Lover of Men: The Untold History of Abraham Lincoln (2024)

Enjoyably Fascinating Lover of Men Asks, “Was Abraham Lincoln Gay?”

Lover of Men: The Untold History of Abraham Lincoln is far from being the best documentary I will see in 2024. It is, however, likely going to end up being one of the more enjoyable. Director Shaun Peterson has assembled a charismatic cavalcade of historians and scholars to go on a presidential quest into the unknowable with him, and by doing so, manages to craft a sly social commentary that’s more about the here and now than it is about the mid-19th century.

Was Abraham Lincoln, the 16th (and almost inarguably the most consequential) president of the United States, Gay? That is the primary question Peterson’s documentary attempts to explore. With leading voices from colleges all across the country (including Harvard, Columbia, and Brown), best-selling historians, and even Montana State legislator Rep. Zooey Zephyr leading the charge, the answer the director comes up with is a hardly shocking “maybe” — and that’s probably the best that could be expected.

But there’s plenty of amusing historical support that does make this query worth pondering (and continuing to research). Lincoln’s connection to a handful of figures, most notably Springfield businessman and politician Joshua Speed (a former roommate) and US Army Captain David Derickson (who served as the president’s bodyguard and companion), is examined in as much detail as the historical record allows. Lincoln frequently shared a bed with these and other men (for four years with Speed), although this apparently was a rather common occurrence during the period. It was really only his time with Derickson that provoked questioning rumors from his cabinet and from other White House personnel.

As fascinating as all of this may be, I could have done without the low-rent, Dateline-like reenactments depicting what could have happened between Lincoln and the men at various points in his life. Granted, without them, we’d be stuck with something that emulates a Ken Burns documentary series (most notably the groundbreaking The Civil War), only Peterson doesn’t quite have a handle on the best way to utilize his erudite talking heads when juxtaposed with the historical elements (letters, photos, etc.) they’ve assembled for him to showcase for the audience’s edification.

Where the director is far more successful is in how he utilizes all of this what-if questioning about Lincoln to shine a spotlight on what happened to views regarding gender and same-sex camaraderie between the middle of the 19th century and the early 20th. Even better, he shines an intense spotlight on how political anarchists utilize social issues to radicalize their followers and, in the process, have dismantled the Republican Party to such an extent that the “party of Lincoln” is so far removed from what it was during the time of the Civil War that, for all practical purposes, it no longer exists.

In that way, it is when the film is confronting these forms of intolerance that it ends up playing its strongest cards. The way these historians link past and present is both astonishing and terrifying, frequently at once. But, more than that, they also find hope in this historical treasure hunting, and the idea that society can persevere during times of great, seemingly insurmountable peril is one worth embracing (as hard as that may be to do right now).

So, was Abraham Lincoln Gay? I have no idea. But Lover of Men does a fine job of pondering this question as best it can. Better, it shows how just embracing the idea that the most celebrated and revered president in United States history could have been is a form of celebratory social and historical anarchy in and of itself.

– Review reprinted courtesy of the SGN in Seattle

Film Rating: 3 (out of 4)