Abraham Lincoln II

Robert Todd Lincoln was born on August 1, 1843, in Springfield, Illinois, to Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd Lincoln. He was the eldest of their four children, with three younger brothers named Edward, William, and Tad. Lincoln’s father was a lawyer and politician who served four terms in the Illinois state legislature and was a member of the Whig party before becoming the 16th President of the United States.

Lincoln was named after his maternal grandfather, Robert Smith Todd. During his childhood, Abraham Lincoln was often away on judicial circuits and political duties, which contributed to a distant relationship between him and his son. Lincoln recalled that his father was frequently absent during his youth, attending court or engaging in political activities.

In 1859, Robert Lincoln took the Harvard College entrance examination but failed fifteen out of sixteen subjects. He subsequently attended Phillips Exeter Academy, from which he graduated in 1860. He was admitted to Harvard University, graduating in 1864, and was involved in campus organizations such as the Hasty Pudding Club and Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity. According to some accounts, he struggled academically and was characterized as an unsympathetic figure by Jan Morris.

Following his undergraduate studies, Lincoln enrolled at Harvard Law School in September 1864 but left after four months, in January 1865, to join the Union Army during the American Civil War. His mother initially prevented him from enlisting, but President Lincoln argued that their son’s enlistment was justified. In January 1865, Robert Lincoln was commissioned as an assistant adjutant with the rank of captain and served on General Ulysses S. Grant’s staff in the closing weeks of the war. He was present at the surrender of Robert E. Lee at Appomattox. He resigned his commission on June 12, 1865.

An incident occurred in late 1863 or early 1864, when Robert Lincoln was saved from injury or death by actor Edwin Booth, brother of John Wilkes Booth, who later assassinated President Lincoln. This event took place on a train platform in Jersey City, New Jersey, where Booth pulled Lincoln to safety after the train began to move, and Lincoln subsequently expressed gratitude to Booth in 1909.

In early 1865, Robert Lincoln moved to Chicago, where he studied law at the Old University of Chicago and at the law firm Scammon, McCagg & Fuller. He earned his LL.B. degree in 1866 and was admitted to the bar in Chicago on February 22, 1867.

He married Mary Eunice Harlan on September 24, 1868. She was the daughter of U.S. Senator James Harlan. The couple had three children: Mary "Mamie" Lincoln, Abraham "Jack" Lincoln II, and Jessie Harlan Lincoln. The family spent summers in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, where they maintained a home, built in 1876, now part of a museum operated by Iowa Wesleyan College.

Professionally, Robert Lincoln became a business lawyer, representing corporate clients and eventually serving as general counsel and later president of the Pullman Company, succeeding George Pullman in 1897. After retiring as president in 1911, he was chairman of the board until 1924.

Lincoln served as U.S. Secretary of War from 1881 to 1885, during the administration of President James A. Garfield and continuing under President Chester A. Arthur. He was also the U.S. Ambassador to Great Britain from 1889 to 1893 under President Benjamin Harrison.

In his later years, Lincoln resided in Washington, D.C., and Manchester, Vermont, where his estate, Hildene, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. He participated in the dedication of the Lincoln Memorial in 1922. Robert Todd Lincoln died at Hildene on July 26, 1926, at the age of 82, and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.