Joshua Speed and Abraham Lincoln Were "Close Friends," but Was There More to Their Relationship?

Few historical figures loom larger over American history than Abraham Lincoln. America's 16th president had to usher the country through the Civil War and the end of slavery, and his assassination undoubtedly changed the course of history.

His weighty historical importance has long been a subject of interest among historians, but there are also things about Lincoln the man that are well worth exploring. Among the things many wonder about Lincoln is his relationship with Joshua Speed, who was his close friend for more than 20 years. Here's what we know about the nature of that relationship.

Publicly, Speed and Lincoln were only ever close friends, and there's no definitive evidence to suggest that the relationship extended beyond that. There has long been speculation, though, that there was something more romantic in that relationship. In 1999, an alleged diary was even brought forward that claimed to include explicit details about Speed's sexual encounters with Lincoln.

The diary was brought forward by gay activist Larry Kramer and was thought to almost certainly be a hoax, although Kramer swore that he had documentation to support some of the diary's claims.

Ultimately, though, all we know for sure is that the two men were friendly. The question of Lincoln's sexuality has long divided historians, some who believe that Lincoln had relationships with men throughout his life, and others who don't. Ultimately, the question comes down to speculation.

When Lincoln was just an up-and-coming lawyer in 1837, he met Speed and the two eventually lived together for four years, sharing a bed while they slept (the size of the bed was apparently quite large).

The two maintained a friendship throughout Lincoln's life, even though Speed was a Democrat and was more aligned with the Confederacy during the Civil War.

While it may sound suspicious to suggest that the two men shared a bed, it was reportedly not uncommon at the time for men to share beds for a wide variety of reasons that had little to do with sexuality. What's more, Lincoln often discussed the fact that he had slept with men in shared beds of his own accord, which he may not have done if he felt there was something about the encounters worth hiding.

While the two of them were sharing a bed, they were often doing so in a public setting where doing anything erotic would have been difficult. Ultimately, then, there is little in the way of conclusive evidence that there was anything romantic happening between Speed and Lincoln.

It's certainly possible, though, and perhaps even likely, that some totemic historical figures were not open about their sexuality because of the standards of the time. Whether Lincoln was one such leader who was hiding a part of himself or not is an open question, and the answer may never be proven definitively.