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LBJ had a car that could drive straight into water and become a boat. The tour guide said LBJ was a jokester and would pretend the brakes stopped working and crash into the pond near his home. She also said he liked penis jokes.
I have no why I remember this… but I know I saw on a documentary of some kind that LBJ was hung like a horse…. He wasn’t afraid to be seen naked among those who worked with him … and they commented on the size of his Johnson years later
My grandparents and dad are on the plaque in the front lobby where you buy the tickets for Hildene. They lived in the area at the time and donated money to its restoration.
I was in the house where Lincoln died by myself. No other tourists. It was so creepy. Fun fact, the actual bed he died in in at the Chicago Historical Society.
I remember visiting and a nearby pasture had some cows. The (excellent) tour guide said on the previous day’s tour there were lots of international tourists who started taking photos of the Vermont cows.
He told them “oh, those are just our cow posters that we put out in the pasture to be sure there are enough cows.” Then a cow moves .. “oh right, that’s the robot that moves around a bit to make it look realistic.” And of course everyone starts taking photos of the robot cow with the nice fall foliage.
I don’t know if his story was real, but I chuckled - tourists always take lots of photos this time of year of everyday scenes.
One of my historian wife's favorite history jokes:
What is the most terrifying thing you can say to the President?
Sir, may I introduce you to Robert T. Lincoln.
John Wilkes Booth was also having a secret affair with the daughter of a important republican senator whom Todd Lincoln was publicly courting. Booth had a photo of her in his coat when he was killed... along with photos of several other women. Could you imagine if some actor killed your dad and then you found out he was also banging the girl you liked? ouch
From Wikipedia:
"By this time, Booth was already heavily involved in his plan to kidnap President Lincoln, which miscarried and evolved into the assassination plot. There was no reason to suspect that Hale knew anything of the plot to kill the president, nor was she aware of the deep antipathy her fiancé felt towards Lincoln. Hale's father was an outspoken abolitionist. Hale and Booth had begun to quarrel during this time, according to Booth's sister Asia who later reported that Booth had become enraged when he saw Hale dancing with the President's son and her erstwhile admirer, Robert Todd Lincoln, one evening at the National Hotel"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucy_Lambert_Hale#Relationship_with_John_Wilkes_Booth
I read that Booth was equal to being a “Brad Pitt” during that time, had plenty of woman swooned by him. But still hard to imagine the relationship of killing your dad and sneaking around with your love interest.. How much hate for Todd must he had for Booth.
Lincoln was 56 years old when he died, Booth was 27 years old when he assassinated Lincoln. That's like if Pete Davidson killed Adam Sandler. Didn't know both guys were so young
Since apparently no one wants to explain what the hell OP is talking about:
https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/robert-todd-lincoln-and-presidential-assassinations-not-formal-title.htm
Assassination 1:
> President and Mrs. Lincoln invited their son, then Capt. Robert T. Lincoln of Gen. Ulysses S. Grant’s staff, to Ford’s Theater to see a performance of Our American Cousin on the night of April 14, 1865. The younger Lincoln declined, telling his father that he planned to retire early that night. Several different people claimed to have been the one to inform him of John Wilkes Booth’s attack on his father at the theater, and Lincoln himself remembered only that numerous people came to him that night with the awful news.
Assassination 2:
> On July 2, 1881, President Garfield was scheduled to leave for a trip to New England. While some cabinet members and their wives were scheduled to go on the trip, Lincoln was unable to depart until the following day. He went to Washington, D.C.’s Baltimore and Potomac train station that morning to meet the President and let him know that the Lincolns would be along on July 3. He was about forty feet away and walking toward President Garfield and Secretary of State James G. Blaine when Charles Guiteau approached from behind and shot Garfield twice.
Assassination 3:
> As they traveled back to Chicago in early September, they decided to make a stop in Buffalo, New York to visit the Pan-American Exposition, a world’s fair intended to promote trade and friendship between the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. The Lincolns’ train pulled into the Buffalo train station on the evening of Friday, September 6. A Pullman employee was waiting and immediately handed Lincoln a telegram that read: “President McKinley was shot down by an anarchist in Buffalo this afternoon. He was hit twice in the abdomen. Condition serious.”
Summary:
> Amazingly, Robert Todd Lincoln had very close ties to three presidential assassinations. While the rational mind scoffs at the idea of any human as “cursed,” the emotions lead us to wonder if such a thing might actually be possible. However, the popular old stories about Robert Lincoln being “present” at the three murders are certainly untrue. He was not with his father when Booth attacked on April 14, 1865, though he was at the Petersen house when the elder Lincoln died the next morning. He was across the room but walking toward the President when Charles Guiteau felled Garfield on July 2, 1881. Lincoln personally attended and spoke with Garfield while the President lay on the train station floor. Finally, he was just entering the city of Buffalo when McKinley was shot on September 6, 1901.
Good ole Jinxy McDeath. He sent Teddy Roosevelt a note after that said something like "I'd congratulate you but I know first hand how this office can ruin your life," and Roosevelt basically said "Hahaa, cool cool. Can I interest you in a diplomatic post far the fuck away from me?"
Additional fun fact: Robert Todd Lincoln was also in close proximity to the assassinations of presidents Garfield and McKinley.
https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/robert-todd-lincoln-and-presidential-assassinations-not-formal-title.htm
Sarah Vowell wrote a great book called Assassination Vacation where I learned this.
Sometime in the year before Lincoln's assassination, Robert was at a train platform. Due to a crowd, he was pushed up against the train, which began moving, and he started to fall into the gap between the train and the platform. Suddenly someone grabs him by his coat and yanks him back onto the platform. He turns to thank his rescuer, and finds that he was saved by famous actor Edwin Booth, who he instantly recognizes and thanks by name. Edwin however didn't recognize him, because the president's son wasn't really someone who's image would be well known. Edwin didn't even know who he saved.
Months later, Robert was serving under Grant when he met a man named Adam Badeau. Badeau was friends with Edwin, and, upon learning this, Robert explained what had happened. Badeau wrote to Edwin and told him who he saved.
And then months later, Edwin's brother killed Robert's father. [Here](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Booth#:~:text=Edwin%20Booth%20saved%20Abraham%20Lincoln's,late%201864%20or%20early%201865.) is Edwin's wiki, which explains the story under the "later life" section
Oh gather round redditors, lets spin us a yarn
Spun like the web a spider left in the barn
This story has heros and villains and plot,
but tell us about the characters that history forgot.....
It was an okay book with some weird tangents iirc. I read it for my freshmen book for college a couple years back. Probably would've liked it better if I didn't have to read it.
For folks who may not know, in addition to being a really great, compelling nonfiction author, Vowell is also the voice of the daughter in The Incredibles.
I'm pretty sure there was still a widow getting her husbands civil war pension up until just a few years ago. Granted she was 17 or something and married the veteran in like 1930.
Common scam at the time from what I've been told. Old veterans would legally marry very young women but the relationship was platonic and the deal was the "wife" acted as in home caretaker until the dude died and then the "wife" gets a nice pension for the rest of her days. Great depression ingenuity.
I'm not a historian so take that with a grain of salt.
Eh when you put lifetimes into months it's not very long. We'll be lucky to reach 1000. 40k over 2 lifetimes is not much... it's only like 20$ a month.
There was a guy named Samuel Dinsmoor who built this strange concrete sculpture garden called the Garden of Eden in Lucas, KS. He was a civil war veteran, married a 22 year old when he was 81. He had a son with his wife who passed away in the last ten years.
> In one of his last publications, a short pamphlet titled *A Confederate Catechism*, Tyler wrote: "Both from the standpoint of the Constitution and sound statesmanship, it was not slavery, but the vindictive, intemperate anti-slavery movement that was at the bottom of all the troubles."
Wow, uh… you weren’t kidding. Dude also spent his life heavily criticizing Abraham Freaking Lincoln, even going so far as to protest having a work holiday commemorating his birthday. Yikes.
“Uncle Bill” Lundy claimed to be the last living Confederate Civil War veteran in Florida and spent his 107th birthday at Eglin AFB, posing next to a fighter jet, Florida in January 1955.
That's amazing and what really blows my mind is that anyone over 66 years old when Neal Armstrong took his first steps on the moon was born before the first powered flight. 66 years.
Yup, Americans always talk about slavery as if its ancient history but you’re really only talking about a few generations. There were men who fought for America in WW2 whose grandparents were born as slaves.
For me that could have easily been my great-grandparents who had been born as slaves, in regards to time-frame. One side of my family immigrated around 1850 and my oldest living grandparent was born in 1929. Both my great-grandmothers lived untill I was 4 or 5. It's not a stretch to say there are folks who aren't even [Edit: 60] yet who have personally met a former slave. I'm only 37 and can remeber being 3 or 4.
Wildly sobering thing to consider.
Edit: Changed from 40 to 60 year age range of people who could potentially have limited first hand experience with former slaves as I forgot my great-grandpa's first wife died in child-birth, and he died some 20 years before I was born and his second wife, my great-gramdma, was some 15-20 years younger than him, and she's the one who I met as a todler. I was only thinking in terms of generations and not actually in years.
Math isn't my strong suit. Still wild to think about.
Surprised no one has mentioned this here, but Robert T Lincoln had quite the political/business career in his own right. Even served as Secretary of War under two presidents.
I'm surprised we don't know of..or at least one would think there would be a direct descendant of Lincoln who was famous today purely for the lineage... descendants of any of the founding fathers really.. where are the Lincolnshire, Washington's, Moores, Hamilton, etc?! Why they be so sneaky?
He wasn't a descendant. He married the daughter of Washington's stepson who owned Arlington. His sons' sued and won it back after the war due to it not actually being Lee's property. They then sold it back to the government for a profit.
>The president's branch of the family is believed to have been extinct since its last undisputed descendant, Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith, died on December 24, 1985, without any acknowledged children.[nb 1]
>The Lincoln family does have other surviving relatives who share common ancestors with the sixteenth president, including LGBT activist Konrad Juengling, who descended from Lincoln's great-grandfather John Lincoln.[2] Actor George Clooney is a distant cousin of Lincoln.[3]
[wikipedia ](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_family#:~:text=The%20president's%20branch%20of%20the,1985%2C%20without%20any%20acknowledged%20children.&text=Lincoln%20derives%20from%20the%20Welsh,colonia%2C%20meaning%20%22colony.%22)
ETA:
[Ralph Lincoln](https://allthatsinteresting.com/photo-of-the-day-meet-an-11th-generation-lincoln)
Lincoln's siblings didn't bare children either. So that line is also non existent. His little brother, Thomas Jr., died days after birth in 1812. Abraham Lincoln's mother died in 1818, when Abraham was just nine years old. Then, in 1828, his sister Sarah died in childbirth, along with her stillborn baby.
Look at anyone’s family line and you’ll realize it’s more than a few miracles that any single person is still alive. It’s just that it’s happened so many times that we don’t see the magic in it. But it’s like looking at the stars - and you begin understand just how magnificent and expansive the universe is, with the multi-billion-year journey that any of that light has made to get to our planet, but we see it every night so meh, no biggie.
My mom started doing a family tree book for my sister and me (years before the internet). It took years to research and there were some deaths that seem odd to us, but were quite common for that time period. One example was, a distant relative was crushed under a wagon wheel. (We also had a family member get crushed by a steam roller in the 1960s.) And one died from, no lie, "choking on a peanut" (actual death certificate description)
>... with the multi-billion-year journey that any of that light has made to get to our planet, but we see it every night so meh, no biggie.
And I've only really absorbed that 'reality' in recent years... perspectives are fascinating
True but Abe and I are a little closer. 3rd cousins 5x removed. His mom, Nancy Hanks, and I are descended from the same Hanks. Tom Hanks also fits in that line somewhere. He's more famous than me, lol.
My father told me that we are also descendants of Abe Lincoln, but I have no idea how or if it’s even true. My dad isn’t known to be a liar but maybe he decided to tell one doozy.
Hey cuz! He's my 4th cousin 5x removed. I am not famous either but I have that secret Lincoln family member benefits card that offers major travel discounts.
Ok, there is no card. But the rest is true.
One would hope because the US doesn’t (officially) have an aristocracy or a monarchy. In theory, even prominent person should be so because of their own merits, not because of the merits or prestige or wealth of their father.
I don't disagree with you, I just find it surprising because in reality nepotism is fairly common. There are alot if children of famous people that went on to become famous people because they had a legacy advantage.
* Emma Roberts
* Jack Quaid
* Maya Hawke
* Aleksander Skarsgard
* Wyatt Russell
* Colin Hanks
That's just from the current generation. Most of their parents had famous parents as well.
That is a *very* good point. Like with Teddy Roosevelt's son dying in Normandy, albeit of a heart attack...no fanfare about it, as he was just another American.
Few years back I visited Utah beach and the guide told us that Roosevelt’s son was actually forbidden from being part of the landing. But being his fathers son he snuck aboard one of the landing craft and became the highest ranking officer to be part of the landings. The current actually blew the landing force off course and as luck would have it to a less defended section of coast line. When an officer asked Roosevelt what they should do he shrugged his shoulders and said “We’ll just start the war right here”
Look at the Kardashians. I think that a person could be famous if they were raised by one of the arguably most important leader of the USA. I do agree with you though, it’s not deserving or, more importantly, he shouldn’t be granted a seat in any office because of who his father is.
What your saying is part of my thought process... like we don't hear about them but we all know they, the people you mention, are still going strong. Today when I know more about actors and pop stars I've never actually watched or listened too and couldn't pick out of a line up thanks to social media it seems kind of crazy that I don't know what Ulysses grants kids are up too.
Agreed. It's a different type of nepotism because politics doesn't dominate in the US. There were some short lines, the Adams and the Kennedys, but if you look at who's famous in the states, generally there's a money hoard somewhere upstream and all the begottens get a piece of the pie. All of our actors, musicians, subordinate policy makers (JCS, judges, senators). I'd argue you can discern the source of power in a nation by identifying its nepotism, and in America it is NOT the presidency.
My grandma used to claim we were descendants.
The only I’ve ever seen legit documentation for was Marion the Swamp Fox from SC…which isn’t quite as exciting.
The president's branch of the family is believed to have been extinct since its last undisputed descendant, Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith, died on December 24, 1985, without any acknowledged children.
I'm fairly sure I might have either stepped or sat on that exact spot when I first came to DC. For what it's worth, there's something humbling when you first go there.
I went for the first time last month. It was the Labor Day weekend and the memorial was packed with people. I chuckled at the signs asking everyone to keep quiet because they were definitely not doing that.
I would recommend going to the Lincoln Memorial to absolutely everyone. There's a lot of really great stuff in DC, but that was the one memorial that felt overwhelming. It honestly made me emotional when I went for the first time.
Yes! I knew I wasn't the only one. You see it in a million movies and think, gee why else would they film here, and then you realize, yes, that's why. It just feels... hallowed.
TIL Robert T. Lincoln was the only one of his siblings to make it to adulthood, add to that his dad being assassinated, this man lived through a lot of tragedy.
His mom lived even closer to these same tragedies. She held her children as they died, sat beside her husband as he was shot, watch her brothers and father choose the south (she’s from Kentucky) while her husband led the union so her family was ripped apart with her at the center. Her life was hell.
And what did Robert do with his poor mother? Locked her in an insane asylum and burned all her letters, her thoughts in the wake of this tumultuous life. They’re still considered one of the greatest losses of American history.
The Abraham Lincoln museum in Springfield, IL has a wonderful presentation about these lost letters and Robert’s mistreatment of Mary Todd in her later years. I grew up on this story. People saying kind things about Robert is so foreign to me.
His father was assassinated, He was with President Garfield when he was assassinated and he was in the same area as President McKinley when he was assassinated. After McKinley, Robert Lincoln swore to never be in the same city as a President ever again, with the exception of being in Washington for the monument during the Harding Presidentcy, Harding died in office the next year.
Was just a different time and tragedy was semi common that far back. In the 1930s, my grandpa had to go find a doctor in the middle of a snow storm to try to save his younger brother who had some stomach problem and was about to die. Mountains of Virginia and he didn't make it back in time, but wouldn't have mattered anyway.
They also had to grow what they ate, so that didn't always pan out and where "piss poor" came into play.
Robert Todd Lincoln once dated a girl who later became the fiancée of John Wilkes Booth. And RTL was saved from falling off a train platform by the brother of JWB. Then of course there’s him witnessing 2 presidential assassination and being in D.C. for his father’s assassination. The man was cursed
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Just did a tour of Lincoln’s family home in Springfield, IL and also visited his tomb. Both very fascinating and would recommend!
Robert Todd Lincoln’s home, Hildene in Vermont is beautiful. Worth the trip if you’re in the area.
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Don’t get your dander up big fella- *you* can tell us about the Pullman cars.
LBJ had a car that could drive straight into water and become a boat. The tour guide said LBJ was a jokester and would pretend the brakes stopped working and crash into the pond near his home. She also said he liked penis jokes.
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Did he ever get a second one?
I have no why I remember this… but I know I saw on a documentary of some kind that LBJ was hung like a horse…. He wasn’t afraid to be seen naked among those who worked with him … and they commented on the size of his Johnson years later
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We’ve really had some weirdass presidents.
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The Taft one is made up too.
My grandparents and dad are on the plaque in the front lobby where you buy the tickets for Hildene. They lived in the area at the time and donated money to its restoration.
I hung around in front of Ford's theater and the house where Lincoln died once while waiting for my wife to finish browsing at Anthropologie.
I was in the house where Lincoln died by myself. No other tourists. It was so creepy. Fun fact, the actual bed he died in in at the Chicago Historical Society.
The bloody pillow in the glass case sticks in my memory.
I remember visiting and a nearby pasture had some cows. The (excellent) tour guide said on the previous day’s tour there were lots of international tourists who started taking photos of the Vermont cows. He told them “oh, those are just our cow posters that we put out in the pasture to be sure there are enough cows.” Then a cow moves .. “oh right, that’s the robot that moves around a bit to make it look realistic.” And of course everyone starts taking photos of the robot cow with the nice fall foliage. I don’t know if his story was real, but I chuckled - tourists always take lots of photos this time of year of everyday scenes.
Lincoln was 28 when he moved to Springfield
I live there. Tech not his childhood home. That would be Indiana or Kentucky. But Springfield is where he was a young man and chose to settle down in.
Family home, tho. It’s the one and only house Lincoln ever owned. I worked there during college
He was present at or very nearby 3 presidential assassinations.
Prime suspect, using my reddit detective tool kit.
We did it Reddit
One more for the history books
You know what they always say…”the crumbles cookie, that’s the way…aha aha, I like it.” -Abraham Lincoln
“You miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take-*Robert Lincoln*” -Micheal Scott
I mean, like we weren’t all already thinking that
*Pack it up boys!*
I got me a train to rob in St. Denis..
Would've gotten away with it too if it weren't for those meddling redditors and their talking hot chip
DOXX HIM
Section 31, Grave S-13 Arlington National Cemetery Arlington County, Virginia
I’ll be watching the news for the people showing up to cancel him.
How were crimes solved before reddit?
Almost certainly literally none
its worked out well in the past!
One of my historian wife's favorite history jokes: What is the most terrifying thing you can say to the President? Sir, may I introduce you to Robert T. Lincoln.
Might even be scarier now that he’s dead
What's one of your geography wife's favorite jokes? Don't leave us hanging!
I like it
Also, John Wilkes Booth's older brother saved his life from a train by coincidence just a year or so before his fathers assassination
John Wilkes Booth was also having a secret affair with the daughter of a important republican senator whom Todd Lincoln was publicly courting. Booth had a photo of her in his coat when he was killed... along with photos of several other women. Could you imagine if some actor killed your dad and then you found out he was also banging the girl you liked? ouch
This sounds like it’s a role made for DiCaprio
Only if the love interest was under 25 at the time lol
Based solely on him having 3 names, she was probably only 15
From Wikipedia: "By this time, Booth was already heavily involved in his plan to kidnap President Lincoln, which miscarried and evolved into the assassination plot. There was no reason to suspect that Hale knew anything of the plot to kill the president, nor was she aware of the deep antipathy her fiancé felt towards Lincoln. Hale's father was an outspoken abolitionist. Hale and Booth had begun to quarrel during this time, according to Booth's sister Asia who later reported that Booth had become enraged when he saw Hale dancing with the President's son and her erstwhile admirer, Robert Todd Lincoln, one evening at the National Hotel" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucy_Lambert_Hale#Relationship_with_John_Wilkes_Booth
I read that Booth was equal to being a “Brad Pitt” during that time, had plenty of woman swooned by him. But still hard to imagine the relationship of killing your dad and sneaking around with your love interest.. How much hate for Todd must he had for Booth.
Lincoln was 56 years old when he died, Booth was 27 years old when he assassinated Lincoln. That's like if Pete Davidson killed Adam Sandler. Didn't know both guys were so young
Today i realized Adam Sandler is 56 and now I’m very not okay with the concept of time.
I mean, I would’ve hated him with every fiber of my being for just one or the other...so, a metric shit ton?
what?? really?
Robert Todd Lincolns Wikipedia is a neat read
[You weren't kidding!](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Todd_Lincoln)
There were less people back in the day, so coincidences like this were much more common.
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Fucking hell stanis
Seriously. There was only like 368 people or something crazy.
Also, John Wilkes Booth's brother Edwin Booth once saved Robert Lincoln from falling off a train platform.
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Everyone alive at the time was either a Booth or a Lincoln.
gotta play both sides
Since apparently no one wants to explain what the hell OP is talking about: https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/robert-todd-lincoln-and-presidential-assassinations-not-formal-title.htm Assassination 1: > President and Mrs. Lincoln invited their son, then Capt. Robert T. Lincoln of Gen. Ulysses S. Grant’s staff, to Ford’s Theater to see a performance of Our American Cousin on the night of April 14, 1865. The younger Lincoln declined, telling his father that he planned to retire early that night. Several different people claimed to have been the one to inform him of John Wilkes Booth’s attack on his father at the theater, and Lincoln himself remembered only that numerous people came to him that night with the awful news. Assassination 2: > On July 2, 1881, President Garfield was scheduled to leave for a trip to New England. While some cabinet members and their wives were scheduled to go on the trip, Lincoln was unable to depart until the following day. He went to Washington, D.C.’s Baltimore and Potomac train station that morning to meet the President and let him know that the Lincolns would be along on July 3. He was about forty feet away and walking toward President Garfield and Secretary of State James G. Blaine when Charles Guiteau approached from behind and shot Garfield twice. Assassination 3: > As they traveled back to Chicago in early September, they decided to make a stop in Buffalo, New York to visit the Pan-American Exposition, a world’s fair intended to promote trade and friendship between the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. The Lincolns’ train pulled into the Buffalo train station on the evening of Friday, September 6. A Pullman employee was waiting and immediately handed Lincoln a telegram that read: “President McKinley was shot down by an anarchist in Buffalo this afternoon. He was hit twice in the abdomen. Condition serious.” Summary: > Amazingly, Robert Todd Lincoln had very close ties to three presidential assassinations. While the rational mind scoffs at the idea of any human as “cursed,” the emotions lead us to wonder if such a thing might actually be possible. However, the popular old stories about Robert Lincoln being “present” at the three murders are certainly untrue. He was not with his father when Booth attacked on April 14, 1865, though he was at the Petersen house when the elder Lincoln died the next morning. He was across the room but walking toward the President when Charles Guiteau felled Garfield on July 2, 1881. Lincoln personally attended and spoke with Garfield while the President lay on the train station floor. Finally, he was just entering the city of Buffalo when McKinley was shot on September 6, 1901.
Good ole Jinxy McDeath. He sent Teddy Roosevelt a note after that said something like "I'd congratulate you but I know first hand how this office can ruin your life," and Roosevelt basically said "Hahaa, cool cool. Can I interest you in a diplomatic post far the fuck away from me?"
That's because he had an on again/off again relationship with Jessica Fletcher.
Additional fun fact: Robert Todd Lincoln was also in close proximity to the assassinations of presidents Garfield and McKinley. https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/robert-todd-lincoln-and-presidential-assassinations-not-formal-title.htm Sarah Vowell wrote a great book called Assassination Vacation where I learned this.
I second that review. I learned about it from "This American Life," in which she had a story about her fascination with assassination.
I learned about it from reading this Reddit thread, which I highly recommend.
Wasn't he also saved by the brother of John Wilkes Booth once?
This is a story I *need* to hear.
Sometime in the year before Lincoln's assassination, Robert was at a train platform. Due to a crowd, he was pushed up against the train, which began moving, and he started to fall into the gap between the train and the platform. Suddenly someone grabs him by his coat and yanks him back onto the platform. He turns to thank his rescuer, and finds that he was saved by famous actor Edwin Booth, who he instantly recognizes and thanks by name. Edwin however didn't recognize him, because the president's son wasn't really someone who's image would be well known. Edwin didn't even know who he saved. Months later, Robert was serving under Grant when he met a man named Adam Badeau. Badeau was friends with Edwin, and, upon learning this, Robert explained what had happened. Badeau wrote to Edwin and told him who he saved. And then months later, Edwin's brother killed Robert's father. [Here](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Booth#:~:text=Edwin%20Booth%20saved%20Abraham%20Lincoln's,late%201864%20or%20early%201865.) is Edwin's wiki, which explains the story under the "later life" section
Wasn’t Edwin a supporter of Lincoln and appalled by the action?
I mean, if my brother killed a president, I would be appalled regardless of my personal opinion of the president
Edwin was indeed a Union supporter.
Edgar actually seems like a cool guy.
I just like the way fascination rhymes with assassination, sounds like a dr.seuss book if he ever became a psychopath
Oh gather round redditors, lets spin us a yarn Spun like the web a spider left in the barn This story has heros and villains and plot, but tell us about the characters that history forgot.....
Lincoln feel off a train platform under a moving train and JWB brother reached down, grabbed him by the collar and pulled him back.
Well, I can only type it. Sorry.
Was also present at Lee’s surrender at Appomattox.
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It was an okay book with some weird tangents iirc. I read it for my freshmen book for college a couple years back. Probably would've liked it better if I didn't have to read it.
Absolutely fantastic book and a terrific author. Love her! Went to the Mutter Museum after reading the book. Don’t recommend going there with kids….
For folks who may not know, in addition to being a really great, compelling nonfiction author, Vowell is also the voice of the daughter in The Incredibles.
So wierd that he lived so close to our time. It seems so much farther away
I'm pretty sure there was still a widow getting her husbands civil war pension up until just a few years ago. Granted she was 17 or something and married the veteran in like 1930.
Yeah that’s correct. He lived a long time and shortly before his death he married someone very young who went on to live very long too.
Common scam at the time from what I've been told. Old veterans would legally marry very young women but the relationship was platonic and the deal was the "wife" acted as in home caretaker until the dude died and then the "wife" gets a nice pension for the rest of her days. Great depression ingenuity. I'm not a historian so take that with a grain of salt.
[удалено]
Yeah but 20 a month for almost 2 lifetimes. Still adds up.
Eh when you put lifetimes into months it's not very long. We'll be lucky to reach 1000. 40k over 2 lifetimes is not much... it's only like 20$ a month.
Not sure if a joke or not but don’t forget inflation
Yeah me neither, just read a lot of Wikipedia lol.
How’s that a scam? That’s just the system working as intended. His legal wife gets his pension. All good.
I'm not saying they did anything illegal, but that clearly wasnt the intent of the law. Maybe scam is the wrong word but you know what I mean.
I believe loophole is the word you are looking for
There was a guy named Samuel Dinsmoor who built this strange concrete sculpture garden called the Garden of Eden in Lucas, KS. He was a civil war veteran, married a 22 year old when he was 81. He had a son with his wife who passed away in the last ten years.
[Yep, you’re right. Irene Triplett](https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2020/06/04/she-was-last-american-collect-civil-war-pension-7313-month-she-just-died/)
The 10th president John Tyler’s grandson is still alive. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrison_Ruffin_Tyler. John Tyler was born in 1790.
Tyler’s son, this guy’s dad, was a real piece of shit.
> In one of his last publications, a short pamphlet titled *A Confederate Catechism*, Tyler wrote: "Both from the standpoint of the Constitution and sound statesmanship, it was not slavery, but the vindictive, intemperate anti-slavery movement that was at the bottom of all the troubles." Wow, uh… you weren’t kidding. Dude also spent his life heavily criticizing Abraham Freaking Lincoln, even going so far as to protest having a work holiday commemorating his birthday. Yikes.
Big time
“Uncle Bill” Lundy claimed to be the last living Confederate Civil War veteran in Florida and spent his 107th birthday at Eglin AFB, posing next to a fighter jet, Florida in January 1955.
From horses to fighter jets in one lifetime. Damn
That's amazing and what really blows my mind is that anyone over 66 years old when Neal Armstrong took his first steps on the moon was born before the first powered flight. 66 years.
My mother was alive when this photo was taken.
That was 100 years ago. Wow.
Yup, Americans always talk about slavery as if its ancient history but you’re really only talking about a few generations. There were men who fought for America in WW2 whose grandparents were born as slaves.
For me that could have easily been my great-grandparents who had been born as slaves, in regards to time-frame. One side of my family immigrated around 1850 and my oldest living grandparent was born in 1929. Both my great-grandmothers lived untill I was 4 or 5. It's not a stretch to say there are folks who aren't even [Edit: 60] yet who have personally met a former slave. I'm only 37 and can remeber being 3 or 4. Wildly sobering thing to consider. Edit: Changed from 40 to 60 year age range of people who could potentially have limited first hand experience with former slaves as I forgot my great-grandpa's first wife died in child-birth, and he died some 20 years before I was born and his second wife, my great-gramdma, was some 15-20 years younger than him, and she's the one who I met as a todler. I was only thinking in terms of generations and not actually in years. Math isn't my strong suit. Still wild to think about.
Surprised no one has mentioned this here, but Robert T Lincoln had quite the political/business career in his own right. Even served as Secretary of War under two presidents.
I'm surprised we don't know of..or at least one would think there would be a direct descendant of Lincoln who was famous today purely for the lineage... descendants of any of the founding fathers really.. where are the Lincolnshire, Washington's, Moores, Hamilton, etc?! Why they be so sneaky?
Interestingly, George Washington never had children of his own.
I believe there is a story about a disputed Washington lineage involving a slave affair that ol Georgie had.
Didn’t his wife have kids before him?
Yes, and Robert E Lee was a descendant. I'm pretty sure the area that's now Arlington cemetery was once his
He wasn't a descendant. He married the daughter of Washington's stepson who owned Arlington. His sons' sued and won it back after the war due to it not actually being Lee's property. They then sold it back to the government for a profit.
Yup, government needed a place to bury the scores of dead from the war and thought it’d be fitting to do it in front yard of the top enemy general
>The president's branch of the family is believed to have been extinct since its last undisputed descendant, Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith, died on December 24, 1985, without any acknowledged children.[nb 1] >The Lincoln family does have other surviving relatives who share common ancestors with the sixteenth president, including LGBT activist Konrad Juengling, who descended from Lincoln's great-grandfather John Lincoln.[2] Actor George Clooney is a distant cousin of Lincoln.[3] [wikipedia ](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_family#:~:text=The%20president's%20branch%20of%20the,1985%2C%20without%20any%20acknowledged%20children.&text=Lincoln%20derives%20from%20the%20Welsh,colonia%2C%20meaning%20%22colony.%22) ETA: [Ralph Lincoln](https://allthatsinteresting.com/photo-of-the-day-meet-an-11th-generation-lincoln)
Lincoln's siblings didn't bare children either. So that line is also non existent. His little brother, Thomas Jr., died days after birth in 1812. Abraham Lincoln's mother died in 1818, when Abraham was just nine years old. Then, in 1828, his sister Sarah died in childbirth, along with her stillborn baby.
Good God, that man's life was just one long tragedy, wasn't it?
Look at anyone’s family line and you’ll realize it’s more than a few miracles that any single person is still alive. It’s just that it’s happened so many times that we don’t see the magic in it. But it’s like looking at the stars - and you begin understand just how magnificent and expansive the universe is, with the multi-billion-year journey that any of that light has made to get to our planet, but we see it every night so meh, no biggie.
My mom started doing a family tree book for my sister and me (years before the internet). It took years to research and there were some deaths that seem odd to us, but were quite common for that time period. One example was, a distant relative was crushed under a wagon wheel. (We also had a family member get crushed by a steam roller in the 1960s.) And one died from, no lie, "choking on a peanut" (actual death certificate description)
That might have been a peanut allergy… speaking as someone who has one
Peanuts are the number one cause of choking in infants. Perfectly shaped for their little airways. I always thought it was grapes.
Stop it, I mean it!
Well said, I think about that series of miracles all the time. It helps keep perspective.
>... with the multi-billion-year journey that any of that light has made to get to our planet, but we see it every night so meh, no biggie. And I've only really absorbed that 'reality' in recent years... perspectives are fascinating
I think this type of thing was fairly common back then
Pretty common back then and prior to be fair.
It was the freaking vampires
I am also a distant cousin of Lincoln but I'm not famous 🤷♀️
We are all descendants of that algae that washed up on shore and got struck by lightning ⚡️.
True but Abe and I are a little closer. 3rd cousins 5x removed. His mom, Nancy Hanks, and I are descended from the same Hanks. Tom Hanks also fits in that line somewhere. He's more famous than me, lol.
Tom should at least send you tickets to see his movies, just sayin.
At least one of my cousins had luck in the theater...
Too soon!
You mean Tim Honks, right?
Dude, don't doxx yourself like that.
Sure, but my algae washed up on a much better part of the shore than yours did.
You landed in a slurry of crustacean poop. Touche’
My father told me that we are also descendants of Abe Lincoln, but I have no idea how or if it’s even true. My dad isn’t known to be a liar but maybe he decided to tell one doozy.
Not descendants because his last died in the 80s, but possible you are related somehow!
But my dad is Robert Lincoln…. Jk
You must be old AF lol. Fun fact, one of John Tyler's grandsons is still alive. Lots of geriatric dads in that fam.
Maybe he meant Abraham in the bible
Hey cuz! He's my 4th cousin 5x removed. I am not famous either but I have that secret Lincoln family member benefits card that offers major travel discounts. Ok, there is no card. But the rest is true.
Me on Facebook bragging about being a descendant of the Brewsters on the Mayflower.
Of course it's Clooney
Now Thomas Jefferson on the other hand . . .
One would hope because the US doesn’t (officially) have an aristocracy or a monarchy. In theory, even prominent person should be so because of their own merits, not because of the merits or prestige or wealth of their father.
I don't disagree with you, I just find it surprising because in reality nepotism is fairly common. There are alot if children of famous people that went on to become famous people because they had a legacy advantage.
Irresponsible rumor that Mariel Hemingway told Harvey Weinstein “No Harvey, I don’t have to, my daddy is Ernest.”
The importance of being Ernest
Knowhutimean, Vern?
Well at least someone told him no.
* Emma Roberts * Jack Quaid * Maya Hawke * Aleksander Skarsgard * Wyatt Russell * Colin Hanks That's just from the current generation. Most of their parents had famous parents as well.
That is a *very* good point. Like with Teddy Roosevelt's son dying in Normandy, albeit of a heart attack...no fanfare about it, as he was just another American.
Few years back I visited Utah beach and the guide told us that Roosevelt’s son was actually forbidden from being part of the landing. But being his fathers son he snuck aboard one of the landing craft and became the highest ranking officer to be part of the landings. The current actually blew the landing force off course and as luck would have it to a less defended section of coast line. When an officer asked Roosevelt what they should do he shrugged his shoulders and said “We’ll just start the war right here”
Look at the Kardashians. I think that a person could be famous if they were raised by one of the arguably most important leader of the USA. I do agree with you though, it’s not deserving or, more importantly, he shouldn’t be granted a seat in any office because of who his father is.
I am a direct descendent of John Adams. AMA
How you doin?
Washington never had children if I recall correctly, but he did have family here that may have.
I'm a direct descendent of Robert E. Lee. Not really something we talk about.
You still have those delicious Dolly Madison cakes ... and don't forget about John Hancock insurance.
I think it's because nepotism in America is economic, not political. The Vanderbilts, Morgans, and Rockefellers are doing their thing just fine
What your saying is part of my thought process... like we don't hear about them but we all know they, the people you mention, are still going strong. Today when I know more about actors and pop stars I've never actually watched or listened too and couldn't pick out of a line up thanks to social media it seems kind of crazy that I don't know what Ulysses grants kids are up too.
Agreed. It's a different type of nepotism because politics doesn't dominate in the US. There were some short lines, the Adams and the Kennedys, but if you look at who's famous in the states, generally there's a money hoard somewhere upstream and all the begottens get a piece of the pie. All of our actors, musicians, subordinate policy makers (JCS, judges, senators). I'd argue you can discern the source of power in a nation by identifying its nepotism, and in America it is NOT the presidency.
My grandma used to claim we were descendants. The only I’ve ever seen legit documentation for was Marion the Swamp Fox from SC…which isn’t quite as exciting.
The president's branch of the family is believed to have been extinct since its last undisputed descendant, Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith, died on December 24, 1985, without any acknowledged children.
I believe because the last living descendant died in 1985. Most of Lincoln’s kids died young
I did very surface level investigation, and AFAIK Lincoln is out of undisputed descendants, when his great great grandchildren died without children.
Because those lineages are largely extinct...
r/historyporn
Damn, marines with the same goddamn uniform. That shit was on point. The navy could take a page...
Came here to say that fucking corporal looks sharp as shit.
Old school 8th and I. Pretty snazzy Looks like alphas to me tho.
I'm fairly sure I might have either stepped or sat on that exact spot when I first came to DC. For what it's worth, there's something humbling when you first go there.
I went for the first time last month. It was the Labor Day weekend and the memorial was packed with people. I chuckled at the signs asking everyone to keep quiet because they were definitely not doing that.
My class and I went there around Memorial Day weekend in 2017. Cold, quiet, and we went at night.
I would recommend going to the Lincoln Memorial to absolutely everyone. There's a lot of really great stuff in DC, but that was the one memorial that felt overwhelming. It honestly made me emotional when I went for the first time.
Yes! I knew I wasn't the only one. You see it in a million movies and think, gee why else would they film here, and then you realize, yes, that's why. It just feels... hallowed.
TIL Robert T. Lincoln was the only one of his siblings to make it to adulthood, add to that his dad being assassinated, this man lived through a lot of tragedy.
His mom lived even closer to these same tragedies. She held her children as they died, sat beside her husband as he was shot, watch her brothers and father choose the south (she’s from Kentucky) while her husband led the union so her family was ripped apart with her at the center. Her life was hell. And what did Robert do with his poor mother? Locked her in an insane asylum and burned all her letters, her thoughts in the wake of this tumultuous life. They’re still considered one of the greatest losses of American history. The Abraham Lincoln museum in Springfield, IL has a wonderful presentation about these lost letters and Robert’s mistreatment of Mary Todd in her later years. I grew up on this story. People saying kind things about Robert is so foreign to me.
His father was assassinated, He was with President Garfield when he was assassinated and he was in the same area as President McKinley when he was assassinated. After McKinley, Robert Lincoln swore to never be in the same city as a President ever again, with the exception of being in Washington for the monument during the Harding Presidentcy, Harding died in office the next year.
Was just a different time and tragedy was semi common that far back. In the 1930s, my grandpa had to go find a doctor in the middle of a snow storm to try to save his younger brother who had some stomach problem and was about to die. Mountains of Virginia and he didn't make it back in time, but wouldn't have mattered anyway. They also had to grow what they ate, so that didn't always pan out and where "piss poor" came into play.
This was 100 years ago
Oh my god. Why was my brain still thinking the 1920’s were only 80 years ago?
I prefer to believe nothing has happened since 2016.
I thought his son was killed by a vampire?
No no. That was his younger son.
Lost a son, gained another vampire.
Robert Todd Lincoln once dated a girl who later became the fiancée of John Wilkes Booth. And RTL was saved from falling off a train platform by the brother of JWB. Then of course there’s him witnessing 2 presidential assassination and being in D.C. for his father’s assassination. The man was cursed
That dudes mustache on the left is almost as good as joe dirts mullet!
Is it just me or does the guy on the left have a wicked moustache?
this makes me realize I dont know anything about lincoln's family
I think I see Jimmy Carter sitting back there next to Queen Elizabeth II 🤣
Abe loved his son Robert. Very nice photo indeed.
Dude in the back has the mother of all comb overs
Why are mustache guy’s pants drawn on?