Over the centuries of American history, there have certainly been presidents who secretly or not-so-secretly disliked each other. They may not have liked their policies or even what they represented as a person. Several former presidents have gone on the record of their feelings toward Donald Trump, for example, according to NBC News. Many politicians are airing their own grievances at each other on social media as well as the news, especially on partisan networks. The days of circumspection seem to be long gone. 

But what about during the times when social media was a distant creation? How about the time of President Abraham Lincoln? According to The New York Times and his former law partner, he thoroughly hated Thomas Jefferson. Lincoln despised him in terms of his morality and his political works. Yes, the man who always looked so stoic in his photos was riled by his predecessor.

One thing that irked Lincoln was that Jefferson was talking about equality for all while having an affair with a slave of his, Sally Hemings. In Lincoln’s eyes, it was very two-faced of Jefferson and brought his moral character into question. After all, Lincoln was also the one who wound up freeing the slaves with the Emancipation Proclamation, so it stood to reason that he would disagree about his predecessor’s actions with someone that he owned. 

Lincoln thought little of Jefferson

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