Abraham Lincoln Shared Bed with a Man for 4 Years, Fell Into 'Suicidal Depression' When He Left, Doc Says (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

It’s a side of the great American president that history books don’t typically dwell on, and the newdocumentaryLover of Men: The Untold History of Abraham Lincoln, which is in select theaters Sept. 6, takes a look at that and another aspect of Lincoln’s life that often has gone overlooked: his sexuality.

The documentary covers Lincoln’s relationships with several men over the years, most notably Joshua Speed, the co-owner of a general store with whom the future U.S. president shared lodgings — and a bed — for four years.

Joshua Speed.Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty

Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty

PEOPLE has an exclusive clip from the documentary that looks at the critical date of Jan. 1, 1841, which Lincoln called “the fatal first.”

It was the day Lincoln read in a local paper that Speed was selling his store. The documentary claims it was the first Lincoln had heard of Speed’s business plans, and on that New Year’s Day, Lincoln also learned that Speed would be moving out of the home (and bed) they shared and heading back to his birthplace of Kentucky to take over his mother’s farm.

According to one expert in the doc, “Lincoln is devastated,” while another calls the days and weeks and months that followed Speed’s departure “the period of his darkest depression.”

“Then Lincoln goes into a suicidal depression,” the commentary continues. “They established a kind of suicide watch. His friends removed his razor kit and any other sharp objects, like a knife. And he wrote to his law partner that ‘I am the most miserable man living.’ "

Then Lincoln, via a voiceover, starts to read the letter to his law partner: “I am the most miserable man living. If what I am feeling were distributed to the whole human family, there would not be a cheerful face on the earth. That I shall ever be better, I cannot tell. I awfully forbode I shall not. Now, to remain as I am is impossible. I must die, or be better, it appears to me.”

Speculation about Lincoln’s sexuality has gained traction in recent years. Much of the attention has focused on Speed, and the fact that he and Lincoln slept in the same bed during the four years they were roommates in Springfield, Ill., from 1837 to 1841. At the time, Lincoln was an attorney in his late 20s to early 30s.

Lover of Men: The Untold History of Abraham Lincoln.Courtesy of Special Occasion

Courtesy of Special Occasion

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But did their close relationship just reflect another era with different social mores? In the early to mid 19th century, it wasn’t unusual for men to sleep in the same bed out of convenience, and “gay” and “bisexual” as concepts and labels didn’t exist yet.

The documentary has that covered. The synopsis reads, in part: “Lover of Menwidens its lens into the history of human sexual fluidity and focuses on the profound differences between sexual mores of the 19th century and those we hold today.”

Lover of Menmakes the case that his “darkest depression” after losing Speed may not have been that far behind.

Lover of Men: The Untold History of Abraham Lincolnis in theaters Sept. 6. A portion of ticket sales will directly benefit The Human Rights Campaign when moviegoers useHRC’s custom ticket purchase link.

source: people.com