Lincoln and His Family

Mary and Abraham Lincoln had three surviving sons when they arrived at the White House in 1861: Robert, Willie, and Tad. Their second child, Edward, had died in 1850, at age three. The oldest, Robert (standing, center), was a student at Harvard University and was away from Washington, D.C., much of the time. “Willie,” who is shown in the framed picture, was a favorite of both parents. A girl playmate remembered him as “the most lovable boy I ever knew, bright, sensible, sweet-tempered and gentle-mannered.” He died of a “bilious fever” (probably typhoid) in 1862, causing enormous anguish for the first couple. The youngest son, Tad, was doted on by his parents, and was described by one of the president’s secretaries as having “a very bad opinion of books and no opinion of discipline.”

Based on a painting, this popular print depicts the first family in a moment of quiet domesticity.

National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Mr. and Mrs. Timothy J. Desmond