Billy Herndon's Observations About Abe

The observations about Abraham Lincoln by his partner in the law firm of Lincoln & Herndon, a law firm that has inspired us ("A great law firm doesn't have to be large"), are the focus of a recent article in the Wall Street Journal.  William  H. ("Billy") Herndon was Abraham Lincoln's law partner.  The Wall Street Journal on January 29, 2016 published an article about a new book  HERNDON ON LINCOLN: LETTERS by Wilson and Davis, . This new book presents a collection of Billy Herndon's letters to others which included many interesting observations about Lincoln that Herndon gleaned from his years with Lincoln.  Because Lincoln is such a gigantic figure in American history, getting a glimpse of Lincoln the man and the lawyer behind the scenes is thrilling.  Whether lawyers today, famous or not,  would ever want their former law partners to make quite so many observations about them to others is of course an open question, as some of the more physical observations itemized in the review of this new book may be a bit too personal. Then again, anything that gives us a clue to what Lincoln was really like is probably worth pursuing.  The article is a good read, as probably will be the book as well.  Glenn Bacal January 30, 2016