Comic Relief for President Lincoln
Ohio newspaperman David Ross Locke (1833–1888) created “Petroleum V. Nasby” to comment satirically on politics and life in America from the 1860s through the 1880s. A “Copperhead” during the Civil War—a Northern Democrat who opposed the war—Nasby attracted the attention of President Lincoln (1809–1865), who read his letters, published in pamphlet form, when he was “greatly fatigued, annoyed, or depressed . . . frequently with great relief,” according to artist Francis B. Carpenter (1830–1900).
Ohio newspaperman David Ross Locke (1833–1888) created “Petroleum V. Nasby” to comment satirically on politics and life in America from the 1860s through the 1880s. A “Copperhead” during the Civil War—a Northern Democrat who opposed the war—Nasby attracted the attention of President Lincoln (1809–1865), who read his letters, published in pamphlet form, when he was “greatly fatigued, annoyed, or depressed . . . frequently with great relief,” according to artist Francis B. Carpenter (1830–1900).