Republican presidential nominee Lincoln writes to his longtime friend Dr. Anson G. Henry, formerly of Springfield, Illinois, and currently living in Oregon. Lincoln is cautiously optimistic that the Republican Party will win the presidency, especially considering the conflicts within the Democratic Party. He writes, "I think the chances were more than equal that we could have beaten the Democracy united. Divided, as it is, it's chance appears indeed very slim. But great is Democracy in resources; and it may yet give it's fortunes a turn." Lincoln closes with news about his sons Willie and Robert, and writes, "Our boy [Willie] . . . has just had a hard and tedious spell of scarlet-fever; and he is not yet beyond all danger. I have a head-ache, and a sore throat upon me now, inducing me to suspect that I have an inferior type of the same thing. Our eldest boy, Bob, has been away from us nearly a year at school, and will enter Harvard University this month. He promises very well, considering we never controlled him much." Abraham Lincoln to Anson G. Henry, 4 July 1860, CW, 4:81-82.