The Son Lincoln
Didn'tKnow
Robert TODD Lincoln, the eldest son
of President Abraham Lincoln,
was in Washington on a special mis
sion. He was determined to persuade
his father to permit him to join the
Army when he graduated from Harvard
College in a few weeks.
It was late fall of 1864. Lincoln had just been
re-elected to a second term as President. U. S.
Grant had been put in command of the Army of
the Potomac and was closing a ring; about
Robert E. Lee. The end of the war was in sight
and Robert Lincoln, draft-age son of the Pres
ident, was still a civilian and feeling it keenly.
There had been caustic and bitter cartoons in
the opposition press about "The Prince of Rails,"
as Bob Lincoln was derisively called. While his
father enforced a draft law he considered un
just (because it permitted a draftee to avoid
service by offering money or a human substitute),
some newspapers were saying: "Lincoln buys
his own son out of the Army while calling for
new drafts of the sons of others."
For two years, Bob had wanted to leave college
and join the Army. But before doing so, he
wanted his father's permission, in order to avoid
family scandal.
The President's permission had not-been forth
coming, however, and Bob knew the reason. His
father's reluctance stemmed from the fact that
his mother was still grieving over the loss of
Bob's brother, Willie, a sensitive, precocious child
who died in the White House in 1862, when he
was just 10 years old. Mary Lincoln simply
couldn't bear the thought of risking the loss of
another son this time in battle.
And so Robert remained at Harvard, trying,
when he could, to get the ear of his father.
THERE was a strange, detached relationship
between the two. Bob had seen little of his
father when he was growing up. When Abraham
Lincoln had finally settled down to practicing
law in Springfield, 111., Bob had been sent to
school in New Hampshire. Physically, Robert
was short and slight, and personally he was quiet
and reserved in many ways the exact opposite
of his father.
On his infrequent visits to the White House,
he would sometimes observe with envy his fa
ther's easy, affectionate relationship with his two
It took Robert Todd's
unexpected appearance in an
unlikely place to thaw
the strange coolness
between him and the President
By JOSEPH N. BELL
lllUSrlATION IV ISA tAINETT.
younger brothers, Willie and the irrepressible
Tad. Once he had found 12-year-old Tad sporting
a "lieutenant's commission" (given him in jest
by the War Department) and imperiously drill
ing the White House servants at the end of a
long working day. Bob ordered Tad to stop. When
he refused, Bob angrily reported the incident to
his father. The President dismissed it as a joke,
leaving his eldest son bewildered and hurt.
Now, Robert Lincoln was in Washington de
termined to exact a promise that he could join
the Army. He had been trying unsuccessfully to
see his father all day and the evening was de
nied him, too. There was a state reception for
visiting diplomats, and the President would have
to stand for hours in the receiving line. Bob had
to return to Harvard the following morning; yet
he must see his father. But how?
That evening, in the midst of the reception,
the bored and distraught President his thoughts
far away on the battlefield with General Grant
was brought abruptly back to the queue of people
before him. A familiar voice was saying: "Good
evening, Mr. President. I wonder if I might have
a few minutes of private conversation with you?"
The delighted President couldn't believe his
eyes. It was the sober, serious Robert; he had
worked his way up through the long line of well
wishers to his father. For an instant, there
passed between them a warmth that neither had
ever fully known before. The President cuffed
his son playfully on the cheek, then drew him
aside from the line. They talked.
Soon after, a letter was sent from the Execu
tive Mansion to General Grant in the field. It
said in part:
"Please read and answer this letter as though
I was not President but only a friend. My son,
now in his 22nd year, having graduated at Har
vard, wishes to see something of the war before
it ends. Could he, without embarrassment to you
or detriment to the service, go into your mili
tary family . . . ?".
Robert Lincoln served for the remainder of
the war on Grant's staff. He won the friendship
and respect of his comrades in arms.
And he not only survived the war, but the rest
of his family, as well. Robert Lincoln, who died
in 1926 at the age of 83, was the only son of
Abraham Lincoln to reach maturity and the last
surviving male descendant of one of America's
most beloved Presidents.
COVER:
Artist Homer Hill has computed love me
mentos against the background of a Rodg
er and Hart favorite, "My Funny Valen
tine." On p. 12, Jerry Lewis' wife tells
what life is like with her comic valentine.
ily I
ly
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