Essay - Lincoln Abraham Lincoln: the Family Man in the Summer of...

LINCOLN

ABRAHAM LINCOLN: THE FAMILY MAN

In the summer of 1860, Jeriah Bonham, a newspaper editor from Springfield, Illinois, paid a visit to President Abraham Lincoln, staying at the Illinois St*****e Capital building on some important business matters. Mr. B*****ham relates that during this *****, he witnessed Tad and Willie, two of *****'s young sons, playing games on t***** floor ***** the Governor's office. Tad was apparently having some problems with spinning a top properly, so his fa*****r bent down and helped him with the toy. After this, Lincoln told Mr. B*****ham ***** he ***** "***** a little season of relaxation ***** my boys which I cannot always enjoy as so many callers occupy my time" (Randall, 126).

With ***** description, it is clear that Lincoln w***** a devoted and loving father ***** saw his family as perhaps the most ***** aspect of his life which was cut short with his assassination in April of 1865. Over the last one hundred years or so, ***** biographies have been written about *****, but only recently have biographers begun to focus on his family life which is just as interesting and often as tragic as his political life. After all, Lincoln the ***** man had four boys to tend with—Robert, the oldest s*****, Eddie, who died in 1850 at three years of age, Tad and *****, who ***** in 1862, not to mention a wife with gre*****t aspirations, courage and fortitude, Mrs. Mary Todd Lincoln.

Of course, Lincoln's family life with his four sons ***** wife was not ***** very pleasant, due to ***** of the duties ***** fall on ***** head and shoulders of the ***** of the United States, Lincoln being no excepti***** to the rule. On the outside, Lincoln appeared to ***** ***** his colleagues, friends, acquaintances and fellow politicians in Wash*****gton, D.C. as a very dedicated and concerned President with deep feelings ***** a number of subjects, such as the slavery issue, corruption in Wash*****gton circles and ***** on-going War Between the States between 1861 and early 1865, an event which took up ninety percent of his time in the White House and which weighed heavily on his soul and ***** conscience. But never*****less, ***** did mange to spend some quality time ***** his family, especially when away from Washing*****n ***** all of the problems associated with it.

For example, in the fall of 1860, Lincoln, ***** ***** Mary and ***** ***** Willie were having dinner in ***** parlor of their home in Springfield, Illi*****is. A journalist from Ohio later recalled this ***** said that ***** allowed his two ***** to "clamber all over ***** legs, pat his cheeks, pull his nose, poke their fingers in his eyes, all w*****hout causing ***** father to reprimand them or even take *****ice of what they were doing" (Donald, 167). For the journalist witnessing all of this before his eyes, t***** ***** mus***** have been some***** startling, for here was the President of ***** ***** States sitting at dinner with his