Abraham Lincoln once said that if you have a hold of an elephant and it's trying to get away, let it go.
"Stop!" Abraham shouted. "I command you to stop!"Abe clung to the back legs of the angry elephant, wondering how the hell he got into this mess.
Why do I keep doing these things? he thought. Why won't I just let him run away?
He let go, passed out, and by some miracle wasn't trampled.
Later, the ringmaster waved some smelling salts under the president's nose.
Lincoln awoke. Johnson shrugged and went back home.
"I was drunk again, wasn't I?" said Abe.
"As a goddamned skunk," said the ringmaster.
"Forget about the elephants," said Lincoln. "No more circuses for me."
I'm not sure what the symbolism of that statement is, but it makes for an excellent tale of the Not So Honest Abe.