The president’s iconic beard was a product of the anxious new realities of the photographic age.

On Oct. 15, 1860 - 153 years ago today &mdash 11-year-old Grace Bedell wrote a letter to Abraham Lincoln suggesting he grow a beard for the presidential election. Bedell said in her letter that ...

Looking at a picture of Abraham ... Lincoln song imagined his supporters begging not to have his picture shown. Bedell, of Westfield, New York, offered a solution: Lincoln should grow a beard.