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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsRobert Todd Lincoln and his proximity to 3 out of 4 Presidential Assassinations
Robert Todd Lincoln (August 1, 1843 July 26, 1926) was an American politician, lawyer, and businessman. Lincoln was the first son of President Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd Lincoln. He was born in Springfield, Illinois and graduated from Harvard College before serving on the staff of Ulysses S. Grant as a captain in the Union Army in the closing days of the American Civil War. After the war Lincoln married Mary Eunice Harlan, and they had three children together. Following completion of law school in Chicago, he built a successful law practice, and became wealthy representing corporate clients.
Active in Republican politics, and a tangible symbol of his father's legacy, Robert Lincoln was often spoken of as a possible candidate for office, including the presidency, but never took steps to mount a campaign. The one office to which he was elected was town supervisor of South Chicago, which he held from 1876 to 1877; the town later became part of the city of Chicago. Lincoln accepted appointments as secretary of war in the administration of James A. Garfield, continuing under Chester A. Arthur, and as United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom (with the role then titled as "minister" ) in the Benjamin Harrison administration.
Lincoln served as general counsel of the Pullman Palace Car Company, and after founder George Pullman died in 1897, Lincoln became the company's president. After retiring from this position in 1911, Lincoln served as chairman of the board until 1922. In Lincoln's later years he resided at homes in Washington, D.C. and Manchester, Vermont; the Manchester home, Hildene, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. In 1922, he took part in the dedication ceremonies for the Lincoln Memorial. Lincoln died at Hildene on July 26, 1926, six days before his 83rd birthday, and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
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Presence at assassinations
Robert Lincoln was coincidentally either present or nearby when three presidential assassinations occurred.
Lincoln was not present at his father's assassination. He was at the White House, and rushed to be with his parents. The president was moved to the Petersen House after the shooting, where Robert attended his father's deathbed.
At President James A. Garfield's invitation, Lincoln was at the Sixth Street Train Station in Washington, D.C., when the president was shot by Charles J. Guiteau on July 2, 1881, and was an eyewitness to the event. Lincoln was serving as Garfield's Secretary of War at the time.
At President William McKinley's invitation, Lincoln was at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York, where the president was shot by Leon Czolgosz on September 6, 1901, though he was not an eyewitness to the event; he was just outside the building where the shooting occurred.
Lincoln himself recognized these coincidences. He is said to have refused a later presidential invitation with the comment, "No, I'm not going, and they'd better not ask me, because there is a certain fatality about presidential functions when I am present."
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...and a bonus factoid:
Robert Lincoln was once saved from possible serious injury or death by Edwin Booth, whose brother, John Wilkes Booth, was the assassin of Robert's father. The incident took place on a train platform in Jersey City, New Jersey. The exact date of the incident is uncertain, but it is believed to have taken place in late 1863 or early 1864, before John Wilkes Booth's assassination of President Lincoln (April 14, 1865).
Robert Lincoln recalled the incident in a 1909 letter to Richard Watson Gilder, editor of The Century Magazine:
The incident occurred while a group of passengers were late at night purchasing their sleeping car places from the conductor who stood on the station platform at the entrance of the car. The platform was about the height of the car floor, and there was of course a narrow space between the platform and the car body. There was some crowding, and I happened to be pressed by it against the car body while waiting my turn. In this situation the train began to move, and by the motion I was twisted off my feet, and had dropped somewhat, with feet downward, into the open space, and was personally helpless, when my coat collar was vigorously seized and I was quickly pulled up and out to a secure footing on the platform. Upon turning to thank my rescuer I saw it was Edwin Booth, whose face was of course well known to me, and I expressed my gratitude to him, and in doing so, called him by name.
Months later, while serving as an officer on the staff of General Ulysses S. Grant, Robert Lincoln recalled the incident to his fellow officer, Colonel Adam Badeau, who happened to be a friend of Edwin Booth. Badeau sent a letter to Booth, complimenting the actor for his heroism. Before receiving the letter, Booth had been unaware that the man whose life he had saved on the train platform had been the president's son. The incident was said to have been of some comfort to Edwin Booth following his brother's assassination of the president. President Ulysses Grant also sent Booth a letter of gratitude for his action.
Robert was the only child of Abraham and Mary to live to adulthood. There are no direct descendants to Abraham Lincoln alive today. The last, Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith (great grandson of President Lincoln) died in 1985.
rickford66
(5,523 posts)Freddie
(9,265 posts)I love Presidential trivia (present occupant excepted). My great-grandfather was born in 1882 and named James Garfield M.
Dennis Donovan
(18,770 posts)I was fortunate to have met Doris Kearns Goodwin at a book signing a few yrs ago. And, I'm anxiously awaiting Robert Caro's next edition of his LBJ books!
Submariner
(12,503 posts)in the Mar A Shithole region of Florida?
PoindexterOglethorpe
(25,851 posts)(President Lincoln's great grandson) died in 1985.
paleotn
(17,911 posts)thinks he's the long, lost great, great, great, great, great grandson of Andy by god Jackson. When in reality he's the grandson of a draft dodging pimp, and son of a racist ass. Shitler didn't fall far from that tree.
Nitram
(22,794 posts)appalachiablue
(41,131 posts)tragedies eps. the loss of children as well as the Civil War and aftermath, Pres. Lincoln's assassination and Mary Lincoln's health problems.
Edwin Booth https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Booth Edwin Thomas Booth (November 13, 1833 June 7, 1893) was an American actor who toured throughout the United States and the major capitals of Europe, performing Shakespearean plays. In 1869, he founded Booth's Theatre in New York. Some theatrical historians consider him the greatest American actor, and the greatest Prince Hamlet, of the 19th century. His achievements are often overshadowed by his relationship with his brother, actor John Wilkes Booth, who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln.
Dennis Donovan
(18,770 posts)John, Edwin and Junius Jr.
appalachiablue
(41,131 posts)of the 'What's My Line' TV show with the guest/man who saw L. and Booth at Ford's Theater as a boy?
Dennis Donovan
(18,770 posts)Here it is, in case others haven't seen it:
Mr Seymour didn't die of old age, but died due to Gary Moore's second-hand smoke.
appalachiablue
(41,131 posts)Where did you get your love of history? Growing up it was Mom and Dad a bit for us.
Dennis Donovan
(18,770 posts)We toured the Capitol, the WH and the Smithsonian. And Arlington Cemetery - that had a HUGE impact on me @ 10 yrs old.
The following year, she brought us to Disneyworld.
appalachiablue
(41,131 posts)where I later worked briefly. Great Moms think alike! She also took us to visit Gettysburg, Monticello, Wmsbg. all thanks to her love of culture.
Dennis Donovan
(18,770 posts)When I go there now, I tend to seek out places that are historically significant, but overlooked. Like the home of Atty Gen A Mitchell Palmer, which was bombed by Gallianists in 1919:
Damage done by the bomb at Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer's house
...and the Washington Hilton, site of the attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan:
appalachiablue
(41,131 posts)Robert Todd Lincoln's Georgetown Home (& Ben Bradlee). The Laird-Dunlop House, a private residence at 3014 Street, dates back to the 1790s. At the start of the Civil War, it was the home of Judge James Dunlop, the Chief Justice of the Circuit Court of the District of Columbia, who President Lincoln removed from the federal bench because of his Southern sympathies.
Robert Todd Lincoln purchased the home as his Washington residence after retiring as President of the Pullman Company in Chicago. He split time between it and his Vermont estate, always taking his father's papers with him, until his death in 1926. His widow, Mary Harlan Lincoln, lived in the home until she passed away in 1937.
http://civilwarwashingtondc1861-1865.blogspot.com/2011/06/robert-todd-lincolns-georgetown-home.html
History and trivia of Georgetown residences.
https://georgetownvoice.com/2001/10/18/a-walking-tour-through-a-living-museum/
Dennis Donovan
(18,770 posts)Next time I'm in DC!
The fascinating thing about the Palmer house is that Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt lived across the street at the time of the bombing, and James, or Elliot, found a body part of the Gallianist who blew himself up in the attempt...
appalachiablue
(41,131 posts)the Palmer Raids and all kinds of severe actions during the First Red Scare as you know. ~ TUDOR PLACE is just up the hill from RTL's home in Georgetown and below famous Oak Hill Cemetery and Dumbarton Oaks. *The Geotn. Voice LINK has neat tidbits, incl. the Kennedy N St. Townhouses where they played touch football. https://georgetownvoice.com/2001/10/18/a-walking-tour-through-a-living-museum/
~ Tudor Place, lovely estate and floral gardens hidden away behind gated entrances,*reservations suggested to visit. Federal era home owned and occupied for 170 years by descendants of Martha Custis Washington and the Peter family of MD-DC. The property was built in 1816 by Dr. Wm. Thornton, architect of the US Capitol; located in upper Georgetown and faces the Potomac River. The first owner, Mrs. Martha (Custis) Peter, was a granddaughter of Martha Custis Washington of Mount Vernon. The Peters built their home in the new city of Washington near her brother GWP Custis of Arlington House, Nelly Custis of Woodlawn Plantation in Alex., and another sister in SW DC. https://www.tudorplace.org/
Tudor Place served as a private home until it was first opened to the public in the 1990s. Visitors included Lafayette, the RE Lees of Arlington House who were cousins, and Mrs. Ulysses Grant who was a boarder in the home during the Civil War when it was held onto by owner Britannia Peter. History of the house and Georgetown neighborhood from the early federal period through the Civil War and into the late 20th C. Collections- extensive portraits and artwork, furnishings, Civil War memorabilia, library, greenhouse conservatory, gardens and grounds with roses, boxwood and more.
I don't live in Geotn. but worked as a docent at TP . Have a good Memorial Day, see you around.
https://www.tudorplace.org/