Abraham Lincoln was the first President to wear a beard and in 1860 practically everyone was talking about this "noble hirsute appendage" which the President-elect had affected. When Lincoln's beard first started to grow, a newspaper reporter with a sense of humor wrote that "the President was putting on "(h)airs".

Those close to Lincoln were quick to point out that bearded men of action were now destined to take over the reigns of the government from clean-shaven men who dressed in broadcloth and whose chief attribute was oratory. The opposition saw "something supremely ridiculous in having a President-elect devote his energies to cultivating whiskers". Nevertheless, beards were becoming popular in the 1860's.

There could be several good reason why Lincoln grew a beard while waiting to assume office. Lincoln had no illusions about his appearance, but no one knows for certain that he grew whiskers to cover up his homeliness. Some claims have been advanced that influential political leaders advised a beard to give the incoming President a look of distinction.

It was an eleven year old girl, Grace Bedell of Westfield, New York, whoforthrightly broached the subject. She wrote to Lincoln that her father had brought Lincoln's picture home from the fair along with that of his vice-president-elect. She discreetly pointed out that "all the ladies like whiskers and they would tease their husbands to vote for you if you would let your whiskers grow".

Lincoln replied to Grace on October 19, 1869 that "As to the whiskers, having never worn any, do you not think people would call it a piece of silly affection if I were to begin now?"

His beard stirred up much ridicule in the press. Vanity Fair, March 16, 1861, published a cartoon of a bust of Lincoln with a beard exhibited in an "Agency for the Lincoln Whiskeropherous". The cartoon advised people to buy the product so that could be as hairy and handsome like Lincoln.

A second press article in the New York Illustrated News of March 2. 1861, announced that now that people of prominence wore whiskers, it was no wonder that ambitious Americans should do the same.

One firm that claimed to help grow hair quickly, claimed that Lincoln used their product, although that was denied by Lincoln himself.

This just shows you that even in the "old days" the press still made the President's life a fishbowl and any straying from the norm caused an uproar. Nothing has changed, has it?

Legendary Lincoln DVD Set

Explore lesser-known tales of the 16th president in this evocative collection which combines three complete, full-length programs.