{"id":84612,"date":"2019-04-17T18:25:33","date_gmt":"2019-04-17T22:25:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/abraham-lincoln-joe-biden-and-the-politics-of-touch\/"},"modified":"2019-04-17T18:25:33","modified_gmt":"2019-04-17T22:25:33","slug":"abraham-lincoln-joe-biden-and-the-politics-of-touch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/abraham-lincoln-joe-biden-and-the-politics-of-touch\/","title":{"rendered":"Abraham Lincoln, Joe Biden and the Politics of Touch"},"content":{"rendered":"

Abraham Lincoln, Joe Biden and the Politics of Touch<\/b><\/p>\n

President Abraham Lincoln in 1863 and Vice President Joseph Biden in 2019.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Amidst the furor over former Vice President Biden\u2019s handsy habits<\/a> \u2013 and with examples of inappropriate touching by current and former<\/a> U.S. presidents still lingering \u2013 it might be a good time to recall how past politicians learned to use touch not to molest, intimidate or cow but to connect, engage and inspire.<\/p>\n

No one was better at tactile politics than Abraham Lincoln.<\/p>\n

Lincoln lived in a time when American political culture valued touch. Handshaking had long been important as a sign of political and social etiquette.<\/p>\n

Quakers, for example, preferred the handshake over doffing hats and bowing because the act had something of a democratic ring to it, denoting a rough equality. <\/p>\n

By the early 19th century, handshaking was becoming both more American and masculine. French and British gentlemen were less inclined to shake hands and considered the American habit of sweaty handshaking \u201cdisgusting.\u201d <\/p>\n

Lincoln and American politicians cast their touch as a necessary part of political culture and engagement. <\/p>\n

<\/a>
A drawing of Abraham Lincoln offering his hand to a Union soldier, City Point, Virginia.<\/span>
\n Library of Congress, drawing by Charles W. Reed<\/a><\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I\u2019m a scholar of sensory history<\/a>, and in my research I have found that elected and electable leaders during the 19th century especially had to touch voters, metaphorically and literally, a point Lincoln probably learned while glad-handing as a young traveling lawyer<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Right and wrong way<\/h2>\n

Then, as now, how you touched someone was politically risky. In the cultural and political ritual of American handshaking, care had to be taken not to slight or send the wrong message. <\/p>\n

An essay entitled \u201cHand-Shaking,\u201d from Harper\u2019s Weekly of May 21, 1870<\/a>, declared that refusing to shake hands was a \u201cdeclaration of hostility,\u201d but pressing the flesh had to be done with care. <\/p>\n

Too tight a grip, the essay continued, indicated \u201ctyranny,\u201d a product of either unwitting strength or malicious intent. More \u201codious\u201d was \u201che who offers you his hand, but will not permit you to get fair hold of it.\u201d Such tactile diffidence reflected \u201ccool contempt or supercilious scorn.\u201d <\/p>\n

Lincoln was a prodigious handshaker, and it added to his reputation as an egalitarian, common man<\/a>, one literally and figuratively in touch with the people. <\/p>\n

A marathon handshaking session in New York in February 1861 as president-elect left him with hurt hands. Just after his election as president, according to J. G. Holland in 1866<\/a>, Lincoln met with crowds whose \u201chand-shaking \u2026 was something fearful\u201d with \u201cEvery man<\/a> in the crowd \u2026 anxious to wrench the hand of Abraham Lincoln. He finally gave both hands to the work, with great good nature.\u201d <\/p>\n

<\/a>
Plaster casts of Lincoln\u2019s hands, made by Leonard Volk in May 1860.<\/span>
\n Smithsonian National Museum of American History<\/a><\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2018Shaky signature\u2019<\/h2>\n

Lincoln\u2019s hands were imprinted with politics, with key initiatives written into and onto his skin. According to Massachusetts Sen. Charles Sumner<\/a>, even Lincoln\u2019s signature on the Emancipation Proclamation was riddled with the common touch because \u201che had been shaking hands all the morning, so that his writing was unsteady.\u201d <\/p>\n

Lincoln commented:<\/a> \u201cWhen people see that shaky signature they will say \u2018See how uncertain he was.\u2019 But I was never surer of anything in my life.\u201d <\/p>\n

The only cast of Lincoln\u2019s hands, taken by Leonard W. Volk in Springfield<\/a>, Illinois on the Sunday after Lincoln\u2019s nomination in 1860, is deeply inscribed with a history of handshaking. <\/p>\n

Volk made the cast after \u201cthousands\u201d had gone to Lincoln\u2019s home, \u201cpassing through the house in single file, each citizen giving Lincoln a vigorous handshake.\u201d<\/a> <\/p>\n

The cast tells the story of touch: \u201cThe swollen muscles that resulted from this reception are quite noticeable in the cast,\u201d said essayist Laurence Hutton, who owned it<\/a>. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s important to note that Lincoln not only used touch to connect with voters \u2013 as politicians still do \u2013 but that he did so within widely accepted rules \u2013 as some politicians no longer do.<\/p>\n

Unlike Biden, Lincoln was no hugger, sniffer or caresser for the simple reason that those tactile and olfactory displays were wholly inappropriate among white men<\/a> of the time. <\/p>\n

But for Lincoln, those rules were no impediment. <\/p>\n

Lincoln used the simple handshake to help engage a nation and guide it through an immensely difficult time of war and national upheaval. That\u2019s a reminder that appropriate touching plays an important role in American political culture.<\/p>\n

Mark M. Smith<\/a>, Carolina Distinguished Professor of History, University of South Carolina<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The post Abraham Lincoln, Joe Biden and the Politics of Touch<\/a> appeared first on Towleroad Gay News<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Abraham Lincoln, Joe Biden and the Politics of Touch<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n