Abraham Lincoln remains one of the most recognizable politicians in the world, and when his name is mentioned, what may immediately come to mind is his presidency, his assassination, or his executive order of the Emancipation Proclamation.
Before his political stint, however, Lincoln was preoccupied with something else — wrestling. He was good at the sport, too. So good, in fact, that he was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.
Lincoln was born in Kentucky on Feb. 12, 1809, to a poor family. His education was limited, but he loved learning and always read books. His interests also included wrestling, which he started dabbling in when he was just 9 years old.
He wrestled a gang leader
In 1831, Lincoln moved to New Salem, Illinois, where he worked as a rail-splitter, a job that involved using an axe to split wood for building fence rails. He also worked as a clerk at a store owned by Denton Offutt.
At 22 years old, Lincoln stood 6’4” and weighed 185 pounds and his physique wasn’t that of a stereotypical wrestler’s. He was tall and lanky, but he built his strength as a result of years working as a laborer. Offutt was impressed by his employee, who he thought was not only strong but smart as well. He bragged about Lincoln and said his employee could beat anyone in town, including Jack Armstrong, the head of a rough gang called the Clary’s Grove Boys. The boys were described as a boisterous bunch. They lived in the surrounding communities but liked to visit New Salem to drink and gamble.
According to reports, Offutt bet $10 that Lincoln could win in a match against Armstrong, the toughest in the gang. He convinced his employee to fight Armstrong, and a date was scheduled. Many people from the surrounding areas showed up to watch the anticipated match between the two men. Armstrong’s physique was the opposite of Lincoln’s; he was short and brawny.
The rules were set. It was to be a catch-as-catch-can match, also known as freestyle wrestling. The opponents were allowed to use whichever strategy they preferred as long as they didn’t cause injury to the other. This meant that kicking and hitting were not allowed. The goal was to knock the opponent down on his back. At first, the two men sized each other up, and then the grappling began. This went on for a while, and neither could throw their opponent to the ground. Lincoln used his long arms to prevent Armstrong from knocking him down, which frustrated the latter. Some accounts of the match say that Armstrong resorted to illegal tactics, and this angered Lincoln.
At some point, Lincoln was able to get the better of Armstrong. He held his opponent by the neck and shook him, which alarmed Armstrong’s gang members. Initially, it seemed that a fight was going to break out between Lincoln and the Clary’s Grove Boys, but Armstrong stepped in and conceded. In some versions of the story, the match ended with Lincoln and Armstrong agreeing to a draw. Other accounts say Lincoln knocked out Armstrong. Regardless, Lincoln gained the respect of the gang leader with his show of strength and said that Lincoln was “the best fella that ever broke into this settlement.”
What started as a wrestling match between strangers ended in a long-lasting friendship. More than two decades later, Lincoln served as Armstrong’s son’s defense attorney in a murder trial, which ended in a not-guilty verdict. He refused to accept compensation for his service.
Abraham Lincoln was almost unbeatable
Reports allege that Lincoln was such a good wrestler that he won 299 matches out of 300 in 12 years. The man who bested him was Hank Thompson.
In 1832, Lincoln served as a commander of his unit in the Illinois Militia that fought in the Black Hawk War. Thompson was also a commander of a different unit from the same militia. The match between the two started when the two groups got into a disagreement over which unit would set up camp on what they deemed as the best spot. Neither group wanted to concede, so they decided a wrestling match between the commanders was the best way to settle the issue. The other men placed their bets on who they thought would win.
It was a two out of three falls match, which meant Lincoln had to throw his opponent two times to win. Lincoln was known as a smart wrestler and often tried to tire his opponent before attacking, a technique that always worked for him. This time, it didn’t work. In the first round, Thompson was able to throw Lincoln. During the second round, the two men started getting tired and at some point, both men fell to the ground in an attempt to trip the other. Lincoln’s men said it shouldn’t count as they fell to the ground at the same time. At that point, however, Lincoln knew that he found a formidable opponent in Thompson, and he conceded. “Boys, give up your bets. If this man hasn’t thrown me fairly, he could,” he reportedly stated.
Was he considered a professional in wrestling?
Lincoln was, indeed, a superior wrestler in his early adult life but during that time, there were no official county championships for wrestling. Instead, he was regarded as a “champion” by winning informal wrestling matches in Illinois. It’s also important to note that the type of wrestling Lincoln engaged in was far from the wrestling we know today. Still, his skill was recognized in 1992 when he was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame with the Outstanding American accolade.