A Japanese neighbor of ours in Tokyo, a former university professor, has written a number of books on American and Western humor, with some of his material covering the witticisms of Abraham Lincoln. One such example was drawn from an 1858 Illinois debate with Senator Stephen Douglas in which Lincoln attempted to deflect Douglas’ charge that he was two-faced by quipping, “If I had another face, do you think I would wear this one?”. While the retort may well have amused the audience, it could not mask the true duplicity of Lincoln’s politics or policies at that time, nor the Janus-like face he displayed to the North and South following his election as president two years later and throughout his ensuing war.
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