This section investigates the ways that photographers, printmakers, and cartoonists tried to influence public opinion about Lincoln by altering his appearance and by placing him in make-believe situations.

As an attorney, Abraham Lincoln portrayed himself as a man of the people who had lifted himself from humble beginnings. When he became a presidential candidate, he continued to refer to his poor, humble, unschooled youth, both because it was at least in part true and because it made him seem more like the common Americans who would vote for him. However, Lincoln also made efforts to shape his image into an appropriately presidential one. Photography played a major role in shaping Lincoln’s image. In fact, Lincoln claimed a photograph by Mathew Brady made him president.

Despite the authentic nature of photography, these images were susceptible to change. Developers such as Brady could remove flaws to present a more “refined” Lincoln. The lithographers who copied these images for newspapers and magazines could and did change them at will, sometimes at Lincoln’s expense. Detractors turned Lincoln’s common man image into one of an unrefined bumpkin and therefore emphasized less attractive features.

Viewers of this portion of The Faces of Lincoln exhibit are invited to consider the messages these images express as well as considering how Lincoln shaped his own legacy through his words and deeds.

Requires at least 12 feet by 24 feet of floor space.

After learning he had grown a beard, printmakers needed to create a new image of Lincoln. Rather than spend time and money to make a new lithograph, they simply added a beard to an existing print of candidate Lincoln, turning him into a bearded President Lincoln.

Many printmakers created images that showed Lincoln as a family man, even though no photographs were ever taken of Lincoln with his entire family.