Abraham Lincoln was called a baboon by newspapers during the American Civil War.
Posted by Bannon`s War Room, Checked
- Sources
- 6 support1 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 70%
Bannon`s War RoomOct 7, 2026
Multiple sources report that Lincoln was called a baboon by newspapers and critics during the Civil War: the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Last Best Hope cite Northern/Southern papers, the Chicago Times and Charleston Mercury are quoted, and the LA Times and a Lincoln tribute cite 'baboon' among the names used.
What was said
… They're trying to relieve him a couple of times in the Congress. They're backstabbing him nonstop. Guys in his staff are backstabbing him, the Horatio Gates of the world and others. You think he was beloved? Oh, that was only in history after he won. Lincoln lincoln had the worst press ever during the war, and I'm not talking from folks in the Confederacy, the Copperheads, everybody. They called him a baboon. I think it was a paper that supported him, or I shouldn't say supported him, it was a paper that supported the Northern cause. When Lincoln was there, they hated him, hated him. He had to fight it every day. Washington had to fight it every day. …
Bannon`s War Room · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Supports. The Last Best Hope source states that unfavorable newspapers in the North called Lincoln a 'gorilla' and 'baboon' around his 1861 inauguration, during the period leading into the war.[1]
Supports. A Harper's/Charleston-era lesson plan notes Southern secessionists called him 'the baboon,' and English caricatures depicted him as a baboon on a branch during the Civil War.[2][3]
Supports. The LA Times retrospective and a Lincoln history essay list 'baboon' among the epithets Lincoln was called by critics and the press during the war.[4][5]
Supports. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that the Charleston Mercury called Lincoln 'the Orang-Outang at the White House,' showing that newspapers were using primate insults during the war.[6]
Context. Some sources note that Lincoln's critics also mocked him as a 'gorilla,' 'ape,' or 'orangutan,' and that Southern papers were largely unseen by Lincoln, but these do not contradict the claim.[5][7]
Sources
7 sources: 7 not rated
- 1The Inauguration of Abraham Lincoln - Last Best Hope of Earthlastbesthopeofearth.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 2Election of 1860 Lesson Plan | Civil War | The History Catthehistorycat.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 3Better angels of our nature - Time - Vremevreme.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 4Laughter, Lore and Language of the Lincoln Presidency - LA Timeslatimes.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 5The Laughing and Literary Lincoln.drloihjournal.blogspot.com · not rated · cited for: supports, context
- 6'Imbecile' Lincoln's war with the press - Pittsburgh Post-Gazettepost-gazette.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 7An un-civil war over criticismhistorynet.com · not rated · cited for: context
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post