The story behind the Orem man who filed as Abe Lincoln to run for Senate
Brian Jenkins poses for a portrait in his home on Monday, April 16, 2018, in Orem. Jenkins is utilizing an Abraham Lincoln lookalike to garner interest in his campaign.
Brian Jenkins explains his political viewpoints in his home on Monday, April 16, 2018, in Orem. Jenkins has dyed his hair black to look more similar to Abraham Lincoln.
Signs are pictured in Brain Jenkins' home on Monday, April 16, 2018, in Orem.
Brian Jenkins explains his political viewpoints in his home on Monday, April 16, 2018, in Orem.
Brian Jenkins' business cards sit on a desk in his home on Monday, April 16, 2018, in Orem.
Brian Jenkins speaks about his political platform in his home on Monday, April 16, 2018, in Orem.
Brian Jenkins poses for a portrait outside of his home on Monday, April 16, 2018, in Orem.
A far cry from the 272-word Gettysburg Address, a man who filed for U.S. Senate as Abe Lincoln Brian Jenkins addressed supporters for about 40 minutes via Facebook Live from his mobile home in Orem on Monday night.
Jenkins is almost exactly the same height, weight and age of the 16th president of the United States, and has played up the similarities to Abraham Lincoln by growing a beard, dying his hair, beard and eyebrows and wearing a suit, bow tie and top hat.
Despite his striking physical similarities with Lincoln, when Jenkins filed for the U.S. Senate seat of the retiring Sen. Orrin Hatch in March, he wasn’t being quite as honest as the man whose name he took is fabled to be.
His legal name is Brian Jenkins: Abe Lincoln is neither his given name or even a nickname by which he normally is called.
Jenkins is honest, however, about his reasons for impersonating a former president when filing to run for office against Mitt Romney, a former presidential nominee, and the myriad other Republican candidates who face off against each other today at the Utah Republican Convention.
The look is a marketing mechanism to get people’s attention, and so far, Jenkins feels the risky campaign strategy has worked.
“This crazy getup allows me go and have access to people that I would never have, that I never did have when I was running as Brian Jenkins,” Jenkins said.
Jenkins said impersonating Lincoln was embarrassing at first, but he’s leaned into the role more as the campaign has progressed. People often want to take their picture with him, and those who normally wouldn’t notice him greet him with a smile.
“There is such a warmth that people have towards Lincoln, and that translates to me,” Jenkins said.
Though many people don’t realize it, this is actually Jenkins’ third time running for higher office: he ran against Hatch in 2006 and against Rep. Jason Chaffetz in 2008.
At that point in his life, running as Abe Lincoln wasn’t on his radar.
He first realized his resemblance to Lincoln about two years ago when he was campaigning against Agenda 21, a non-binding action plan of the United Nations regarding sustainable development, and even with his natural-blond hair, he said painting a beard and putting a top hat on created a dramatic transformation.
“So we needed people to listen to us, so I painted on the beard,” Jenkins said. “Then put the hat on, and the transformation was so dramatic, that when I was walking around, people would start to talk to me, and they would be laughing and giggling, and it wasn’t exactly that they were making fun of me, it was just that they were so startled.”
Before painting on the beard, however, he said not a single person had ever told him he resembled Lincoln, despite being only an inch shorter than real-life Lincoln and weighing in the same as Lincoln did at 180 pounds.
Perhaps it was because he was finally nearing the age at which many people picture Lincoln. Jenkins turned 57 in December, and can now claim to have lived longer than Lincoln, who was assassinated at 56.
Jenkins grew up in Circleville, a town of just 547 people, according to the 2010 census. He excelled in pole vault in high school track, and harbored dreams of competing at higher levels.
He went on a two-year mission to Japan for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and said the Japanese language still comes back to him easily. He graduated with a degree in international relations from Brigham Young University in Provo, intending to eventually pursue a law degree, but ended up getting into real estate instead.
Jenkins said he is working for himself by cleaning peoples’ windows and gutters, giving him a flexible schedule that allows him to care for his father, as well as pursue a few side interests like running for U.S. Senate.
“It’s not the sexiest type of employment,” Jenkins said. “I’m sure if most of my compadres, even most of the state, were to look, they would say, ‘I don’t know if I want someone who doesn’t have a great, big fancy house running for the Senate.’ That’s what they’re accustomed to.”
But having people run for Senate who have interest in money is part of the problem, Jenkins said.
“Here you are, visiting me in a trailer park, which is traditionally thought of as being the real flotsam and jetsam of the world,” Jenkins said. “But I think more and more people are starting to say, ‘Hey, finding a way to hang on to our cash until we create a passive income is starting to grow in popularity again.'”
The first thing you see upon walking into Jenkins home is a pamphlet entitled, “7 Discoveries Everyone Should Know in the U.S. Constitution.”
His love for the Constitution is evident, and he said one of the reasons he decided to run against Hatch years ago was because Hatch supported the Patriot Act, something Jenkins said is unconstitutional, something he said many people say makes the U.S., “less free than Russia.”
“This is something I’m obsessed with,” Jenkins said. “The idea of freedom. I get a little emotional at the miracle of our freedoms, and we don’t think about it much. They’ve kind of slipped away from us.”
Though Jenkins doesn’t dress in his suit, bow tie and top hat every day, he does so for all political events, and plans to dress that way today, when the Utah State Republican delegates will vote on 13 candidates for the U.S. Senate seat.
Should he fail to advance form the Utah Republican Convention today, it’s unlikely Jenkins will resemble Abe Lincoln much longer.
“I hate a beard,” Jenkins said.
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