David Davis (1816-1886) A member of the Supreme Court, David Davis master-minded Lincoln’s convention strategy in 1860 and was named to the Supreme Court by President Lincoln in 1862, over fellow Illinoisan Orville Browning. Davis was a cousin of… Abraham Lincoln’s White House >

The Petersen House After he was shot, the President was carried across 10th Street to a boarding house owned by William A. Peterson. In his diary entry the next day, Benjamin B. French recalled that he went “up to the house where the President lay. He was surrounded by the members of his cabinet, physicians, […]

First Inaugural Mr. Lincoln’s First Inauguration on March 4, 1861 took place on a cold but sunny day on the Capitol’s east front and under the Capitol’s unfinished dome. Mr. Lincoln’s official day began at Willard’s Hotel, where he had been… Abraham Lincoln’s White House >

Smithsonian Institution By the Civil War, the Smithsonian Institution had truly become an institution. The director was physicist Joseph Henry whom President Lincoln sometimes consulted on scientific questions. President Lincoln occasionally attended lectures at the Smithsonian, which was headquartered on the Capitol Mall in a red stone… Abraham Lincoln’s White House >

Mr. Lincoln’s Bedroom President Lincoln was a light and often troubled sleeper. “His White House bed, nine feet long, nearly nine feet high at the headboard, had bunches of grapes, and flying birds carved in its black walnut. Nearby was a marble-topped…” Abraham Lincoln’s White House >

Corridor Outside President’s Office Office seekers and other petitioners waited for the President in either the reception room or the corridor after presenting their cards to the messenger who stood outside his office. In this space, the President sometimes paced at… Abraham Lincoln’s White House >

Virtual Tours Emancipation ultimately was the penalty for the Southern rebellion According to Secretary of Navy Gideon Welles, President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation in September 1862 stemmed from a promise the President made that “if God gave us the victory in the approaching battle, he would consider it an indication of…” Abraham Lincoln’s White House >

Lesson 2: The Civil War and the Suppression of Civil Liberties Abraham Lincoln was well versed in Constitutional Law. Before entering into politics he was a practicing attorney in the federal courts in Illinois, and when sworn into the Office of President in 1861, he vowed to uphold, protect, and defend the Constitution of the […]

Lesson 1: The Emancipation Proclamation President Lincoln’s original plan upon entering the Civil War in 1861 was to preserve the Union. The abolition of slavery, in his mind, was a secondary issue. Mr. Lincoln favored the gradual emancipation of slaves with compensation for owners, but he feared the racial consequences of… Abraham Lincoln’s White House […]

Packing Up and Leaving Mrs. Lincoln was too grief-stricken immediately to vacate the White house after her husband’s death. Unlike her son Robert, she did not take the train to Springfield, Illinois for President Lincoln’s burial. She was coherent enough, however, to veto internment of President Lincoln’s… Abraham Lincoln’s White House >