The Remarkable Life of Abe's Son, Robert Todd Lincoln—Lost in His Father’s Shadow

On this episode of Our American Stories, Robert Todd Lincoln, the only one of Abraham Lincoln’s four sons to survive into adulthood, is often overshadowed by his legendary father. Yet Robert led a remarkable life of his own, serving as U.S. Secretary of War, Ambassador to the United Kingdom, and president of the Pullman Company. The History Guy shares his story.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:10):
This is Lee Hibib and this is our American Stories,
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(00:30):
go to Hillsdale dot edu to sign up for their
terrific and free online courses. And our next story comes
to us from a man who's simply known as the
History Guy. His videos are watched by hundreds of thousands
of people of all ages over on YouTube. The History
Guy has also heard here at Our American Stories. And
this next story, the History Guy remembers the sixteenth President's son,

(00:54):
Robert Todd Lincoln. Because of his father, Abraham Lincoln, Robert
Todd's life has been largely forgotten. Here's the History Guy.

Speaker 2 (01:03):
On April ninth, eighteen sixty five, General Robert E. Lee
surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia to Union General Ulysses S.
Grant following the defeat of the Confederate army at the
Battle of Appomattox Courthouse The surrender documents were actually signed
in the parlor of a home owned by a man
named William MacLean, and they were witnessed by both Grant
and Lee's staff. The last survivor among those witnesses lived

(01:27):
all the way until nineteen twenty six, and by coincidence,
was a very famous person, one of the most important
statesmen of his day. Robert Todd Lincoln was Abraham Lincoln's
firstborn son, and the only one of Abraham Lincoln's children
to survive to adulthood. His younger brother, Edward, died of
a fever at just the age of three. Robert grew

(01:48):
up at a time when his father was practicing law
on a circuit and thus was traveling gone most of
the time, and so their relationship was distant, not very close.
Robert once noted that his most vivid memories of his
father going up was Abraham packing his saddlebacks. By the
time that Robert's father was elected president, Robert was attending
Harvard University. He described his father as being so busy

(02:10):
that they scarcely had ten minutes quiet time together during
his entire presidency. Robert graduated Harvard in eighteen sixty four.
And briefly attended law school there, but he felt compelled
to join the Union Army and share the risk that
everybody else was taking. At first, his mother resisted. His
little brother, Willie had died in the White House of

(02:30):
a fever in eighteen sixty two, and his mother married
Todd Lincoln feared that she could not withstand another loss,
but Robert eventually prevailed, and his father asked General Grant
if Robert could be assigned to his staff. Robert was
made an assistant adjutant and given the rank of captain,
and that is why he was present to witness Lee's surrender.

(02:52):
Robert had traveled to Washington to visit his parents on
to April fifteenth, and his parents invited him to go
to the theater with him. He declined he had been
traveling on horseback all day and needed arrest, and so
Robert narrowly missed his father's assassination. Robert moved with his
mother and his younger brother Tad, to Chicago, and he
continued his law studies. He was admitted to the bar

(03:14):
in eighteen sixty seven. In eighteen sixty eight, he married
the daughter of a United States senator. They had three children.
In eighteen seventy six, Robert was elected Town Supervisor of
the Town of South Chicago, a town that was eventually
absorbed into the City of Chicago. That was his only
elected office of his career. In eighteen seventy seven, he

(03:35):
was offered the position of Assistant Secretary of State by
President Rutherpert B. Hayes, but he declined, although he remained
active in Republican politics, and then in eighteen eighty one
he accepted a cabinet appointment as Secretary of War in
the new cabinet of President James Garfield. He was with
Garfield in the train station in July of eighteen eighty
one and witnessed Garfield's assassination. Robert continued to serve as

(03:58):
Secretary of War in the case appinant of President Chester A. Arthur,
where he was involved in many military reforms. He left
the position in eighteen eighty five, and then in eighteen
eighty nine he was appointed to the important position of
Minister to the United Kingdom under President Benjamin Harrison, where
he served for four years. When he returned to the
United States, he became General counsel of the Pullman Palace

(04:20):
Car Company, the world famous maker of railway cars, and
when the founder, George Pullman, died in eighteen ninety seven,
Robert was made president of the Pullman Car Company. He
served in that position until nineteen eleven, when he left
due to ill health, but he stayed on as chairman
of the board Claire until nineteen twenty two. Despite his
very accomplished life, Robert Todd Lincoln is often remembered for

(04:43):
three things. The first was a coincidence. Somewhere in eighteen
sixty three or eighteen sixty four, Robert Todd Lincoln was
riding a train from New York City to Washington, d c.
And while in Jersey City, New Jersey, he was bumped
off a train platform, landing in the dangerous spot between
the platform and the train. A stranger reached down and
pulled him out, and when Robert looked up, he realized

(05:04):
that his savior was the most famous actor of the day,
a man named Edwin Booth. Only later did Edwin Booth
find out that the young man that he had saved
was President Lincoln's son, and that is said to have
offered Edwin Booth some solace, as he was personally devastated
when his younger brother John Wilkes Booth murdered President Lincoln

(05:25):
second in eighteen seventy five. Robert had his mother, Mary
Todd Lincoln, committed to an asylum. He was concerned about
erratic behavior after the death of his younger brother Tad
at the age of eighteen. Mary was able to get
some letters out to her attorney, who was able to
convince Robert to let her leave the asylum and live
with her sister, but it included some public embarrassment for Robert,

(05:46):
and he and his mother never fully reconciled, and finally
Robert Tod Lincoln is sometimes described as being somewhat unlucky
because of his proximity to three presidential assassinations. He just
missed his father's assassination. He was there when James A.
Garfield was assassinated, and he was just getting off a
train going to visit President William McKinley when McKinley was

(06:08):
shot in nineteen oh one. He was there for three
presidential assassinations because he was proximate to power during a
tumultuous time. But Robert Todd Lincoln lived an extraordinary life.
He was born poor and had found great success and
died very wealthy. He was an elder statesman. He was

(06:28):
a leader in his party who was suggested as a
candidate for president or vice president many times, but always declined.
He was the president of one of the largest corporations
in the country. He was frankly one of the most
accomplished men of his era. His last public appearance was
May thirtieth of nineteen twenty two, when he appeared with

(06:50):
President Warren G. Harding and former President and Chief Justice
of the Supreme Court William Howard Taft at the dedication
of the Lincoln Memorial. He passed away in nineteen twenty six,
just a few days shy of his eighty third birthday.
And darn it, he deserves to be remembered as more

(07:11):
than just his father's son.

Speaker 1 (07:14):
And those words are true and spoken beautifully by the
history guy. This is Robert Todd Lincoln's story Here on
our American Stories Lie Hubib here, and I'd like to
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(07:35):
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(07:56):
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