Lincoln's Logic - How Lincoln Learned to Tell When a Thing Is Proved.

A man who heard Abraham Lincoln speak in Norwich, Connecticut on March 9, 1860, in support of Republican Governor William Alfred Buckingham’s re-election, two months prior to his nomination for president, was greatly impressed by the closely-knit logic of the speech Lincoln gave. 

Governor William Alfred Buckingham

Meeting him the next day on a train he asked Mr. Lincoln how he acquired his wonderful logical powers and such acuteness in the analysis. Lincoln replied:

"It was my terrible discouragement which did that for me. When I was a young man, I went Into an office to study law. I saw that a lawyer's business is largely to prove things. I said to myself, 'Lincoln, when is a thing proved?' That was a poser. What constitutes proof? Not evidence; that was not the point. There may be evidence enough, but wherein consists the proof? I groaned over the question, and finally said to myself, 'Ah, Lincoln, you can't tell.' Then I thought what use is it for me to be In a law office if I can't tell when a thing Is proved?

So I gave it up and went back home. Soon after I returned to the old log cabin I fell in with a copy of Euclid's Elements of Geometry. I had not the slightest notion of what [or who] Euclid was, and I thought I would find out. I, therefore, began at the beginning, and before spring I had gone through the old Euclid's geometry and could demonstrate every proposition in the book. Then in the spring, when I had got through with it, I said to myself one day, 'Ah, do you know when a thing is proved?' and I answered, 'Yes, sir, I do. Then you may go back to the law shop;' and I went." 

Abraham Lincoln was a very good math student. This video shares the story of why Lincoln studied Euclid's "Elements of Geometry." This mathematics problem he solved when he was about 16 years old, shows how he came up with the correct answer and thus the interworkings of his thought processes. We can deduce the steps he took from the somewhat mysterious calculations he noted in his manuscript and put the calculations into today's algebra equation.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D. 

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[1] Euclidean Geometry is a mathematical system attributed to Alexandrian Greek mathematician Euclid (sometimes called Euclid of Alexandria), the "father of geometry," who lived in the Greek city of Alexandria, Egypt around 300BC, where he founded a school of mathematics.

Abraham Lincoln read Euclid's "Elements of Geometry," 7th edition, 1826. (PDF)

Euclid's method consists in assuming a small set of intuitively appealing axioms, and deducing many other propositions (theorems) from these, in his textbook on geometry: the Elements of Geometry. Since 1482, there have been more than a thousand editions of Euclid's Elements of Geometry printed.

How Lincoln Became Known as "Honest Abe."

As a general store clerk at New Salem, Illinois, Lincoln was scrupulously holiest. This trait soon became known, but the two following incidents are particularly responsible for the appellation of "Honest Abe," given him and by which he has been so familiarly known. 

He once took 6¼¢ too much from a customer. He.did not say to himself, "never mind such little things," but walked three miles that evening after closing his store to return the money. 

On another occasion he weighed 1½ lb of tea, as he supposed, it being night when he did so, and that was the last thing he sold in the store before going home. Upon entering the store in the morning he discovered a four-ounce weight on the scale. He saw his mistake, closed the shop, and hurried off to deliver the remainder of the tea. 

People recognized his integrity and were soon asking him to act as a mediator or judge in various contests, fights, and arguments. According to Robert Rutledge of New Salem, "Lincoln's judgment was final in all that region of the country. People relied implicitly upon his honesty, integrity, and impartiality."

These acts of his soon gained him the now-famous title of "Honest Abe." It was a nickname that Abraham Lincoln embraced with pride throughout his life.

Compiled by Neil Gale, Ph.D.

Mrs. Haupt, of Philadelphia Remembers Kissing President Lincoln at 13 years old for a 10¢ Union Fund Raiser in 1864.

Mrs. John Haupt, north Main street, claims the proud honor of having kissed Abraham Lincoln. Mrs. Haupt, who is fairly steeped in the tales of good old times which she is always glad to relate, tells the story in this manner: "It was in 1864 that Lincoln, who was then President, came to Philadelphia to be present at the Sanitary Fair given in that city. I was then a girl of 13 years and with a number of school children, I went to the Fair to see this wonderful man who was talked of so much."

The Philadelphia Sanitary Fair at Logan Square, June 7th to June 21st, 1864.

Mr. Lincoln had his seat on a raised platform and the children, those who cared to, mounted the rostrum, and took the offered privilege. The charge for the kiss was 10¢, of which all the money went to the benefit of the Union soldiers. I wore long curls when I was a girl and I remember that Mr. Lincoln said, "What pretty curls you have." 

Little else comes to my memory of what happened with the exception of the scolding I received when I reached home. My father, who was not a Republican, said, "If I had been you, Emma, I would not have kissed the old rail-splitter." Lincoln was being entertained at the home of an old friend of our family, Dr. Wright, in Philadelphia, and I can recall just how I felt what a great thing I had done when I gave my ten cents and took the kiss on the cheek, just as the other children did."

Compiled by Neil Gale, Ph.D.