Did Abraham Lincoln's bromance alter the course of American history?

Joshua Speed certainly helped guide him emotionally toward intimacy and love

In the spring of 1837, a “long, gawky, ugly, shapeless man” walked into Joshua Speed’s dry goods store in Springfield, Illinois, requesting supplies for a bed. Speed said the cost would be US$17, which ended up being too pricey for the visitor, who asked instead for credit until Christmas. The 23-year-old Speed was nonetheless taken with this stranger; he “threw such charm around him” and betrayed a “perfect naturalness.”

The stranger was none other than a 28-year-old Abraham Lincoln, a quarter-century before he would take the oath as the 16th US president.

Speed spontaneously came up with an alternative plan. He said