Beyond Lincoln’s Ghost: how Robert Todd Lincoln's carved his path to power, prosperity and personage
On October 22, 1887, with his father looking on, a 14 year old boy by the name of Abraham Lincoln II mounted the exedra in Lincoln Park, Chicago, before thousands of spectators to unveil the flag-draped statue of his grandfather.
“Abraham Lincoln: The Man” (aka: “Standing Lincoln”), created by eminent sculptor, Augustus Saint Gaudens, stood looming at 19’, head to base. It was considered the most important American sculpture at the time, and it remains an enduring, haunting piece to this day. Image: Standing Lincoln, courtesy of rjseg1.
Jack, as he was called by his family (the press dubbed him “Little Abe”), never knew his grandfather who had been assassinated 22 years earlier, and, in fact, he himself would follow his famous grandfather to the grave just 2 years later when he succumbed to complications from blood poisoning. He was the president’s only grandson, born to Robert Todd Lincoln (August 1, 1843 – July 26, 1926) and his wife, Mary Harlan (September 25, 1846 – March 31, 1937). He was also to be the president’s only namesake—the family’s direct line ended with the death of Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith in 1985, the last of the president’s great grandchildren, none of whom had issue. Image: Abraham “Jack” Lincoln II, courtesy of the Abraham Lincoln Association.
It seems as though Robert Todd Lincoln spent his privileged life avoiding, if not running from his father’s legacy. His relationship with his parents was oftentimes querulous given his demanding, aberrant mother and his distant father who was away from home much of Robert’s childhood. Although his father viewed him in mildly competitive terms as Robert reached adulthood, both father and son were proud of one another. He was the Lincolns’ only child to live into adulthood and the twentieth century. Image: portraits of Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd Lincoln, circa 1847, Google Images, source unknown.
In 1861, when his father took office, Robert was attending Harvard College, and upon graduation in 1864, he enrolled in Harvard Law School. He left his studies after a semester to join the Union Army, becoming an aide-de-camp for Gen. Ulysses S. Grant. He was one of a small contingency in attendance with Grant at Appomattox when Lee surrendered. Five days later, he would be present at his father’s side as the president lay dying from the assassin’s bullet. He openly wept as he comforted his mother. Image: “The Surrender”, by Keith Rocco for the National Parks Service (Lincoln is the figure standing behind Grant, leaning on the chair with a sword hanging from his hip).
After lingering in a coma for nine hours, Abraham Lincoln died at 7:22 am on April 15. His body, enshrouded with the American flag, was conveyed to the Capitol, where it lay in state at the Rotunda for three days before leaving on a three week journey by Pullman car from Washington, DC to its final resting place in Springfield, Illinois—accompanied by Robert throughout; Mary Lincoln remained behind, secluded in her White House bedroom, too devastated to make the trip. Image: the specially outfitted Pullman car carrying Lincoln's body. George Pullman was close friends with the president. Courtesy of Getty Images.
Five weeks later, the Lincoln family moved from the White House to Chicago where Robert resumed his law studies at Old University of Chicago, but, after several months he moved out of his mother’s apartment to “obtain a shred of comfort” for himself, and eventually received his certification to practice law on February 26, 1867.
In 1868, he married Mary Harlan, the daughter of Senator James Harlan, a political ally and close friend of President Lincoln. Robert had first escorted Mary Harlan to his father’s second Inaugural Ball in 1865, and from thence, they conducted a secret courtship. The mourning period following the assassination postponed their marriage. Image: Lincoln Collection, courtesy of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library.
Both Robert and Mary were introverts; they were publicly-minded but privacy-inclined. Their marriage yielded three children—two girls, Mary and Jessie (who outlived both their parents), and Abraham II. For a time, Robert’s mother and his only surviving brother, Thomas “Tad”, remained in Chicago, but, shortly after Robert’s marriage, Mary relocated with Tad to Europe so the 15-year-old could obtain formal schooling, something which had been sorely lacking throughout his upbringing. They stayed mainly in Germany, where education techniques were considered advanced. Image: the Lincoln children, Mary (Mamie) at left, Jessie at right, and Jack. Lincoln Collection, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library.
In May of 1871, Mary and Tad returned to Chicago. Tad was now 18 and had grown both in height and maturity to the surprise and delight of everyone—especially Robert. It was not long, however, before Mary Todd's behavior brought discord upon the Lincoln household causing Mary Harlan to flee with her baby daughter for her parents’ summer house in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa. Mary Todd also hastily departed for a local hotel with Tad, leaving Robert alone in his home. Before returning home from abroad, Tad had caught a cold, which lingered and grew gravely worse over the summer. Mary Todd sat bedside caring for him and Robert visited daily. A constant parade of physicians attended Tad but they could not stem the spread of the infection that eventually developed into pneumonia. Tad passed away in July. Once again, it fell to Robert to escort his brother's body by train to the family crypt in Illinois. His mother was too distraught to accompany him, and Robert’s wife, Mary, still away in Iowa, did not attend the procession either. Image: Tad Lincoln around the time he and his mother left for Europe. Google Images, source unknown.
Mary Todd’s behavior grew exponentially more erratic as the 10 year anniversary of the Lincoln assassination approached in 1875, ultimately leading Robert to have her committed to Bellevue Place, a private mental institution in Batavia, Illinois. During the competency hearing all kinds of conditions were put forth as potential diagnoses (by today’s standards her affliction would bear the hallmarks of post-traumatic stress disorder). Seventeen witnesses took the stand and when Robert gave his testimony he said: "I have no doubt my mother is insane. She has long been a source of great anxiety to me." Although Mary was committed indefinitely, she finagled her release four months later to the custodial care of her sister, Elizabeth, with whom she lived until her death in 1882. Her relationship with Robert never fully recovered. Image: Bellevue Place in Batavia, IL (1854), courtesy of the Batavia Institute.
During the 1870s, Robert established himself professionally as a successful lawyer, and also commenced his civic career as the town supervisor of South Chicago in 1876. The following year, at the young age of 34, he was offered the role of assistant secretary of state by President Rutherford B. Hayes, but declined. Nonetheless, he remained on the periphery of politics, including acting as a delegate to the Republican Convention in 1880. Image: RTL, between 1870-1880, Google Images, source unknown.
Another political opportunity was proffered the following year when President James Garfield invited Robert to serve as secretary of war. This time he accepted, and over the next four years he proposed legislation to: • cease white Americans’ intrusion on Indian lands • separate the Weather Bureau and the Army • increase soldiers’ pay to reduce the risk of desertion • obtain liberal appropriations for states to support the launch of volunteer militia organizations During the Cincinnati Riots of 1884 that resulted in the deaths of 45 people, law and order was finally restored only after Lincoln dispatched US troops. When Chester A. Arthur took office in 1881 after Garfield’s assassination, Lincoln was the only member of the cabinet he retained—indicative of the high political regard Arthur held for Lincoln. Image: Official portrait of Robert Todd Lincoln by Daniel Huntington (1816-1906) for the War Department gallery. It was painted from life, not a photograph.
As early as 1883, Robert’s name began to surface in the media as a serious contender for president. It was the convergence of just the right mix of opportunity and circumstance that would make him appealing as a considerable candidate. Initially, his supporters acknowledged he was young (40), but what he lacked in experience he made up for in electability. His detractors felt he had not earned the right to be president. Politicians like, Senator John A. Logan, a staunch partisan of a radical wing of the Republican Party, planned to thwart a Lincoln candidacy, and promised to “work steadily to…prevent any d___d Lincoln imbecility”. It was suggested that Logan had even considered bringing up Mary Todd’s mental instability at Chicago’s nominating convention, and to remind everyone that Robert had had her committed in 1875. Image: John Alexander Logan, photographed in 1886 by Dewitt C. Pratt for the congressional portrait collection courtesy of the Library of Congress.
Political artifice aside, both the press and politicians began shifting their focus between endorsing him for president and vice president, ultimately forcing Robert to repeatedly and vehemently deny any presidential aspirations. The New York Times published a letter where Lincoln declared: “I am not a candidate for either President or Vice President, and therefore do not wish any clubs formed for me”. Instead of accepting Lincoln’s position, the Chicago Tribune essentially challenged it, suggesting that if nominated, Lincoln should acquiesce out of duty. That notion certainly made Robert’s position more difficult for him to maintain. Image: Display advertisement for the Chicago Tribune newspaper, 1870.
After his secretary of war service ended in 1885 he returned to his law practice in Chicago and resumed working as a corporate lawyer mainly for various railroad and train concerns, including the Pullman Palace Car Company, to which he served as general counsel. However, it was a brief transition when in 1889, President Benjamin Harrison appointed him as minister to Britain. He was the last person to serve as US Minister to the Court of St. James’s before it was retitled as US Ambassador due to changes in the international rules of diplomacy. The position is considered the apex of US foreign diplomatic service due to the longstanding political, economic and military “Special Relationship” between the US and UK. In this role, Robert served as the official representative of the president and the government of the United States to the Queen and the government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain. During the four years he served as minister Robert performed his job with great aplomb, although during his tenure it was considered relatively tranquil times. Sadly, it was at the minister’s residence that his son, Abraham, passed away at the age of 16, in March of 1890. Image: A reception of the corps diplomatique at the Court of St. James’s, 1891 (RTL is the figure highlighted with red circle) by Thomas Walter Wilson (1851-1912).
The Lincolns moved back to Chicago in 1893 after Robert had fulfilled his duties in England. He returned to his law practice, and his great passion: business. A product of the Gilded Age, he availed himself to the money, power, and position that followed the prestige of his ministerial appointment. Prominent clients sought his services, and upon the death of George Pullman, the founder and president of the Pullman Palace Car Company, in 1897, Robert was elected the new president by the board of directors. Under his purview the company’s profits grew handsomely along with his own. Now 54, he had reached a pinnacle of success that stood in stark contrast to his father who had espoused principles of egalitarianism compared to Robert’s paternalism of the moneyed class. It was noted by his critics that philosophically the two men were polar opposites, with the east coast press irreverently dubbing him “Prince of the Rails” in contrast to his father’s “Rail Splitter” campaign persona. Robert was not amused. Image: George Mortimer Pullman, later in life, Google Images, source unknown.
Although he was essentially a fair and decent person who cared about the general wellbeing of his company’s employees, he was not interested in supporting workers’ attempts to introduce labor unions. He swiftly quashed any organizing efforts aimed at addressing exploitative working conditions, particularly those around safety and hours, as he felt any such change would negatively impact the company’s fiscal bottom line—“profits over people” was the industrialist mantra of the day. Image: Pullman Porters from the permanent “Many Voices” display at Hilldene.
Also during his tenure, he faced criticism for his racial indifference after Jim Crow laws were passed in 1900 necessitating the segregation of Pullman cars when on southern soil. Under George Pullman the cars were always integrated, something the company prided itself on. Booker T. Washington wrote to Lincoln several times pleading with him to take a stand knowing he was poised to change the national narrative on racial discrimination. To his discredit, Robert remained forever silent. Image: Pullman porter making up his own berth, NMAH, Transportation Collections.
Simultaneously, as the years unfolded at Pullman, incessant speculations of Robert’s presidential candidacy continued to plague him despite his steadfast denial of any presidential ambitions. In all, there were five election cycles that Lincoln’s name was floated for presidential nomination, but by the last time in 1912, at the age of 69, he was in failing health. Finally, he was free from any notion (or obligation) that he either would or could run for president; to his good friend, Nicholas Murray Butler, he reflected this assessment: ‘No one wanted me for Secretary of War, they wanted Abraham Lincoln’s son. No one wanted me for minister to England, they wanted Abraham Lincoln’s son. No one wanted me for president of the Pullman Company, they wanted Abraham Lincoln’s son.’ Image: view inside the Interstate Exposition Building (known as the "Glass Palace") during the 1880 Republican National Convention, Chicago, Google Images, source unknown.
By the time he retired in 1911 as president of Pullman (he remained chairman of the board until 1922), Robert had amassed a million dollar fortune—24M, today’s equivalency. He sold his home in Chicago, purchased a brick mansion in Washington, DC, and spent summers at his grand estate, Hildene, in Manchester, VT, which he had had built in 1904. He first visited Manchester in the summer of 1864 with his mother and brother when they stayed at the famed Equinox House, which was nearly 100 years old at the time. The family was so impressed with the hotel and surrounding area that Mrs. Lincoln made reservations to return with the president the following spring. A special suite was constructed to accommodate them that encompassed the entire second floor of the hotel; however, the president was assassinated in April, just weeks before their anticipated arrival. To this day the Equinox Hotel maintains these rooms as “The Lincoln Suite”. Image: The Equinox Hotel
Robert spent 22 summers at Hildene where he owned 500 acres that included some of the area’s most picturesque views. It featured a working farm, freestanding observatory, formal gardens designed by Frederick Todd (noted apprentice of Frederick Law Olmstead), and a 1,000-pipe organ Robert had installed in the home’s main entrance hall as a gift to his wife in 1908 at the cost of $14,500. Hildene remained in the family until Robert’s granddaughter, Mary Lincoln Beckwith (the second to the last Lincoln-Harlan descendant) died there in 1975. The “Friends of Hildene” purchased the property in 1978, and restoration of the buildings and land commenced. Today you can visit Hildene where you’ll find the home presented in the time that Robert and Mary Harlan occupied it, along with programs and exhibits that encompass historic preservation, environmental conservancy and civil civic discourse. Image: Hildene and its gardens,
Robert’s last major public appearance was on May 30, 1922 (Memorial Day) when he attended the dedication of the Lincoln Memorial as a guest. On that day he climbed the memorial’s stairs flanked on each side by a soldier and a marine. At 79, it was as though his life had come full circle—35 years earlier he had attended the “Standing Lincoln” unveiling in Chicago’s Lincoln Park with his son. Image: RTL attending the dedication of Lincoln Memorial, 1922, from Google Images, source unknown.
The renowned Massachusetts sculptor, Daniel Chester French designed “Sitting Lincoln”, the statue portion of the Lincoln Memorial. It measures 19’ high (if in a standing position the sculpture would measure 28’ tall). With almost 8 million visitors last year it continues to be the most visited memorial or monument of any kind in the United States. Like "Standing Lincoln", it, too, has remained an enduring, haunting piece. Image: “Sitting Lincoln”, photo by the sculptor, Daniel Chester French, 1922.
Just 4 years later, on July 26, 1926, Robert died in his sleep at Hildene of a cerebral hemorrhage. His wife had him interred at Arlington National Cemetery, despite his desire to be buried at the family tomb in Springfield. Two years later she had the remains of Abraham II relocated next to Robert, where their graves face toward the Lincoln Memorial in the distance. Mary Harlan wrote that Robert: "was a personage, made his own history, independently (underlined 5 times) of his great father, and should have his own place 'in the sun.'" And so it was, and is thus, for Robert Todd Lincoln. Image: RTL’s gravesite, Arlington National Cemetery, courtesy of DC Bike Blogger.
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