Wednesday, January 16, 2013

President Lincoln

Yesterday, on my post, I mentioned we went to see the movie Lincoln  with friends, Gale and Ron. The movie generated some good discussion and when we got home Randy did some more research about the Lincoln family. This is what he came up with:

Lincoln was killed in 1865

His sons:
Robert Todd 1843 - 1926
Edward Baker 1846-1850 (died of tuberculosis)
"Willie" 1850-1862 (died of typhoid fever)
Thomas "Tad" 1853-1871 (died of heart failure or some say pneumonia or tuberculosis)

Mary Todd Lincoln 1818-1882:
Daughter of a wealthy Kentucky Slave Owner (plantation)
Suffered from migraine headaches
May have had bipolar disorder
Plus several other illnesses
Married Abraham in 1842
Committed to any asylum in 1875 by Son, Robert
3 months after commitment because of damaging publicity, the doctor declared her well enough to go live with sister in Springfield
Estranged from son until just before her death 
Died in 1882

Robert Todd Lincoln, 1843-1926, Lawyer
Secretary of war under James Garfield, Chester A. Arthur
US Ambassador to UK under Benjamin Harrison
General Counsel to Pullman Palace Car Company
President of Pullman Palace Car Company

It has been said that Robert Todd Lincoln was present or nearby when 3 presidential assassinations occurred:
     Lincoln, Garfield and McKinley 

He recognized the frequency of these coincidences and 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."



It has been suggested to me, that if I want to read a good book about Lincoln, I should read Killing Lincoln by Bill O'Reilly.



This research was done on the internet and found from several different sources. Much of it was found on Wikipedia and the book "Lincoln" by David Herbert Donald.


 

1 comment:

  1. We went to see it tonight and it was wonderfully done and I like it very much. Our book club is reading Killing Lincoln in February.

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