Abraham Lincoln remains the most iconic leader in American history. You recognize his tall hat and beard instantly, yet his life story is full of odd surprises. He rose from a log cabin to the White House with almost no formal schooling. Along the way, he worked as a bartender, a wrestler, and an inventor. His journey proves that he was far more than just a somber politician. Consequently, his legacy includes strange patents and daring rescues. Let’s explore the fascinating reality of the man known as Honest Abe.
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln stands as the tallest president in the nation’s history. He measured exactly 6 feet 4 inches [1.93 meters] tall, even without his famous stovepipe hat.
Surprisingly, he was a skilled wrestler who is honored in the Wrestling Hall of Fame. He lost only one match out of approximately 300 fights during his younger years.
He holds the unique distinction of being the only president to own a patent. He invented a device to lift boats over sandbars using inflatable air chambers.
A young girl named Grace Bedell convinced him to grow his iconic beard. She wrote him a letter explaining that his face looked too thin for a president.
Furthermore, he possessed a bartender’s license and owned a saloon in Illinois. Unfortunately, the business failed because his partner drank too much of their own inventory.
Edwin Booth, the brother of his assassin, once saved Lincoln’s son from a train accident. He pulled Robert Todd Lincoln to safety on a platform in New Jersey.
Abraham Lincoln famously challenged a political rival to a duel in 1842. Because he had the choice of weapons, he chose heavy cavalry broadswords to use his long reach.
The President loved cats and often fed them right at the dinner table. He once fed his cat Tabby with a gold fork during a formal White House dinner.
Tragically, his mother died when he was just nine years old due to “milk sickness.” She drank milk from a cow that had eaten a poisonous plant called white snakeroot.
He created the Secret Service on the very day he was assassinated. However, the agency’s original mission was to stop counterfeit money rather than protect the president.
He used his tall hat as a mobile filing cabinet for important papers. Consequently, he often pulled letters and speeches directly out of the hat during meetings.
Grave robbers attempted to steal his body in 1876 to demand a ransom. As a result, officials eventually buried his coffin under 10 feet [3 meters] of solid concrete.
Abraham Lincoln personally tested new rifles on the grassy lawns outside the White House. Soldiers and civilians often stopped to watch the Commander-in-Chief shoot targets.
Strangely, he carried a Confederate five-dollar bill in his wallet on the night he died. He likely found it as a souvenir while visiting the captured city of Richmond.
He practiced law without a college degree because he was entirely self-taught. He read every book he could find and passed the bar exam through pure determination.
