I dunno Art.

Robert louis stevenson got this same saintly veneer that 19th century families seemed to go in for. It makes it vey hard for those of us who admire the achievements of the man, to actually see the man - get a sense of him. Although RLS was a garrulous soul and theres more of himself expressed in his writing - so theres more for his biographers to go on.

I suppose all politicians spend their lives putting as good a gloss on their actions as they can - Lincoln being no fool, was no exception.

i devoured Gore Vidal's book looking for clues, and similarly with Casey Terfertiller's excellent book on Wyatt Earp. Somehow the essence of these people is shrouded.