The Ghosts of Politics I: Abraham Lincoln

While the ghosts of several American presidents have been sighted wandering the hallowed halls of the White House, the most famous of them would probably be Abraham Lincoln.

Before his assassination by John Wilkes Booth, Lincoln is reported to have dreamt of his own demise. The dream as recorded when he told his Cabinet was as follows:

"In the dream, I was awakend by a faint moaning coming from somewhere nearby. I stood, and began hunting the noise, finally finding my way to the East Room, where men and women were shrouded in funeral shawls. I saw a coffin on a dias, and soldiers at either end. A captain stood nearby, and when I addressed him, 'Who is dead in the White House?' say I. 'The President,' is his answer, 'he was killed by an assassin.' In the coffin was a corpse in funeral vestiments, but the face was obscured. A loud sob left the crowd, and I awoke."

Later that night, April 14th, 1865, Lincoln would become the first American president to be assassinated when he was shot and killed. Since then, his ghost has been reported in the White House on numerous occaissons.

Three presidents have claimed to experienced Lincolns ghost when Theodore Roosevelt, Herbert Hoover, and Harry Truman heard strange knockings on their doors. The wife of Calvin Coolidge, reported that she'd seen the apparition of the slain president in the Oval Office. She said he was standing lookig out a window with his hands clasped behind his back- possibly looking over the bloody battlefields towards the Potomac. Lincoln's biographer, Carl Sandburg, said that while not seeing the famous ghost, did "strongly feel his presence" while looking out the window where Mrs. Coolidge saw the spirit.

Many feel the reason that Franklin D. Roosevelt's time as president was an active one for Lincoln's apparition was because it was a momentous time of war, much like Lincoln's Civil War. His wife, Eleanor, used Lincoln's former bedroom as a study, and often reported feeling as if she were being watched. One maid claimed to have seen the apparition of the slain president taking his shoes off while sitting on the bed. A guest of the Roosevelts, Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, woke up when she heard a knock on her bedroom door. She promptly fainted upon seeing Lincoln's ghost in the hallway.

Even Winston Churchill is reputed to have witnessed the ghost during a stay at the White House during World War II. Naked after taking a bath, Churchill went into the adjoining bedroom, where Abraham Lincoln was standing by the fireplace. Showing his amazing British wit, and calmness under unexpected situations, Churchill simply remarked, "Good evening, Mr. President. You seen to have me at a disadvantage." He states that the spirit smiled softly, and vanished.

After Harry Truman's term as president, Lincoln's ghost was seen less due to extensive remodelling to the White House that took place during that administration.

Ronald Reagan's daughter, Maureen, was reported to have seen the spirit of Lincoln in his old bedroom, and Reagan's dog would refuse to enter it.

The ghost of Abraham Lincoln is so well known that Bob Hope even told a joke about it. Bob Hope said that Lyndon B. Johnson once had a conversation with the spirit. Johnson asked Lincoln, "You had a war, you had a Civil Rights movement, you had protesters and critics- what can I do?" Displaying the gentle humour that Lincoln was known for, the ghost replied, "Don't go to the theatre."

The White House in only one place where the ghost of Abraham Lincoln has been seen. Reports have had him appearing at Ford's Theatre with the spirit of John Wilkes Booth. Many claim they are trying to resolve their differances. Lincoln has also been seen by his gravesite in Springfield, Illinois. Fortress Monroe, where the Monitor and Virgina battled has also been claimed as a Lincoln "haunt".