Good morning, it’s Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2021. “Fat Tuesday,” if you’re fortunate enough to live in Louisiana or wherever Mardi Gras is celebrated. Today, I’m thinking about two men born on this date, both of whom were in Abraham Lincoln’s orbit. Both also made their reputations in Massachusetts and both were named Henry. Yet, they were as different as men could be.
Henry Wilson was born into grinding poverty and succeeded in the highest levels of government. Henry Adams, a child of fame and privilege, flamed out in Washington and retreated to a protected sinecure in academia. The former the once-influential Henry is forgotten today. The latter the one who failed upward is still widely acclaimed. But as another New England politician noted, who said life was fair?