Existing comment:
A Home Away From Home:
Nineteenth-century presidents had no Camp David to escape to. The closest thing to a summer White House was a 14-room cottage on the grounds of the Retired Soldiers' Home, a heavily wooden tract three miles northwest of the White House. James Buchanan had found refuge there from Washington's scorching heat and mosquitoes. The Lincolns began using the place in the summer of 1862.
Lincoln's Summer Schedule:
During the summer Lincoln commuted to the White House from the Retired Soldiers' Home. Each morning he rode to the White House on horseback or in a carriage. He was usually at his desk by 8am. He returned to the cottage in the evening, where he did more paperwork. Late night meetings were not uncommon, and it is believed that Lincoln wrote much of his Emancipation Proclamation at the Soldiers' Home.
Protecting the President:
Worried over her husband's safety, Mrs. Lincoln begged him not to make the trip out Seventh Street without protection. Eventually, her husband agreed to let a detachment of cavalry surround his coach while traveling to and from the summer White House. At other times he fell back into his old habits, riding unaccompanied. One night in 1864, both horse and rider were startled by a shot, which made a hole in Lincoln's tall stovepipe hot. Lincoln laughed it off. No one else did. |