Ghosts Haunt White House

Psychics believe the spirit of the sixteenth president of the United States never left the White House. Abraham Lincoln (1861-65) is best remembered for his leadership in preserving the Union during the Civil War and for beginning the process to end slavery in the US. Lincoln was assassinated on April 14, 1865 by Southern sympathizer John Wilkes Booth in Ford’s Theater. President Lincoln died the following day. Since his death, members of the White House staff have claimed to have seen or felt his presence. Strangely, prior to his death, President Lincoln is said to have foreseen his demise on several occasions.

According to a close friend, Lincoln retired late one night and fell into a restless sleep and began to dream. He heard mournful sobbing from somewhere in the White House. He followed the mysterious weeping to the East Room where soldiers guarded a catafalque. On it, a corpse rested, gowned in funeral vestments. A throng of mourners surrounded the body. Lincoln demanded to know who had died and was told “The President.”

This was not the first time Lincoln had a premonition of his death. He once saw a double image of his reflection in the mirror, himself and a chalky image. His highly superstitious wife, Mary Todd Lincoln, perceived it to mean the president would be elected for a second term but would be assassinated. Lincoln’s morose account of his own mortality was never more pronounced than the morning of his death. He called a cabinet meeting and told them they would receive news the following day. When pressed, he informed them he had the same dream three times that he was in a boat in the ocean with no oars. That night he was fatally shot in the head with one bullet and died the following day.

The Lincolns had three sons but only one of them lived to adulthood. Edward died at the age of four and young Willie succumbed to a fever during his father’s first term. Lincoln took the death of Willie very hard and often visited his crypt where he was buried and would weep copiously. Mary Todd Lincoln suggested holding seances in the White House to bring back their dead son’s spirit. These seances were not thought to be successful and Lincoln was said to have attended only two of them.

During the administration of Ulysses S. Grant, a staff member of the White House is said to have had a conversation with young Willie when he saw his spirit. And during the presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson, Lynda Johnson Robb occupied the room where Willie died, which was also the room where Abraham Lincoln’s autopsy was performed and where Truman’s mother expired. Lynda Johnson Robb is said to have felt the sadness in that room.

Lady Bird Johnson reported feeling the spirit of President Lincoln one spring night when watching a documentary about his death. She noticed a plaque she’d never seen before hanging over the fireplace. It mentioned the importance of Lincoln in this room. Mrs. Johnson is said to have felt a cold draft go through her and a sense of uneasiness. This disquieting presence has been felt by others. Grace Coolige, wife of Calvin Coolige, thirtieth president of the United States, was the first person to report having actually seen the ghost of Lincoln. She said he stood at the Oval Office, hands clasped behind his back, gazing out the window overlooking the Pontiac, perhaps still seeing the bloody battlefields beyond.

The ghost of Lincoln was reported to be seen frequently during the administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt when the country went through a great depression and world war. When Queen Wilhemina of the Netherlands was a guest at the White House she was awakened by a knock at the door. When she opened it, an apparition stood there in a top hat. The queen fainted and when she came to, the apparition had vanished.

Eleanor Roosevelt used Lincoln’s bedroom as a study and while never seeing his ghost, often felt his presence standing behind her, peering over her shoulder. Her secretary once spotted Lincoln’s ghost sitting on the bed in the Northwest Room, pulling on a pair of boots.

During the administration of every president since the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his benevolent spirit has been seen or felt. The ghostly image of the tall, gangly man with the black stovepipe hat and long, sad face is thought to linger in the home of the nation he fought so hard to preserve.

Have you felt the presence of a spirit in your house? Seen an apparition? Heard unexplained tapping or the thundering of footsteps? Have a ghost story to share with me? I’d love to hear it. Please leave a comment.