ordinates the truth, even when it is bad, gain greater respect and support for ideas than any others. Another unique quality Lincoln processed was his humanness. In the fall of 1864, Lincoln learned that Lydia Bixby, a Boston widow, had lost five sons in the Civil War. He then wrote a letter providing consolation to Mrs. Bixby. It was not an action that could gain him any power or money, but small action like this showed that he cared for the people more than anything, and he did it just because he believed it was right. *It was later learned that Lincoln had been misinformed about the number of sons Mrs. Bixby lost. She lost two instead of five sons in the war. The information of Mrs. Bixby's sons is from Abraham Lincoln: From Skeptic to Prophet by Wayne C. Temple (Mayhaven Publishing, Mahomet, Illinois, 1995), p. 227*
             On the other hand, Andrew Jackson, or "Old Hickory" as he was known, had the reputation as an uncivil and brutish person. During the 1828 campaign, John Quincy Adams of Massachusetts, one of Jackson's opponent, charged Jackson and his wife with adultery. The claim gave the public a negative impression of Jackson. Apparently, his wife Rachel Donelson had a first and unhappy marriage with another man, Lewis Robards. In 1790 the Kentucky legislature passed a resolution giving Robards permission to sue for divorce, which he did not do so at the time. This then led Jackson and Donelson to confuse the permission to sue with an actual declaration of divorce. Not realizing Donelson was still legally married, they married in 1791. Robards finall
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