Lincoln's Ghost

There have been several stories about ghosts of former Presidents revisiting the White House. However, the most common and popularFact|date=March 2007 is that of Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln's Ghost, or to others as The White House Ghost, is said to have haunted the White House since his death. It is widely believed that Lincoln might have known that he would die before his assassination when he was president.

The Dream

In one story, Lincoln had a dreamFact|date=March 2007 that he heard wailing noises. He tried to find the noise, but couldn't. Lincoln then checked the East Room. There, he saw several people, who didn't pay any attention to Lincoln, around a corpse. He grabbed one sleeve of a soldier and asked who is dead. The soldier, replied sadly, "The president is dead." Disturbed by the dream, Lincoln told his friends and wife, Mary Todd, about it. Then, the tragic happened. Lincoln was shot in the back of the head by well-known actor John Wilkes Booth.

ightings

President Theodore Roosevelt, Herbert Hoover and Harry Truman have all claimed to have heard unexplained rappings on their bedroom doors. What made them think it was Lincoln is unknown.

Calvin Coolidge's wife reported seeing on several occasions the ghost of Lincoln standing with his hands clasped behind his back, at a window in the Oval Office, staring out in deep contemplation toward the bloody battlefields across the Pototmac. Carl Sandburg, Lincoln's biographer, said he did not see the ghost but "strongly felt his presence" when he stood at this same window during a tour of the White House.

Lincoln's ghost made many apparitions during the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration. Roosevelt was coincidentally like Lincoln president during war time.

Eleanor Roosevelt never claimed to have seen Lincoln's spirit, but sometimes spoke of the sense of someone watching her as she worked in the former Lincoln bedroom, which she used as a study. One of her maids claimed to have seen the ghost sitting on a bed and pulling off his shoes. While Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands spent a night in the White House she was awakened by a knock on the bedroom door. When she answered it, she saw Lincoln's ghost staring at her from the hallway. The queen recalled that she fainted upon seeing the ghost. When she woke up lying on the floor of her room, the ghost had gone.

Winston Churchill also claimed to have seen the ghost while spending a night in the White House during World War II. After taking a bath he walked naked into the adjoining bedroom. There he saw Lincoln standing by the fireplace in the room. Churchill remarked wittingly: "Good evening, Mr. President. You seem to have me at a disadvantage." Lincoln smiled softly and disappeared.

Since the Truman administration there haven't been many sightings. Some theorize that this is due to the extensive remodeling that was done to the White House during the Truman years.

Maureen Reagan, daughter of Ronald Reagan and her husband claimed to have seen the ghost several times in the Lincoln bedroom. She described the ghost as "a transparent figure" (prompting a Democratic senator to remark, "Sounds more to me like she's been in the Cabinet Room.") Reagan's dog reportedly refused to enter the Lincoln bedroom and often stood outside the room barking.

Other locations

The ghost has reportedly been seen elsewhere. Witnesses have seen Lincoln on the balcony of Ford's Theatre with the ghost of the man who shot him, John Wilkes Booth. It has been said that they are trying to solve their differences. The ghost has also been seen wandering around his grave site in Springfield, Illinois.

More information

* http://paranormal.about.com/library/weekly/aa022100a.htm
* http://www.csicop.org/si/9905/i-files.html
* http://www.prairieghosts.com/lincoln2.html