Lincoln the lounge lizard: Abraham Lincoln and sofas

With Steven Spielberg’s biopic Lincoln winning an Oscar for Daniel Day-Lewis, old Abe is very much back in the news these days. The greatest of all the presidents, famous for his Gettysburg Address and for freeing the slaves after the US Civil War, he was indeed a great man. What you might not know about him, however, is that he liked a lounge.

You would have thought that being president, he was kept fairly busy but in reality, he liked nothing more than kicking back on the sofa and relaxing.

In fact, according to some historians Lincoln would usually arrive at his office at about nine and the first thing he would do was lie down on the sofa and read the newspapers.

Throughout many of the descriptions of him in literature, he can often be found lying on the bed, stretched out on the grass or horizontal on the couch. You might know him best from the few stern looking photos of him that exist but he was in fact a little bit of a slouch. Or at least he liked to do is thinking in a horizontal position.

To think that we were all told at school by teachers that we wouldn’t get anywhere if we slouched – what did they know?

Of course, there is a lot to be said for a good slouch. Kicking back on the sofa or having a nap draped over some bedroom furniture is very restorative. Just a few minutes of shut-eye is enough to get you fully back in the game. Even if it’s not technically sleeping, a bit of time getting comfy on leather sofas in front of the TV is a must for unwinding.

You might not see much of Lincoln lying about in the movie, it tends to be a little more dramatic than some extended scenes of him lying about and contemplating. The common perception, and the one in the film, is of a dynamic and industrious Lincoln. He is famously a man of action but that might be something of a misconception, it transpires. Putting pay to the myth that you can’t get anything done from the sofa.

We’re not advocating a life of laziness but what we are saying is that if you need a role model in life, they don’t come much better than Abraham Lincoln. If he liked to spend time of the sofa then it’s good enough for us too.

If you want to lounge like Lincoln then you need the right sofa. With an impressive collection of leather sofas, Sainsbury’s are sure to have the perfect sofa option for your home so visit their website today for more information.