, one of Kinsey's former researchers, draws from Kinsey's material the fact that men who go through puberty early are less likely to have hang-ups about sex (and life in general) and, possibly because of this, are more likely to have homosexual experiences than late-bloomers. It is apparently fairly well-documented that Lincoln went through a massive growth spurt, evidence of puberty, around the age of nine. I found this fact intriguing. I'm thinking now about reading Kinsey's Sexual Behavior in the Human Male (and his follow-up, the Human Female) if it contains such gems as this.