The Physical Lincoln

Book excerpt: This groundbreaking book offers a solution to one of the most enduring mysteries in American history: What made Abraham Lincoln so tall, thin, and less than attractive? What gave him his long limbs, large feet, high voice, odd lips, sluggish bowels, and astonishing joint flexibility? Why, in his last months, was he so haggard that editorials in major newspapers implored him to take a vacation? The never-before-proposed solution points to Lincoln's DNA and the rare genetic disorder called MEN2B. In addition to producing Lincoln's remarkable body shape, MEN2B gave him a sad-looking face that, for more than 150 years, has been consistently misinterpreted as depression. It tragically took his mother and three of his sons at early ages (Eddie, Willie, and Tad), and it was killing Lincoln in his last years. "The Physical Lincoln" upends the myth of a physically vibrant President, showing that, had he not been shot, Lincoln would have died from advanced cancer in less than a year, the result of MEN2B. Written in clear, non-technical language for the general reader, and using more than 180 illustrations, "The Physical Lincoln" offers fundamental new insights into Lincoln, and is the perfect book to stimulate a young person's interest in science and medicine. See www.physical-lincoln.com for more information.