View source for Robert Todd Lincoln

{{short description|American lawyer and politician (1843–1926)}}
{{redirect|Robert Lincoln}}
{{good article}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2020}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Robert Todd Lincoln
| image               = Lincoln, Robert (son of Abraham Lincoln) Crop.jpg
| alt                 = photograph
| caption             = Lincoln {{c.|1870–1880}}
| office1             = 30th [[List of ambassadors of the United States to the United Kingdom|Minister to the United Kingdom]]
| president1          = {{ubl|[[Benjamin Harrison]]|[[Grover Cleveland]]}}
| term_start1         = May 25, 1889
| term_end1           = May 4, 1893
| predecessor1        = [[Edward John Phelps]]
| successor1          = [[Thomas F. Bayard]] (as Ambassador)
| order2              = 35th
| office2             = United States Secretary of War
| president2          = {{ubl|[[James A. Garfield]]|[[Chester A. Arthur]]}}
| term_start2         = March 5, 1881
| term_end2           = March 4, 1885
| predecessor2        = [[Alexander Ramsey]]
| successor2          = [[William Crowninshield Endicott]]
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1843|8|1}}
| birth_place         = [[Springfield, Illinois]], U.S.
| death_date          = {{death date and age|1926|7|26|1843|8|1}}
| death_place         = [[Manchester, Vermont]], U.S.
| resting_place        = [[Arlington National Cemetery]]
| party               = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
| spouse              = {{marriage|[[Mary Harlan Lincoln|Mary Eunice Harlan]]|September 24, 1868}}
| children            = {{ubl|[[Mamie Lincoln Isham]]|Abraham "Jack" Lincoln II|[[Jessie Harlan Lincoln]]}}
| parents             = {{ubl|[[Abraham Lincoln]] (father)|[[Mary Todd Lincoln]] (mother)}}
| relatives           = [[Lincoln family]]
| education           = {{ubl|[[Harvard University]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|AB]])|[[Northwestern University]] ([[Bachelor of Laws|LLB]])}}
| signature           = Robert lincoln signature.svg
| allegiance          = [[United States]]
| branch              = [[Union Army]]
| rank                = [[Captain (United States O-3)|Captain]]
| serviceyears        = February 11 – June 12, 1865
| battles             = {{tree list}}
* [[American Civil War]]
**[[Appomattox Campaign]]
***[[Battle of Appomattox Court House]]
{{tree list/end}}
}}

'''Robert Todd Lincoln''' (August 1, 1843&nbsp;– July 26, 1926) was an American lawyer and businessman. The eldest son of President [[Abraham Lincoln]] and [[Mary Todd Lincoln]], he was the only one of their four children to survive past 18 and also the only one to outlive both his parents. Robert Lincoln became a business lawyer and company president, and served as both [[United States Secretary of War]] (1881–1885) and the [[List of ambassadors of the United States to the United Kingdom|U.S. Ambassador to Great Britain]] (1889–1893).

Lincoln was born in [[Springfield, Illinois]], and graduated from [[Harvard College]]. He then served on the staff of General [[Ulysses S. Grant]] as a captain in the [[Union Army]] in the closing days of the [[American Civil War]]. After the war was over, he married [[Mary Eunice Harlan]], and they had three children together. Following completion of his law school studies [[Old University of Chicago|in Chicago]], he built a successful law practice, and became wealthy representing corporate clients.

Lincoln was often spoken of as a possible candidate for national office, including the presidency, but never took steps to mount a campaign. He served as Secretary of War in the administration of [[James A. Garfield]], continuing under [[Chester A. Arthur]], and as Minister to Great Britain in the [[Benjamin Harrison]] administration.

Lincoln became [[general counsel]] of the [[Pullman Company]], and after founder [[George Pullman]] died in 1897, Lincoln assumed the company's presidency. After retiring from this position in 1911, Lincoln served as chairman of the board until 1924. In Lincoln's later years, he resided at homes in Washington, D.C., and [[Manchester, Vermont]]; the Manchester home, [[Hildene]], was added to the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 1977. In 1922, he took part in the dedication ceremonies for the [[Lincoln Memorial]]. Lincoln died at Hildene in July 1926, at age 82, and was buried at [[Arlington National Cemetery]].

==Early life==
Robert Todd Lincoln was born in [[Springfield, Illinois]], on August 1, 1843, to [[Abraham Lincoln]] and [[Mary Todd Lincoln]]. He had three younger brothers, [[Edward Baker Lincoln|Edward]], [[William Wallace Lincoln|William]], and [[Tad Lincoln|Tad]]. By the time Lincoln was born, his father had become a well-known member of the [[Whig Party (United States)|Whig political party]] and had served as a member of the Illinois state legislature for four terms. He was named after his maternal grandfather, [[Robert Smith Todd]].{{sfn|Emerson|pp=6–7}}

Some commentators believe that Robert Lincoln had a distant relationship with his father, in part because, during his formative years, Abraham Lincoln spent months away on the judicial circuit.{{sfn|Roberts|pp=87–88}} Lincoln recalled, "During my childhood and early youth he was almost constantly away from home, attending court or making political speeches."{{sfn|Emerson|p=10}}{{efn|[[David Herbert Donald]] wrote, "Robert's principal memory of his father during those years was of his loading his saddlebags in preparation for going out on the circuit" for his travels through [[Illinois]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Donald |first=David Herbert |year=1995 |title=Lincoln |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fuTY3mxs9awC&pg=PA109 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |isbn=0-684-80846-3 |page=109}}</ref> Footnotes in his Lincoln biography indicate that Donald's statement about this being such a large part of Lincoln's childhood is based on the writings of Lincoln biographer Frederick Trevor Hill and scholar Wayne C. Temple. In 1906, Hill related, "The Hon. Robert Lincoln told the writer that he distinctly remembers seeing his father start out on horseback, with his saddle-bags, to accompany the judge on the circuit." In 1960, Temple wrote that the saddlebags were Lincoln's first memory.<ref name="Hill">{{cite book |last1=Hill |first1=Frederick Trevor |title=Lincoln the Lawyer |date=1913 |orig-date=1906|publisher=[[The Century Company]] |page=164 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xzADAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA164 |access-date=December 30, 2022}}</ref><ref>Wayne C. Temple, ''Lincoln Rides the Circuit'', Lincoln Herald 62 (Winter 1960), 140<!--This reference is unavailable online anywhere, the only extant copies are held in inaccessible archives.--></ref>}}
Abraham apparently realized that his being away had a potential impact on his sons as evidenced by the following quote from his April 16, 1848, letter to his wife: "don't let the blessed fellows forget Father".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lincoln |first1=Abraham |title=New Letters and papers of Lincoln, compiled by Paul M. Angle. – To MARY LINCOLN 1 April 16, 1848 |url=https://quod.lib.umich.edu/g/genpub/ABJ5413.0001.001?rgn=main;view=fulltext |publisher=[[Houghton Mifflin]] |access-date=July 9, 2023 |date=April 16, 1848|orig-date=1930|via=[[University of Michigan Library]] – Digital Collection|page=42}}</ref> One such example that gives insight into Robert's childhood in general was related by Joseph Humphreys, who had taken a train to Lexington, Kentucky, in 1847: "there were two lively youngsters on board who kept the whole train in a turmoil, and their long-legged father, instead of spanking the brats, looked pleased as Punch and aided and abetted the older one in mischief".{{sfn|Helm|pp=101–102}}

Lincoln took the Harvard College entrance examination in 1859, but failed fifteen out of the sixteen subjects.<ref>{{cite book |last= Luthin |first=Reinhard Henry |author-link=Reinhard H. Luthin |date=1960 |title=The Real Abraham Lincoln: A Complete One Volume History of His Life and Times |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Jo13AAAAMAAJ&q=%22robert%22+%22lincoln%22+%22harvard%22+%22entrance%22+%22examination%22+%22subjects%22 |location=Englewood Cliffs |publisher=Prentice-Hall |page=141}}</ref> Subsequently, Lincoln was enrolled at [[Phillips Exeter Academy]] to prepare for college; he graduated Phillips Exeter in 1860.<ref>{{cite book |last=Stevens |first=Walter Barlow |date=1998 |title=A Reporter's Lincoln |url=https://archive.org/details/reporterslincoln00stev_0 |url-access=registration |location=Lincoln, NE |publisher=University of Nebraska Press |page=[https://archive.org/details/reporterslincoln00stev_0/page/261 261] |isbn=978-0-8032-9253-6}}</ref> Admitted to Harvard, he graduated in 1864, having been elected vice-president of the [[Hasty Pudding Club]],<ref name="Register"/> and was a member of the [[Delta Kappa Epsilon]] (Alpha chapter) fraternity.{{sfn|Emerson|p=79}} Welsh author [[Jan Morris]] wrote that Robert Lincoln, "having failed fifteen out of sixteen subjects in the Harvard entrance examination, got in at last and emerged an unsympathetic bore."{{sfn|Morris|p=128}}

==Civil War years==
[[File:Robert Lincoln, son of Abraham, by Mathew Brady, ca. 1865.jpg|200px|left|Portrait by [[Mathew Brady]] {{circa}} 1865]]
After graduating from Harvard, Robert Lincoln enrolled at [[Harvard Law School]].<ref name="Register">{{cite book |last=King |first=Moses |date=1881 |title=The Harvard Register, Volume  |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SwQXAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA378|location=Cambridge, MA |publisher=Harvard College |page=378}}</ref> Lincoln attended Harvard Law School from September 1864 to January 1865, but left after four months in order to join the [[Union Army]].<ref name="Register"/> In 1893, Harvard awarded Lincoln the [[honorary degree]] of [[Legum Doctor|LL.D.]]<ref>{{cite book |last=Sobel |first=Robert |date=1990 |title=Biographical Directory of the United States Executive Branch, 1774–1989 |url=https://archive.org/details/biographicaldire00sobe |url-access=registration |location=Westport, CT |publisher=Greenwood Press |page=[https://archive.org/details/biographicaldire00sobe/page/234 234] |isbn=978-0-313-26593-8}}</ref>

Mary Todd Lincoln prevented Robert Lincoln from joining the Army until shortly before the war's conclusion.{{sfn|Goff|p=68}} President Lincoln argued "our son is not more dear to us than the sons of other people are to their mothers." In January 1865, the First Lady gave in and President Lincoln wrote Ulysses Grant, asking if Robert could be placed on his staff.{{sfn|Burlingame|pp=738–739}}{{sfn|Charnwood|p=444}}

On February 11, 1865, Lincoln was commissioned as an assistant [[adjutant]] with a captain's rank. He served in the last weeks of the [[American Civil War]] on General Grant's staff, a status which meant, in all likelihood, he would not be involved in actual combat.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Staff |title=Chicago Friend Relates Anecdotes of Robert Lincoln |url=https://chicagotribune.newspapers.com/clip/115797051/chicago-friend-relates-anecdotes-of/ |access-date=January 4, 2023 |work=[[Chicago Tribune]] |date=July 27, 1926 |page=6|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> He was present at [[Battle of Appomattox Courthouse|Appomattox]] when [[Robert E. Lee]] surrendered.{{sfn|Goff|p=68}} He resigned his commission on June 12, 1865, and returned to civilian life.<ref>{{cite book |last=Reece |first=Jasper N. |year=1900 |title=Report of the Adjutant General of the State of Illinois |volume=I |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A7-eGV9J7kIC&pg=PA180 |location=Springfield, Illinois |publisher=Phillips Bros. |page=180}}</ref>

Lincoln was once saved from possible serious injury or death by [[Edwin Booth]], whose brother, [[John Wilkes Booth]], [[Assassination of Abraham Lincoln|assassinated Robert's father]]. This event took place on a train platform in [[Jersey City]], [[New Jersey]]. The exact date is uncertain, but it is believed to have taken place in late 1863 or early 1864, before John Wilkes Booth's assassination of President Lincoln. In a letter written in 1909 to the editor of ''[[The Century Magazine]]'', Robert Lincoln recalled what had happened that day:<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MazzAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA282 |page=282 |title=Letters of Note: Volume 1: An Eclectic Collection of Correspondence Deserving of a Wider Audience |publisher=Chronicle Books |year=2014|isbn=978-1452140865 }}</ref>

{{blockquote|The incident occurred while a group of passengers were late at night purchasing their sleeping car places from the conductor who stood on the station platform at the entrance of the car. The platform was about the height of the car floor, and there was of course a narrow space between the platform and the car body. There was some crowding, and I happened to be pressed by it against the car body while waiting my turn. In this situation the train began to move, and by the motion I was twisted off my feet, and had dropped somewhat, with feet downward, into the open space, and was personally helpless, when my coat collar was vigorously seized and I was quickly pulled up and out to a secure footing on the platform. Upon turning to thank my rescuer I saw it was Edwin Booth, whose face was of course well known to me, and I expressed my gratitude to him, and in doing so, called him by name.}}

Months afterwards, while serving on Grant's US Army staff, Robert Lincoln recalled the occurrence to Colonel [[Adam Badeau]], a fellow officer who happened to be a friend of Edwin Booth's. Badeau sent a letter to Booth, complimenting the actor for his heroism. Before receiving the letter, Booth had been unaware that the man whose life he had saved on the train platform was the president's son. The knowledge of whom he had saved that day was said to have been of some comfort to Booth following his brother's assassination of the president.{{sfn|Goff|pp=70-71}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.historynet.com/edwin-booth-saved-robert-todd-lincolns-life.htm |title=Edwin Booth Saved Robert Todd Lincoln's Life |date=June 12, 2006 |website=[[HistoryNet]] |access-date=August 6, 2011 }}</ref> Grant also sent Booth a letter of gratitude for his action.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Tq2DwABwrRoC&pg=PA82 |page=82 |title=Edwin Booth: A Biography and Performance History |first=Arthur W. |last=Bloom |publisher=McFarland |year=2013|isbn=978-1476601465 }}</ref>

On the night his father was assassinated, Robert had turned down an invitation to accompany the Lincolns to [[Ford's Theatre]] due to fatigue after spending much of his recent time in a covered wagon at the battlefront.<ref>Ralph Gary, [https://books.google.com/books?id=QU0UAQAAIAAJ&q=%22invitation+to+attend%22 ''The Presidents Were Here: A State-by-State Historical Guide''], 2008, p. 43</ref>{{sfn|Emerson|p=100}} Ten days later, Robert Lincoln wrote President [[Andrew Johnson]] requesting that he and his family be allowed to stay in the Executive mansion for two and a half weeks because his mother had told him that "she can not possibly be ready to leave here".{{sfn|Goff|p=74}} Lincoln also acknowledged that he was aware of the "great inconvenience" this would be to Johnson, since he had become president of the United States only a short time earlier.{{sfn|Graf|p=639}}

In late April, 1865, Robert moved to the city of [[Chicago]] with his remaining family.{{sfn|Emerson|pp=114–115}} He attended law classes at the [[Old University of Chicago]] and [[reading law|studied law]] at the Chicago firm of [[J. Young Scammon|Scammon]], McCagg & Fuller.{{sfn|Emerson|pp=116–117}} On January 1, 1866, Lincoln moved out of the apartment he shared with his mother and brother. He rented his own rooms in downtown Chicago to "begin to live with some degree of comfort" which he had not known when living in cramped conditions with his family.{{sfn|Emerson|p=121}} Lincoln graduated from Old University{{efn|When Lincoln graduated, [[Pritzker School of Law]] did not exist as such, The school was originally a department in what is now known as the Old University of Chicago. In 1873 the school became affiliated with Northwestern as the Union College of Law. 1891 is when it actually became the Northwestern University School of Law and in 2015 received the Pritzker School title.<ref>{{cite web |title=Union College of Law History, Written 1889 |url=https://wwws.law.northwestern.edu/history/documents/1873_union_history_1889.pdf |access-date=May 30, 2025 |date=1889}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-northwestern-law-school-gift-met-1022-20151022-story.html |title=Northwestern's law school gets $100 million Pritzker gift, new name |last=Bowean |first=Lolly |work=[[Chicago Tribune]] |access-date=May 30, 2025 }}</ref>}} with an [[Bachelor of Laws|LL.B.]] in 1866 and became licensed as an attorney in Chicago on February 22, 1867. He was certified to practice law four days later on February 26, 1867.{{sfn|Emerson|p=124}}

==Family==
===Marriage and children===
On September 24, 1868, Lincoln married [[Mary Eunice Harlan]], daughter of Senator [[James Harlan (senator)|James Harlan]] and Ann Eliza Peck of [[Mount Pleasant, Iowa]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=King|first=C. J.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pVgTAQAAMAAJ&q=%22September+25,+1846%22|title=Four Marys and a Jessie: The Story of the Lincoln Women|date=2005|publisher=Friends of Hildene, Incorporated|isbn=978-0-9754917-2-0|pages=70, 78|language=en}}</ref>{{sfn|Goff|p=88}} 
They had three children, two daughters and one son: Mary "Mamie" Lincoln, Abraham "Jack" Lincoln II,<ref name=AbeII/> and Jessie Harlan Lincoln.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Burkhimer|first=Michael|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=75HMC1dIafcC&q=%22Robert+Todd+Lincoln%22+two+daughters+and+a+son&pg=PA214|title=100 Essential Lincoln Books|date=2003|publisher=Cumberland House Publishing|isbn=978-1-58182-369-1|pages=214|language=en}}</ref>

Robert, Mary, and the children would often leave their hot city life behind for the cooler climate of Mount Pleasant, during the 1880s the family would summer at the Harlan home there. The Harlan-Lincoln home, built in 1876, still stands today. Donated by Mary Harlan Lincoln to [[Iowa Wesleyan College]] in 1907, it now serves as a museum containing a collection of artifacts from the Lincoln family and from Abraham Lincoln's presidency.<ref>{{cite web|last=Allt|first=Kate|url=http://www.heartlandconnection.com/news/story.aspx?id=859675|title=Mt. Pleasant; the second Land of Lincoln|publisher=KTVO-TV via website|date=February 12, 2013|access-date=February 13, 2013|archive-date=October 18, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131018014237/http://www.heartlandconnection.com/news/story.aspx?id=859675|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Of Robert's children, Jessie Harlan Lincoln Beckwith had two children, namely [[Mary Lincoln Beckwith]] ("Peggy") and [[Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith]], but neither of them had children of their own. The Robert Todd Lincoln of this article had another daughter, Mary ("Mamie") Todd Lincoln, who married [[Charles Bradford Isham]] in 1891; they had one son, Lincoln Isham,<ref name="LIObit1971">{{cite news |title=Lincoln Isham Dead at 79; Great-Grandson of Lincoln |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1971/09/03/79151792.pdf |access-date=April 30, 2019 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=September 3, 1971}}</ref> who married Leahalma Correa in 1919,<ref name="1919Wedding">{{cite news |title=Lincoln Isham Married; His Wedding to Miss Leaholma Carrea Last Saturday Just Told. |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1919/09/03/96330160.pdf |access-date=April 30, 2019 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=September 3, 1919}}</ref> but died without children.<ref name="Winkler2004">{{cite book |last1=Winkler |first1=H. Donald |title=Lincoln's Ladies: The Women in the Life of the Sixteenth President |date=2004 |publisher=Cumberland House Publishing |isbn=978-1581824254 |page=215 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BkA6UcOuJAEC&pg=PA215 |access-date=April 30, 2019 |language=en}}</ref> The last person acknowledged and known to be of Lincoln lineage, Robert's grandson Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith, died in 1985.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |first=Mark E. Jr. |last=Neely |title=The Abraham Lincoln Encyclopedia |publisher=McGraw-Hill Book Co. |year=1982 |isbn=0-07-046145-7 }}</ref>

===Relationship with Mary Todd Lincoln===
In 1871, Lincoln's only surviving brother, Tad, died at age 18, leaving his mother devastated. Lincoln was already concerned about what he thought were his mother's compulsive and extravagant spending, hallucinations, and eccentric behaviors.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Emerson |first1=Jason |title=Mary Lincoln's Insanity Case: A Documentary History |year=2012 |publisher=[[University of Illinois Press]] |page=5 |isbn=978-0252094170 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R1oIHbjnd5YC&pg=PA5 |access-date=July 9, 2023}}</ref> Fearing that she was a danger to herself, he arranged to have her committed to a [[psychiatric hospital]] in [[Batavia, Illinois]], in 1875. With his mother in the hospital, he was left with control of her finances, although he used his own money to pay for her care. As the head of the family, he felt that it was his duty to protect her, although he did wish that she would have "every liberty and privilege" restored to her as soon as she was better.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Lincoln |first1=Robert Todd |title=Letter from Robert Todd Lincoln to Ninian W. Edwards |url=https://www.lincolncollection.org/search/results/item/?q=Robert+todd+lincoln+to+Ninian+Edwards&item=104933 |website=www.lincolncollection.org |publisher=Lincoln Financial Foundation Collection |access-date=December 25, 2022 |quote=as anxious as you can be to have every liberty & privilege restored }}</ref> On May 20, 1875, she arrived at [[Batavia Institute#Bellevue Place|Bellevue Place]], a private, upscale sanitarium in the Fox River Valley.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Staff |title=Mary Lincoln at Bellevue Place |url=https://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/lincoln/sites/bellevue.htm |publisher=Lowell Sneller |editor=Rhoda Sneller|access-date=December 30, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220703212638/https://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/lincoln/sites/bellevue.htm |archive-date=July 3, 2022}}</ref>

Three months after she started living there, Mary Lincoln was able to escape from Bellevue Place. She smuggled letters to her lawyer, [[James B. Bradwell]], and his wife, [[Myra Bradwell|Myra]]. Mary also wrote to the editor of the ''Chicago Times'' and shortly, the embarrassment Robert had hoped to avoid came to the forefront, with his motives and character being publicly questioned. Bellevue's director, who at Mary's commitment trial assured the jury she would benefit from treatment at his facility, now declared her well enough to go to Springfield to live with her sister.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wcwonline.org/content/view/1719/38/ |title=The insanity life |access-date=September 23, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080923153646/http://www.wcwonline.org/content/view/1719/38/ |archive-date=September 23, 2008 }}, Wellesley Centers for Women 2008</ref> Her commitment and subsequent events alienated Lincoln from his mother.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CqjBCWV6Eu4C&q=%22permanently+estranged+Mary%22&pg=PA754 |title=Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln |isbn=1416549838 |last1=Goodwin |first1=Doris Kearns| author-link=Doris Kearns Goodwin|date=2005|publisher=Simon and Schuster }}</ref>

==Politics==

===Secretary of War (1881–1885)===
[[File:Lincoln, Robert T. Crop.jpg|200px|left|Portrait 1870-1880]]
From 1876 to 1877 Lincoln served as [[Town Supervisor]] of South Chicago, a town which was later absorbed into the city of Chicago.{{sfn|Emerson|pp=207–209}} In 1877 he rejected President [[Rutherford B. Hayes]]' offer to appoint him [[United States Assistant Secretary of State|Assistant Secretary of State]]. He was appointed by President [[James Garfield]] as Secretary of War and served from 1881 to 1885 under Garfield and then [[Chester A. Arthur]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k5AuAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA554 |page=554 |title=The Presidency A-Z |first=Michael |last=Nelson |publisher=Routledge |year=2013|isbn=978-1135937867 }}</ref>

During his term in office, the [[Cincinnati Riots of 1884]] broke out over a case in which a jury returned a verdict of manslaughter rather than murder in a case that many suspected was rigged. Fifty-six people died during three days of rioting before U.S. troops dispatched by Lincoln reestablished calm.<ref name=Scullin>{{cite web
 |last=Scullin
 |first=Katy
 |url=https://ohiomemory.ohiohistory.org/archives/6069
 |title=The Great Cincinnati Courthouse Riots of 1884
 |work=Ohio Memory
 |publisher=[[Ohio History Connection]] & [[State Library of Ohio]]
 |date=January 12, 2024
 |access-date=August 3, 2025}}</ref>
<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/cincinnatifromri0000stra/page/68/mode/2up?q=56
 |title=Cincinnati: From River City to Highway Metropolis
 |first=David|last=Stradling
 |publisher=[[Arcadia Publishing]]
 |p=68
 |year=2003
 |isbn=0-7385-2440-9
 |access-date=August 3, 2025}}</ref>

Subsequent to serving as Secretary of War, Lincoln assisted Oscar Dudley to establish the Illinois Industrial Training School for Boys (now known as Glenwood Academy) in Norwood Park in 1887, after Dudley (a [[Bright Promises Foundation|Humane Society]] employee) "discovered more homeless, neglected and abused boys than dogs on the city streets."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.glenwoodacademy.org/pages/content-migration/about-us |title=About Us |publisher=Glenwood Academy |access-date=February 10, 2019 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.glenwoodacademy.org/pages/content-migration/about-us |work=Glenwood Academy |title=About Us |access-date=July 25, 2020}}</ref>
{{Clear left}}

===Republican politics===
[[File:Robert T. Lincoln of Illinois, from the Presidential Possibilities series (N124) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Honest Long Cut Tobacco MET DPB873727.jpg|thumb|right|125px|Presidential Possibilities card issued by [[Washington Duke|Duke Sons & Co.]] to promote Honest Long Cut Tobacco, 1888]]
From 1884 to 1912, Lincoln's name was mentioned in varying degrees of seriousness as a candidate for the Republican presidential or vice-presidential nomination. He repeatedly disavowed any interest in running and stated he would not accept nomination for either position.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.historynet.com/robert-todd-lincoln-the-perpetual-non-candidate.htm |title=Robert Todd Lincoln: The Perpetual Non-Candidate |date=June 12, 2006 |website=[[HistoryNet]] |access-date=August 6, 2011 }}</ref> His likeness was included in an 1888 set of "Presidential Possibilities" cards.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Staff |title=Robert T. Lincoln of Illinois, from the Presidential Possibilities series (N124) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Honest Long Cut Tobacco |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/702170 |publisher=[[Metropolitan Museum of Art]] |access-date=February 28, 2023}}</ref>

===Minister to the Court of St James's===
Lincoln served as the U.S. minister to Great Britain, formally to the [[Court of St James's]], from 1889 to 1893 under President [[Benjamin Harrison]]. Lincoln's teenage son, Abraham II "Jack", died during this time in Europe.<ref name=AbeII>{{cite newsletter |url=http://www.abrahamlincolnassociation.org/Newsletters/9-3.pdf |title=A Death in the Family : Abraham Lincoln II "Jack" (1873–1890) |access-date=February 11, 2019 |last=Schwartz |first=Thomas F. |date=Autumn 2007 |format=PDF |work=For the People |publisher=Abraham Lincoln Association |volume=9 |number=3 |pages=1, 4 |archive-date=October 17, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131017211317/http://www.abrahamlincolnassociation.org/Newsletters/9-3.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> After serving as minister, Lincoln returned to private business as a lawyer.<ref>{{cite news
| date                  = July 27, 1926
| title                 = Lincoln's Son Dies In His Sleep At 82
| url                   = https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1926/07/27/98494296.pdf
| newspaper             = [[The New York Times]]
| page                  = 1
| access-date            = May 31, 2014
}}</ref>

==Later life and career==
[[File:Taft Harding Robert Lincoln 1922.jpg|thumb|left|Chief Justice [[William Howard Taft]] (left), President [[Warren G. Harding]] (center) and Lincoln at the dedication of the [[Lincoln Memorial]], May 30, 1922]]

Robert fought to preserve and protect his father's legacy, clashing with Abraham Lincoln biographer William Herndon over Herndon's statements about his father.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lincoln |first1=Robert T. |editor1-last=Wilson |editor1-first=Douglas L. |editor2-last=Davis |editor2-first=Rodney O. |title=Herndon's Informants: Letters, Interviews, and Statements About Abraham Lincoln |date=1998 |orig-date=January 8, 1866|publisher=[[University of Illinois Press]] |page=155 |url=https://digital.lib.niu.edu/islandora/object/niu-lincoln%3A37353 |access-date=December 24, 2022}}</ref> As a result of their confrontations over his Lincoln biography, in 1890 Herndon wrote to [[Jesse Weik]], his Lincoln biography collaborator, that Robert was "a Todd and not a Lincoln ... a little bitter fellow of the pig-headed kind, silly and cold and selfish."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Herndon |first1=William H. |editor1-last=Hertz |editor1-first=Emmanuel |title=The hidden Lincoln : from the letters and papers of William H. Herndon |date=1940 |orig-date=March 7, 1890|publisher=[[Blue Ribbon Books]] |page=249 |url=https://archive.org/stream/hiddenlincolnfro00hern/hiddenlincolnfro00hern_djvu.txt}}</ref>

Lincoln was general counsel of the [[Pullman Company|Pullman Palace Car Company]] under [[George Pullman]], and was named president after Pullman's death in 1897. According to Almont Lindsey's 1942 book, ''The Pullman Strike'', Lincoln arranged to have Pullman quietly excused from the subpoena issued for him to testify in the 1895 conspiracy trials of the [[American Railway Union]]'s leaders (during the 1894 [[Pullman Strike]]). Pullman hid from the deputy marshal sent to his office with the subpoena and then appeared with Lincoln to meet privately with [[Peter S. Grosscup|Judge Grosscup]] after the jury had been dismissed.<ref>Lindsey, ''The Pullman Strike'', p. 301.</ref> In 1911, Lincoln became chairman of the Pullman Company board, a position he held until 1924.<ref name="Sunbeam">{{cite web |last1=Staff |title=Pullman Car, Sunbeam |url=https://hildene.org/visiting/estate/pullman |publisher=Hildene, The Lincoln Family Home |quote=Upon the death of George Pullman in 1897, Robert Lincoln, son of Abraham and Mary Lincoln, became president of the Pullman Company. He remained in that position until 1911 when he became chairman of the board. He served in that capacity until 1924 but continued to serve on the board until his death in 1926.}}</ref>

A serious nonprofessional [[astronomer]], Lincoln had an [[astronomical observatory|observatory]] built at Hildene, and a 1909 [[Warner & Swasey]] [[refracting telescope]] with a six-inch [[John A. Brashear]] objective lens was installed. Lincoln's telescope and observatory have been restored and it was used by a local astronomy club in the early 2000s.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Staff |title=Astronomy club uses Lincoln's telescope |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/115341283/astronomy-club-uses-lincolns-telescope/ |access-date=December 28, 2022 |work=[[Bennington Banner]] |date=June 19, 2004 |page=2C|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=McKeever |first1=Andrew |title=The Final Frontier |url=https://strattonmagazine.com/outdoors/the-final-frontier/ |publisher=Stratton Magazine |access-date=December 28, 2022 |date=March 3, 2011}}</ref> Lincoln was also a dedicated golfer, and served as president of the [[Ekwanok Country Club]] in Manchester.<ref>{{cite journal |date=December 1, 1909 |title=Interesting People: Robert T. Lincoln |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ONo6AQAAMAAJ&q=%22robert+t.+lincoln%22+%22golf%22&pg=PA168 |journal=The American Magazine |location=New York, NY |publisher=Phillips Publishing Company |page=168}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Evans |first=Charles Jr. |date=July 1, 1921 |title=From Caddie to Champion |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XOsxAQAAMAAJ&q=%22robert+t.+lincoln%22+%22president%22+%22country+club%22&pg=RA1-PA88 |journal=Golfers Magazine |location=Chicago, IL |publisher=Golfers Magazine Company |page=26 }}</ref> His last public appearance was on May 30, 1922, at the dedication ceremony for his father's [[Lincoln Memorial|memorial]] in Washington, D.C.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Gormly |first1=Kellie B. |title=A Century Ago, the Lincoln Memorial's Dedication Underscored the Nation's Racial Divide |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/a-century-ago-the-lincoln-memorials-dedication-underscored-the-nations-racial-divide-180980150/ |publisher=[[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian]] |access-date=February 27, 2023 |date=May 27, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Staff |title=The Dedication of the Lincoln Memorial |url=https://www.nps.gov/linc/lincdedication.htm |publisher=[[National Park Service]] |access-date=February 27, 2023 |date=February 1, 2022}}</ref>

==Presence at assassinations==
Robert Lincoln was coincidentally either present or nearby when three presidential assassinations occurred.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Arrington |first1=Todd |title=Robert Todd Lincoln and Presidential Assassinations |url=https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/robert-todd-lincoln-and-presidential-assassinations-not-formal-title.htm |publisher=[[National Park Service]] |access-date=February 27, 2023}}</ref>
* Lincoln was not present at Ford's Theatre when his father [[Assassination of Abraham Lincoln|was assassinated]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/hh/3b/hh3d.htm |title=Ford's Theatre: Lincoln's Last Day |website=National Park Service |date=December 2, 2002 |access-date=August 6, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110512022112/http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/hh/3b/hh3d.htm |archive-date=May 12, 2011 }}</ref> but he was at the White House nearby,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://archive.org/stream/assassixxxx00linc#page/n3/mode/2up |title=Assassin Would Have Failed Had Son Been at Theater with Abraham Lincoln |first=Herbert |last=Corey |date=December 10, 1921 |publisher=Lincoln Financial Foundation Collection |access-date=November 12, 2013 }}</ref> and rushed to be with his parents.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dg5eW51xl7QC |access-date=November 12, 2013 |title=The Crime Buff's Guide to Outlaw Washington, DC |last=Franscell |first=Ron |page=104 |date=2012 |publisher=Globe Pequot|isbn=978-0-7627-8870-5 }}</ref> The president was moved to the [[Petersen House]] after the shooting, where Robert attended his father's deathbed.<ref>{{cite web|title=Robert Todd Lincoln on Presidential Assassinations, 1881|url=https://www.shapell.org/historical-perspectives/between-the-lines/robert-todd-lincoln-witness-presidential-assassinations/|work=Shapell Primary Sources|publisher=Shapell Manuscript Foundation}}</ref>
* Lincoln was an eyewitness when [[Charles J. Guiteau]] [[Assassination of James A. Garfield|shot]] President [[James A. Garfield]] at the [[Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station|Sixth Street Train Station]] in [[Washington, D.C.]], on July 2, 1881. Lincoln was Garfield's Secretary of War at the time.
* Lincoln was at the 1901 [[Pan-American Exposition]] in [[Buffalo, New York]], when President [[William McKinley]] [[Assassination of William McKinley|was shot]] by [[Leon Czolgosz]]. Though not an eyewitness, he was just outside the [[Temple of Music]] when the shooting occurred.<ref>{{cite book |isbn=978-0-8050-9676-7 |title=Lincoln's Last Days: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever |first1=Bill |last1=O'Reilly |first2=Dwight Jon |last2=Zimmerman |date=2012 |publisher=Macmillan |page=[https://archive.org/details/lincolnslastdays00orei/page/245 245] |chapter=Afterword |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/lincolnslastdays00orei/page/245 }}</ref>

Lincoln himself recognized these coincidences. He is said to have refused a later presidential invitation with the comment, "No, I'm not going, and they'd better not ask me, because there is a certain fatality about presidential functions when I am present."<ref>{{Cite book
|last= Peters
|first= James Edward
|title= Arlington National Cemetery: Shrine to America's Heroes
|year= 2000
|edition= 2nd
|publisher= Woodbine House
|isbn= 978-1-890627-14-0
|page= 126
}}</ref>

==Death==
Robert Todd Lincoln died in his sleep at [[Hildene]], his Vermont home, on July 26, 1926, at age 82. The cause of death was given by his physician as a "[[cerebral hemorrhage]] induced by [[arteriosclerosis]]".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://rogerjnorton.com/Lincoln66.html|title=Robert Lincoln|publisher=Abraham Lincoln Research Site|access-date=November 18, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Lincoln's Son Dies In His Sleep At 82. Robert, Last Survivor of the Emancipator's Family, Found Lifeless in Vermont Home. His Health Had Been Poor. He Left Father's Papers to the Nation, but Not to Be Examined for 21 Years |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9A0CE5DB1F3DEE3ABC4F51DFB166838D639EDE |quote= Robert Todd Lincoln, son and the last survivor of the family of President Lincoln, died peacefully at Hildene, his Summer home, last night. His death was discovered by a servant, who went as usual to call Mr. Lincoln to breakfast. Dr. C.M. Campbell of Manchester Centre, the family physician, declared death due to cerebral hemorrhage induced by arterio-sclerosis. |newspaper=[[New York Times]] |date=July 27, 1926 |access-date=March 18, 2015 }}</ref> His body was stored in the [[receiving vault]] at [[Dellwood Cemetery]] from July 1926 until March 1928 when arrangements were made to inter his remains at [[Arlington National Cemetery]].<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Rafael |first1=Anita |title=Deep in the Dell |url=https://strattonmagazine.com/history/deep-in-the-dell/ |magazine=Stratton Magazine |publisher=Old Mill Road Media LLC |access-date=17 May 2024 |date=September 8, 2017}}</ref>

Robert had long expressed his intention to be buried in the [[Lincoln Tomb]] with his family at the [[Oak Ridge Cemetery]] in Springfield. Two weeks after his death, his widow Mary Harlan Lincoln wrote to her husband's niece of an inspired thought: "...[O]ur darling was a personage, made his own history, independently of his great father, and should have his own place 'in the sun'".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Swick |first1=Gerald D.|last2=McCreary |first2=Donna |title=His Own Place In The Sun |journal=Lincoln Lore |date=Summer 1998 |volume=1853 |pages=3–6 |url=https://www.friendsofthelincolncollection.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/LL_1998-Summer.pdf |access-date=December 23, 2022 |quote=Undated letter from Mary Harlan Lincoln to Katherine Helm, either held in the "Mary G. Townsend Collection" (Giant in the Shadows: The Life of Robert T. Lincoln by Jason Emerson), or in an unnamed private collection (Swick & McCreary).}}</ref>

Lincoln's body was buried at Arlington National Cemetery<ref>{{cite web |url=https://ancexplorer.army.mil/publicwmv/#/arlington-national/search/results/1/CgdsaW5jb2xuEgZyb2JlcnQaBHRvZGQ-/ |title=Burial Detail: Lincoln, Robert Todd (section 32, grave S-13) |website=Army Cemeteries Explorer&nbsp;– Arlington National Cemetery |access-date=December 30, 2022 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Staff|url=http://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/lincoln/sites/robert.htm |publisher=Lowell Sneller |editor=Rhoda Sneller|title=Robert Todd Lincoln Tomb, Arlington National Cemetery |website=abrahamlincolnonline.org |access-date=December 31, 2022 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125145050/http://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/lincoln/sites/robert.htm |archive-date=January 25, 2021 }}</ref> in a sarcophagus designed by the sculptor [[James Earle Fraser (sculptor)|James Earle Fraser]]. He is buried together with his wife, Mary, and their son, Abraham II ("Jack"), who had died in London, England, of [[sepsis]]<ref name=AbeII/> in 1890 at the age of 16. Weeks after Jack's death, Robert wrote to his cousin Charles Edwards, "We had a long & most anxious struggle and at times had hopes of saving our boy. It would have been done if it had depended only on his own marvelous pluck & patience now that the end has come, there is a great blank in our future lives & an affliction not to be measured."<ref name=AbeII />
<gallery mode="packed" heights="200px">
RTLincolnSarcophagus.jpg|Lincoln's sarcophagus at Arlington National Cemetery
Hildene manchester vermont 2006.jpg|Robert Todd Lincoln's mansion [[Hildene]] in Manchester, Vermont
</gallery>

==Legacy==
[[File:LINCOLN, ROBERT TODD. HONORABLE LCCN2016859271 Trim.jpg|thumb|Portrait by [[Harris & Ewing]], 1915]]
Historian [[Michael Burlingame (historian)|Michael Burlingame]] considered Robert Todd Lincoln to be "a particularly unfortunate, even tragic figure."<ref name=Burlingame>{{cite book |first=Michael |last=Burlingame |chapter=Lincoln, Robert Todd |editor-first=John A. |editor-last=Garraty |title=Encyclopedia of American Biography |year=1974 |pages=667–668 }}</ref>  Lincoln himself once said, "No one wanted me for Secretary of War... For minister to England... For president of the Pullman Company; they wanted Abraham Lincoln's son."<ref>{{cite book|author=Fred Rosen|title=Murdering the President|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9GGxDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT15|year=2016|publisher=U of Nebraska Press|pages=15 |isbn=978-1612348636}}</ref> Nevertheless, he accepted the appointments and was very well-paid, becoming a millionaire lawyer and businessman, fond of the pleasures of the wealthy conservative Victorian gentlemen of his social circle.

Lincoln is considered to have had little in common with his father personally or politically, not being humorous or unpretentious, but rather cold, stuffy, and aloof.<ref name=Burlingame/> [[Fanny Seward]], daughter of secretary of state [[William H. Seward]], described him, however, as "ready and easy in conversation having, I fancy, considerable humor in his disposition...agreeable, good-natured, and intelligent".<ref>Papers of William Seward; Frances (Fanny) Seward diary entry February 12, 1863</ref>

Lincoln was the last surviving member of the Garfield and Arthur Cabinets,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lincolnbicentennial.org/resources/abraham-lincolns-life/lincolns-family/robert-lincoln |title=Robert Lincoln |website=[[Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Foundation]] |access-date=March 4, 2024}}</ref> and the last-surviving witness of Lee's surrender at Appomattox.{{sfn|Emerson|p=98}} The [[Lincoln Sea]], a body of water in the [[Arctic Ocean]] between Canada and [[Greenland]], was named after then Secretary of War Lincoln on [[Adolphus Greely]]'s [[Lady Franklin Bay Expedition|1881–1884 Arctic expedition]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Tamba |first1=Irène |editor1-last=Kupchik |editor1-first=John |title=Studies in Asian Historical Linguistics, Philology and Beyond |date=2021 |page=146 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Aos5EAAAQBAJ&pg=PA146 |access-date=February 28, 2023 |chapter=Chapter 10 – A Geographic and Lexical Puzzle:colors in Names of Seas|publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-9004448568 }}</ref>

Lincoln's last known surviving descendant, Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith, died December 24, 1985.<ref>Joe Akins, "[https://news.amomama.com/162714-abraham-lincolns-last-living-descendant.html Abraham Lincoln's Last Living Descendant Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith Ended the Family Line in 1985]", July 18, 2019; accessed 2023.07.20.</ref>

==Cultural depictions==
Robert Todd Lincoln as a character has appeared multiple times on film, in television programs, and in dramatic productions.

===Films===
* Edwin Mills in ''[[Abe Lincoln in Illinois (film)|Abe Lincoln in Illinois]]'' (1940)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/Details/ChoiceFilmWorks/%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20150044433 |work=[[BFI]] |title=Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1940)}}</ref>
* [[Joseph Gordon-Levitt]] in [[Steven Spielberg]]'s ''[[Lincoln (film)|Lincoln]]'' (2012)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/Details/ChoiceFilmWorks/154050675 |work=[[BFI]] |title=Lincoln (2012)}}</ref>

===Television===
* [[Kieran Mulroney]] in ''Tad'' (1995)<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/tv/1995/02/12/tad-a-light-in-abes-life/61a40a5c-420b-4c80-800c-7b7b9098e455/ |newspaper=[[Washington Post]] |date=February 12, 1995 |title='Tad': A light in Abe's life}}</ref>
* [[Gregory Cooke]] in the miniseries ''[[Lincoln (miniseries)|Lincoln]]'' (1988)<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/tv/1988/03/27/lincoln-a-fast-forward-through-vidals-historical-saga/69142744-598b-4f76-a935-3d08cd4e5d7a/ |newspaper=[[Washington Post]] |date=March 27, 1988 |title='Lincoln': A fast-forward through Vidal's historical saga}}</ref>
* [[Wil Wheaton]] in ''[[The Day Lincoln Was Shot]]'' (1998)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/Details/ChoiceFilmWorks/150533514 |work=[[BFI]] |title=The Day Lincoln Was Shot (1998)}}</ref>
* [[Brett Dalton]] in ''[[Killing Lincoln (film)|Killing Lincoln]]'' (2013)<ref>{{cite news |title=Joss Whedon's S.H.I.E.L.D. Pilot Adds Killing Lincoln's Brett Dalton |work=CinemaBlend |url=https://www.cinemablend.com/television/Joss-Whedon-H-I-E-L-Pilot-Adds-Killing-Lincoln-Brett-Dalton-49784.html}}</ref>
* [[Neal Bledsoe]] in ''[[Timeless (American TV series)|Timeless]]'' (2016)<ref>{{cite news |title=Exclusive: 'Timeless' Meets Abraham Lincoln's Son! Can the Team Save the President's Life? |url=https://www.etonline.com/tv/199832_timeless_meets_abraham_lincoln_son_can_they_save_the_president |work=EtonLine.com |first=Philiana |last=Ng |date=October 10, 2016}}</ref>
* James Carroll Jordan in ''Sandburg's Lincoln'' (1974), with [[Hal Holbrook]] as Abraham Lincoln.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zio49y0tiE0C&pg=PA186 |page=186 |title=Abraham Lincoln on Screen: Fictional and Documentary Portrayals on Film and Television |first=Mark S. |last=Reinhart |publisher=McFarland |year=2009|isbn=978-0786452613 }}</ref>
* Nick Robinson in ''[[History of the World, Part II]]'' (2023)<ref>{{cite news |url=https://sports.yahoo.com/review-history-world-part-ii-105551301.html |title=Review: 'History of the World Part II' continues Mel Brooks' legacy after 40-plus years |date=March 6, 2023 |newspaper=[[Akron Beacon Journal]] |first=George M. |last=Thomas |access-date=March 10, 2023 |via=[[Yahoo!]] }}</ref>
* Maxwell Korn in ''[[Manhunt (miniseries)|Manhunt]] '' (2024)<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.vulture.com/article/manhunt-series-premiere-recap-episode-1-pilot.html |website=[[Vulture (website)|Vulture]] |title=Manhunt Series-Premiere Recap: Bad Actor |date=March 15, 2024 |first=Keith |last=Phipps |access-date=April 4, 2024}}</ref>
* [[Kyle Soller]] in ''[[Death by Lightning]]'' (2025)<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt31121364/fullcredits/ |title=Death by Lightning (TV Mini Series 2025– ) - Full cast & crew - IMDb |language=en-US |access-date=2025-11-06 |via=www.imdb.com}}</ref>

===Stage plays===
* [[Michael Cristofer]] in ''[[The Last of Mrs. Lincoln]]'' (1976).<ref>{{cite book |page=146 |title=American Plays and Musicals on Screen: 650 Stage Productions and Their Film and Television Adaptations |first=Thomas S. |last=Hischak |publisher=McFarland & Company |year=2005 |isbn=978-0786420032 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EbhlAAAAMAAJ}}</ref> ''The Last of Mrs. Lincoln'', starring [[Julie Harris]], was also seen on television, on [[PBS]] as part of a series called ''Hollywood Television Theater''.<ref>{{cite web |last1=O'Connor |first1=John J. |title=TV: The Last of Mrs. Lincoln' With Julie Harris is a Sensitive and Detailed Drama |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/09/16/archives/tvthe-last-of-mrs-lincoln-with-julie-harris-is-a-sensitive-and.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=February 27, 2023 |date=September 16, 1976}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of people on the cover of Time Magazine: 1920s|List of people on the cover of ''Time Magazine'': 1920s]]&nbsp;– March 8, 1926
* [[Lincoln family tree]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
===Citations===
{{Reflist}}

===Print sources===
* {{cite book
 | last = Burlingame
 | first = Michael
 | author-link=Michael Burlingame
 | title = Abraham Lincoln: A Life
 | date = 2009
 | publisher = Johns Hopkins University Press (2 vols.) Abridged into one volume by Jonathan W. White (2023)
 |url=https://www.knox.edu/academics/research-and-creative-work/lincoln-studies-center/burlingame-abraham-lincoln-a-life
 | ref = {{sfnRef|Burlingame}}
}}
* {{cite book
 | last = Charnwood
 | first = Lord
 | title = Abraham Lincoln
 | date = 2009 
 | orig-date = 1916
 | publisher = Cosimo Classics
 | ref = {{sfnRef|Charnwood}}
 | isbn = 978-1605207254 
}}
* Cooper, Dan. "President Lincoln of the Pullman Company," ''Financial History'' (Fall 2013), Issue 108, pp 10–39.
* {{cite book
 | last = Emerson
 | first = Jason
 | title = Giant in the Shadows: The Life of Robert T. Lincoln
 | date = 2012
 | publisher = Southern Illinois University Press
 | ref = {{sfnRef|Emerson}}
}}
* {{cite book
 | last = Goff
 | first = John S.
 | author-link=John S. Goff
 | title = Robert Todd Lincoln: A Man in His Own Right
 | date = 1968
 | publisher = University of Oklahoma Press
 | url = https://archive.org/details/roberttoddlincol0000goff
 | url-access = registration
 | via = Internet Archive
 | ref = {{sfnRef|Goff}}
}}
* {{cite book
 | last = Graf
 | first = Leroy P.
 | title = The Papers of Andrew Johnson, Volume 7: 1864–1865
 | date = 1986
 | publisher = Univ Tennessee Press
 | ref = {{sfnRef|Graf}}
 | isbn = 978-0870494888
}}
* {{cite book
 | last = Helm
 | first = Katherine
 | title = Mary, Wife of Lincoln
 | orig-date = 1928
 | date = 2012
 | publisher = [[Harper (publisher)|Harper and Brothers]]
 | ref = {{SfnRef|Helm}}
 | url = https://archive.org/details/truestoryofmaryw00helm/page/n5/mode/2up
 | via = Internet Archive
}}
* {{cite book
 | last = Morris
 | first = Jan
 |author-link=Jan Morris
 | title = Lincoln: A Foreigner's Quest
 | date = 2001
 | publisher = Da Capo Press
 | isbn = 978-0306810329
 | ref = {{sfnRef|Morris}}
}}
* {{cite book
 | last = Roberts
 | first = Jeremy
 | title = Abraham Lincoln
 | date = 2004
 | publisher = Lerner Publishing Group
 | isbn = 978-0822508175
 | series = Presidential Leaders
 | ref  = {{sfnRef|Roberts}}
}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Robert Todd Lincoln}}
* [http://rogerjnorton.com/Lincoln66.html Robert Todd Lincoln]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080802044745/http://www.physical-lincoln.com/wiki/Robert_Todd_Lincoln_photographs Photographs of Robert Todd Lincoln]
* [https://www.shapell.org/search/?q=robert+todd+lincoln Original Letters and Manuscripts: Robert Todd Lincoln] Shapell Manuscript Foundation

{{s-start}}
{{s-off}}
{{U.S. Cabinet official box
| before= [[Alexander Ramsey]]
| after= [[William Crowninshield Endicott|William C. Endicott]]
| years= 1881–1885
| president= [[James A. Garfield]] and [[Chester A. Arthur]]
| department= Secretary of War}}
{{s-dip}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Edward J. Phelps]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[United States Ambassador to Great Britain|U.S. Minister to Great Britain]]|years=1889–1893}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Thomas F. Bayard]]|as=Ambassador}}
{{s-end}}

{{US Ambassadors to the UK}}
{{United States presidential election, 1884}}
{{USSecWar}}
{{Arthur cabinet}}
{{Garfield cabinet}}
{{Abraham Lincoln}}
{{Portal bar|Biography|American Civil War|Politics}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lincoln, Robert Todd}}
[[Category:1843 births]]
[[Category:1926 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century American diplomats]]
[[Category:Amateur astronomers]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of the United States to the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:American people of English descent]]
[[Category:Arthur administration cabinet members]]
[[Category:19th-century American politicians]]
[[Category:Burials at Arlington National Cemetery]]
[[Category:Children of presidents of the United States]]
[[Category:Garfield administration cabinet members]]
[[Category:Harvard Law School alumni]]
[[Category:Harvard College alumni]]
[[Category:Illinois city council members]]
[[Category:Illinois lawyers]]
[[Category:Illinois Republicans]]
[[Category:Lincoln family|Robert Todd]]
[[Category:People associated with the assassination of Abraham Lincoln]]
[[Category:People of Illinois in the American Civil War]]
[[Category:Phillips Exeter Academy alumni]]
[[Category:Politicians from Springfield, Illinois]]
[[Category:Union army officers]]
[[Category:United States secretaries of war]]
[[Category:People from Manchester, Vermont]]
[[Category:Survivors of railway accidents or incidents]]