In His Father's Shadow: Robert Todd Lincoln

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  • Опубліковано 2 лип 2024
  • The History Guy remembers a famous man's son, Robert Todd Lincoln. Because of his father, Abraham Lincoln, Robert Todd's life has been largely forgotten.
    The History Guy uses images that are in the Public Domain. As photographs of actual events are often not available, I will sometimes use photographs of similar events or objects for illustration.
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    The History Guy: History Deserves to Be Remembered (formerly "Five Minutes of History") is the place to find short snippets of forgotten history from five to fifteen minutes long. If you like history too, this is the channel for you.
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    The episode is intended for educational purposes. All events are presented in historical context.
    #lincoln #thehistoryguy #ushistory

КОМЕНТАРІ • 3 тис.

  • @TheHistoryGuyChannel
    @TheHistoryGuyChannel  2 роки тому +41

    For exclusive content, join our community of fans and supporters at thehistoryguyguild.locals.com!

    • @lawrencehamilton5959
      @lawrencehamilton5959 Рік тому

      European the really. Africans colcher go back million years we steal got 🍈 power is the people. Around god love

    • @zxcvb1238
      @zxcvb1238 Рік тому +1

      Wow he looks like raymond burr

    • @selfiekroos1777
      @selfiekroos1777 Рік тому +2

      This guy should have a movie

    • @artlewellan2294
      @artlewellan2294 Рік тому +1

      Post USA Civil War technology advanced beyond what his father Abraham
      imagined but fought for believing something beyond his age would accomplish.

    • @lorrifrench4460
      @lorrifrench4460 Рік тому +1

      I agree he does deserve to be remembered for his remarkable life . Thank you for sharing this very interesting information. I had never heard this before . Take care & God bless .❤

  • @12345682900
    @12345682900 3 роки тому +183

    ".......he deserves to be remembered as more than just his father's son." Thanks to you good sir, he will.

  • @racerx1189
    @racerx1189 2 роки тому +129

    His father would have been so proud of him. It's a shame he's not better known for all his own accomplishments. Thank you for sharing this extraordinary man's life story.

    • @josephhewes7081
      @josephhewes7081 Рік тому +3

      His own accomplishments were due 100 percent because of his last name.

    • @the_gilded_age_phoenix8717
      @the_gilded_age_phoenix8717 Рік тому +3

      @@josephhewes7081 Pretty much...like most big people. They're rich because their great, great, great, great grandpappy did something...or because they have a really nice rear end.

    • @rsr789
      @rsr789 Рік тому +4

      ​@@josephhewes7081 Agreed, but he also showed courage, i.e. wanting to fight in the civil war (he wanted to be in the actual front, but the staff position was a compromise since his father, as commander in chief could negate him entrance into the union army altogether), and he showed great personal fortitude, considering that his father was assassinated, his three brothers had died, and his mother went insane. I mean, most people, no matter how famous their last name, DON'T recover from that wholly or partially, but he did.

    • @1313tennisman
      @1313tennisman 3 місяці тому

      he himself said that those who appointed him to those positions didnt want him. They wanted Abraham Lincolns son

  • @katies4521
    @katies4521 Рік тому +31

    I’m so glad you touched on the story where he was saved by Booth’s older brother who was the most famous actor at the time. I heard it somewhere else but can’t remember where. It was such an interesting story that I started telling people and then got nervous that maybe I remembered wrong or something since I couldn’t remember where I heard it, but now I know that I got the facts correct. Still an incredible story

  • @LB-ty6ks
    @LB-ty6ks Рік тому +89

    This is history worth knowing and remembering.

  • @gregb6469
    @gregb6469 6 років тому +458

    I'm sure that, had President Lincoln lived into old age, he would have been proud of what his son Robert accomplished in his life.

    • @triumphmanful
      @triumphmanful 5 років тому +8

      TRUE

    • @rightmoveadyar9323
      @rightmoveadyar9323 5 років тому +2

      No one

    • @AbrahamLincoln4
      @AbrahamLincoln4 5 років тому +18

      Indeed

    • @laurencelance586
      @laurencelance586 4 роки тому +33

      From what I've read, Abraham deeply loved his son. I'm sure he was proud of him all of his life.

    • @frankpaya690
      @frankpaya690 4 роки тому +24

      and I wonder what would have happened around reconstruction after the civil war, had Lincoln not been killed and been able to serve out his second term.

  • @BT3701
    @BT3701 5 років тому +316

    I once visited Robert Lincolns Home up in Manchester, Vermont and even bought some peonies from his estate which I brought back home and planted in my garden and now enjoy each year.

    • @alanaadams7440
      @alanaadams7440 3 роки тому +5

      Nice

    • @garylynch9809
      @garylynch9809 2 роки тому +6

      I bought an LP record of the organ at Hildene in 1990. I still have it.

    • @oldheadcook
      @oldheadcook 2 роки тому +3

      We went there too, beautiful❣️

    • @j-maxfromor1895
      @j-maxfromor1895 2 роки тому +3

      The organ was very impressive. Sounded wonderful.

    • @richardsisk1770
      @richardsisk1770 2 роки тому +3

      I also visited his estate about 25 years ago.

  • @robertdubs9466
    @robertdubs9466 Рік тому +44

    Robert had a pretty tragic life. He was always somewhat estranged from the rest of his family, but he still loved them and cared about them (and he was the only son of the Lincolns to survive to adulthood). The brother that would've been his playmate, Edward, died in infancy. During Lincoln's White House years, Robert was somewhat estranged from his father, because Lincoln had always been on the run with work during Robert's childhood, and Robert was away at Harvard while Lincoln was in office. Just as Robert and his father were starting to rise above it, and bond, Lincoln was assassinated, leaving Robert at age 22, the primary caretaker for his mother and his surviving younger brother, Tad. In the following years, Robert essentially took care of, but remained estranged from Tad, as the two brothers had a 10-year age gap, and were bipolar opposites in personality. Just as the age gap was starting to close, and Tad started to mature, Robert was prepared to rise to the occasion of being the loving supportive older brother, but then, Tad got sick and died. Robert became estranged to the breaking point with his mother when her mental instability pushed him to commit her to a private sanitarium. Although she was released soon after, they never fully reconciled. Robert later had to bury his own son at a young age, and found himself unwittingly around for the assassinations of both James Garfield and William McKinley, and his whole life, he always felt he was living in the shadow of his father. (Oh, and did I mention, about a year before Lincoln's assassinated, Robert was nearly killed, but was saved by, of all people, famous actor Edwin Thomas Booth, older brother of John Wilkes Booth. And Edwin's life story was just as tragic as Robert's)

    • @rsr789
      @rsr789 Рік тому +4

      Agreed, for as famous as his last name was and how many doors it opened, it took amazing mental fortitude to continue onwards, having to deal with that much personal death and tragedy over and over and over again.

    • @michaelverbakel7632
      @michaelverbakel7632 2 місяці тому

      Robert Todd Lincoln was named after his maternal grandfather, Mary Lincoln's father. People who met Robert Lincoln said he looked more like his mother Mary anyway than he did his father Abraham Lincoln.

  • @southerndigest8996
    @southerndigest8996 3 роки тому +124

    I’m so glad to hear a more balanced summary of Robert Lincoln’s life! Rarely do I see him written about as if he was anything more than a disappointment compared to his father, even while his accomplishments were duly acknowledged. All things considered, he was a man of considerable merit who led a remarkable life!

    • @georgesheffield1580
      @georgesheffield1580 Рік тому +2

      So much of the history of that times is so distorted by historians that followed and is still being distorted .

    • @jgunther3398
      @jgunther3398 Рік тому +1

      when your father is president, you don't have much choice except to be a relative disappointment.

  • @moniquebexplorer8237
    @moniquebexplorer8237 4 роки тому +184

    What a wonderful report of a man who didn't waste his life, not living in his father's shadow, but doing what he wanted. I'm a Canadian and I found this very interesting and inspirational. Thank you.

  • @janineharrison5186
    @janineharrison5186 4 роки тому +417

    Robert was an amazing man. His father would have been proud of him.

    • @victorkong82
      @victorkong82 3 роки тому +24

      Not sure if that would've been the case. He might have been proud of his success, but Robert became a wealthy industry mogul who crushed unions and reveled in high society - not exactly the kind of values or policies that Abraham Lincoln espoused. In any case, Robert's been said to be more Mary Todd than Abe, for better or worse.

    • @kellyplumb7024
      @kellyplumb7024 3 роки тому +6

      Thank God for trains 💞💞💞 I love the railroad.

    • @stevengilmore7100
      @stevengilmore7100 2 роки тому +16

      Robert Lincoln loved Golf. He played with Taft. The Book, A Giant in the Shadows, is fabulous about his life.

    • @ivangranger8494
      @ivangranger8494 2 роки тому +17

      One has to wonder, if Robert had been alert and with Abe, maybe Booth would not have succeeded with his evil deed.

    • @thankyoucaptainobvious7707
      @thankyoucaptainobvious7707 2 роки тому +6

      @The Vinyl Music Life I agree that there are pros & cons to Unions.
      A badly broken system governing collective bargaining has eroded unions and worker power more broadly, contributing to both the suffering during the pandemic and the extreme economic inequality exacerbated by the pandemic. In spite of efforts to push policy reforms, the U.S. entered the COVID-19 pandemic with a weak system of labor protections. As a result, working people, particularly low-wage workers-who are disproportionately women and workers of color-have largely borne the costs of the pandemic. While providing the “essential” services we rely on, many of these workers have been forced to work without protective gear; many have no access to paid sick leave; and when workers have spoken up about health and safety concerns, they have been fired. Unions would be an unnecessary counterbalance or voice of the working class if Corporate leaders were equally concerned with pleasing the engine or workforce of their business as they are with shareholder appeasement.

  • @Hellertonian
    @Hellertonian Рік тому +29

    Extremely interesting vignette! I had no idea how accomplished Robert Todd Lincoln became in his lifetime. One of the only things I'd known about him was the fact that his life had once been saved by Edwin Booth. Thank you for this!

  • @sharonwhiteley6510
    @sharonwhiteley6510 2 роки тому +24

    An excellent overview of someone who always lived in the shadow of his father. Yet should be known, respected and remembered for his own shadow.

  • @WildWestGal
    @WildWestGal 4 роки тому +351

    How in the world did the highly accomplished son of one of our most famous Presidents manage to fly so far under the radar of history?! An amazing history lesson! And on top of that, how did it take me this long to come across this channel?! New sub.

    • @TheRetirednavy92
      @TheRetirednavy92 2 роки тому +6

      We learned about him in school

    • @jessez1866
      @jessez1866 2 роки тому +3

      He didn’t accomplish anything of merit.

    • @stevendebettencourt7651
      @stevendebettencourt7651 2 роки тому +16

      Even the brightest star pales in comparison to a supernova. Hard to live up to your father when your father was, quite literally, the man who saved the country.

    • @wmpetroff2307
      @wmpetroff2307 2 роки тому +7

      @@jessez1866 That is a matter of opinion. Did you know RTL personally?

    • @johnschuh8616
      @johnschuh8616 Рік тому +6

      @@wmpetroff2307 I think John Hays mentioned in asides that Robert spent much more time with his father than he says he did but chose to have his actual role air-brushed out of the historical picture. Of course he felt enormous guilt that he literally slept through the assassination. Gore Vidal, who wrote a historical novel about Lincoln, Make him an into,mate of John Hays. They were the same age.

  • @cnosprandt5155
    @cnosprandt5155 5 років тому +444

    Excellent video. I never knew anything about Robert Todd Lincoln...no mention in American history classes at school.

    • @thelton100
      @thelton100 4 роки тому +5

      Not missing much.

    • @rogercraven1661
      @rogercraven1661 4 роки тому +5

      What school did you go to? Damn.

    • @chriscohlmeyer4735
      @chriscohlmeyer4735 4 роки тому +2

      Hmmm, I must have had the precursor to The History Guy in junior high school.

    • @felixu-mh2mx
      @felixu-mh2mx 4 роки тому

      good video, but caption springing up is quite annoying.

    • @nancyayers6355
      @nancyayers6355 3 роки тому +17

      Quite informative!! I had read that he and his mother did not get along and that he had her institutionalized at one point. I wish that he could have treated her more kindly!! She had seen three of her four sons die in childhood (the youngest, Tad, lived to be about seventeen,) plus she was sitting beside her husband when he was shot!! I don't know if I could have handled all those tragedies!! Plus, her mother died when she was only six. She had several siblings already, when her father brought a new stepmother into the home. This woman resented Mary and her siblings! Then she had I think six or seven kids by Mary's father, so the house was full! Mary left as a teenager and went to live with an older sister. I read that she was an "Hysteric" and very, very neurotic. While living in the White House, she loved to hold seances in hopes of seeing her dead sons, then after her husband was killed she really got heavily involved in them! And she had crossed swords with important men in the government while First Lady, to the point that they deliberately held up her "widow's pension" for years out of spite for the way she had mistreated them, and wound up having to sell much of her clothing just to afford the necessities - like food for herself and Tad, and rent! So she had a very hard life! I wish that Robert had been able to treat her with more respect and kindness!!

  • @ladydeerheart1
    @ladydeerheart1 Рік тому +35

    How wonderful that people get to spend their lives studying history.

  • @Lee-mx5li
    @Lee-mx5li Рік тому +17

    Very good info!! Yes he does deserve to be remembered FOR ALL HIS ACCOMPLISHMENTS!! 🎩🎩🎩

  • @JOECANDELA22
    @JOECANDELA22 5 років тому +294

    The summer home of Robert T. Lincoln still stands in Manchester, Vermont and is open to the general public to visit. I had the pleasure of visiting it and it remains, right down to the furniture, in the same condition it was during Lincoln's time. Obviously, there are many reproductions in the home. The name of his estate is "Hildene" and if your a history buff you will enjoy visit.

    • @catherinescott562
      @catherinescott562 4 роки тому +13

      Joe Candela - he built Hildene to be a family estate, but regrettably, none of his children had children themselves. His portion of the family died out

    • @conniecrawford5231
      @conniecrawford5231 4 роки тому +7

      I visited Hildene and learned a lot there.

    • @nancyayers6355
      @nancyayers6355 3 роки тому +8

      There are also public tours of the Lincoln home in Springfield, IL!! You can see the actual toys the boys played with, including a little tricycle!!

    • @JOECANDELA22
      @JOECANDELA22 3 роки тому +3

      @@nancyayers6355 I have go there some time. When Lincoln bought the home it originally was 1 floor house he put 2 extensions on it. One going back and another going up (second story).

    • @steveshapiro326
      @steveshapiro326 3 роки тому +2

      @@nancyayers6355 Those boys were wild.

  • @113dmg9
    @113dmg9 4 роки тому +50

    It's incredible to note that he was an emotionally stable guy REGARDLESS of his genes and circumstances.

    • @frankpaya690
      @frankpaya690 4 роки тому +7

      Fortunately, he inherited his father's genes

    • @steveshapiro326
      @steveshapiro326 3 роки тому +9

      Robert kept himself together as best he could during crises, watched his father's death agony. A parallel to Jackie Kennedy.

    • @FourScoreSevenYearsAgo
      @FourScoreSevenYearsAgo 2 роки тому +3

      @@frankpaya690 bruh Abraham was just as neurotic as Mary

    • @geoffreyfoster8039
      @geoffreyfoster8039 2 роки тому +1

      @@FourScoreSevenYearsAgo Please shoe evidence?

    • @geoffreyfoster8039
      @geoffreyfoster8039 2 роки тому +1

      Sorry. 'Show'.

  • @josephryan9230
    @josephryan9230 3 роки тому +17

    Fascinating. So many times we hear of children in the same situation who never get out of the shadow of their famous parent(s), often times with tragic consequences. Thanks!!

  • @1AFVeteran
    @1AFVeteran 2 роки тому +33

    Awesome! If you had been my history teacher in school, I would have paid more attention but then on the other hand, they never taught this kind of history in school but should have! I too love history and you have an amazing way of how you present it, makes it very interesting! Thanks for posting this video, thoroughly enjoyed it!

  • @amdg2023
    @amdg2023 6 років тому +64

    I have the personal correspondence between Robert Todd Lincoln and Senators asking him to run for President, amazing documents.

  • @rogerhwerner6997
    @rogerhwerner6997 4 роки тому +90

    Amazing that This man is nearly forgotten. And sad because he should be remembered.

  • @theresab6447
    @theresab6447 3 роки тому +24

    This is such a fascinating story. I never knew any of this information. He deserves to be mentioned ... his life in History Books. The “Booth’s Story” and the “Assassinations” that he witnessed ... WOW. He had a life like no other that’s for sure.

  • @davidwolf226
    @davidwolf226 3 роки тому +28

    Such a fascinating history, indeed, with Robert Todd Lincoln. While I was aware of his presence during Lee's surrender to Grant, I was NOT aware of his association with Garfield and McKinley! What an incredible life he led. Thanks so much for these videos that you produce. I get so much out of your efforts.

    • @matthewpoplawski8740
      @matthewpoplawski8740 2 роки тому

      David Wolf,.after the McKinley assassination, he was know to have that he would NEVER AGAIN visit a sitting president due to being in the wrong place at the wrong time. He, also, considered himself a jinx to presidents.✌✌✌✌

    • @JayCity10
      @JayCity10 Рік тому

      Would you want his life or Teddy Kennedy's? I will take his.

    • @michaelverbakel7632
      @michaelverbakel7632 Рік тому +1

      Robert Todd Lincoln was named after his mom Mary Lincoln's father Robert Todd. Abraham Lincoln's father was named Thomas.

  • @robertgalbreath6239
    @robertgalbreath6239 5 років тому +173

    Fascinating! I am not a history buff, but you make history come alive! Your degree is well-deserved...

  • @traceyscott909
    @traceyscott909 5 років тому +516

    To the "History Guy." This was a fantastic report. I only have two thumbs, and they both go up.

    • @carolynhowell9768
      @carolynhowell9768 4 роки тому +4

      Thumbs up!!!!!!

    • @michaelwertzy9808
      @michaelwertzy9808 4 роки тому +5

      I've got two big toes and they break right through my best socks! He's so compelling describing the stories he chooses to tell us! How he can keep it to a quarter of an hour is beyond me! His enthusiasm shows his love for "untold" or "forgotten" pieces of history, however obscure they may be to the "general" public. 10-Q H.G.!

    • @williamwagener
      @williamwagener 4 роки тому +6

      JFK, was Murdered by a conspiracy of his own V.P. Lyndon B. Johnson, J. Edgar Hoover, C.I.A. agent Geo. H. W. BUSH, & others.
      @ The Original now Hidden 13th Amendment.

    • @kathrynblue2702
      @kathrynblue2702 3 роки тому

      I too only have two thumbs.... :(

    • @traceyscott909
      @traceyscott909 3 роки тому +3

      To everyone in this comment group. Sorry I didn't respond earlier from past comments. I revisited this report and how the History Guy made this true tale intriguing. Respect to you all

  • @joycemiller-bean1814
    @joycemiller-bean1814 2 роки тому +4

    Thank you for bringing out of the shadows this accomplished man of whom most of us know so little.

  • @sah1681
    @sah1681 3 роки тому +10

    Thank you "History Guy" from this "History Buff". I am a 68-yo retired engineer, but often entertained the idea of getting a PhD in History just for the love of it😊

  • @michaeldougfir9807
    @michaeldougfir9807 6 років тому +180

    Thank you for this valuable bit of education. Yes, Mr Lincoln does deserve recognition.
    And I especially like that he was rescued by Mr Booth. I'm glad it did something good for Mr Booth's heart, as well.

    • @TheHistoryGuyChannel
      @TheHistoryGuyChannel  6 років тому +48

      I think it important that he actively avoided trading on his father's name.

    • @DavidMiller-wf9mi
      @DavidMiller-wf9mi 5 років тому +1

      Outdoor sheds

    • @elizabethlinsay9193
      @elizabethlinsay9193 5 років тому +8

      Yes. I agree. And I always felt that Edwin Booth must have derived some comfort, solace from having saved Abraham Lincoln's son.

  • @robdcollector2808
    @robdcollector2808 5 років тому +182

    ...wait Lincolns son had met and bumped into John Wilkes booths brother???? There really are some unseen forces at work. He even saw assisinations of others...wow!

    • @supportyourtroopsathletes6460
      @supportyourtroopsathletes6460 4 роки тому +17

      I heard all this about Robert except I did not know he was at Robert Lee's surrender. But yes, he seemed to have a very interesting life for sure. Lincoln does not have immediate family but he does have cousins that are still alive today.

    • @frankpaya690
      @frankpaya690 4 роки тому +7

      And let the creative writing conspiracy theory dreamers loose.

    • @Lobishomem
      @Lobishomem 3 роки тому +5

      Sounds like an episode of the Twilight Zone.

    • @nancyayers6355
      @nancyayers6355 3 роки тому +8

      The Lord works in mysterious ways ...

    • @RexHrothgar1
      @RexHrothgar1 3 роки тому +3

      If you call having your life saved by someone “meeting and bumping into” someone. I agree though. The incident is quite poetic. Serendipity of a sort. Thank goodness things like this occur during such trying times. It seems a balance is being struck.

  • @jameshaywood8232
    @jameshaywood8232 2 роки тому +11

    Wow I just found this and I am feeling blessed to have learned about Robert Todd Lincoln's great success in life and the totally strange coincident moments of his life.

    • @louisegross3886
      @louisegross3886 Рік тому

      Yep we know what we learn in school but in these times you tube brings it in detail

  • @marksauck8481
    @marksauck8481 2 роки тому +62

    I read a lot about Abraham and his family over my long life. I felt so much pity for that family that couldn’t escape tragedy. In the end I really felt more sorry for Robert because of the situation with his mother.

    • @wlouise1960
      @wlouise1960 2 роки тому +2

      I very much enjoyed your history lesson on Robert Todd. I agree not enough is known of his accomplishments. I love history but sorry to say i have not read enough about Robert Lincoln. Now I will. Thank you!

    • @jessez1866
      @jessez1866 2 роки тому +8

      @@wlouise1960 he has no accommodations though. He locked up his mom in an asylum and totally abondoned her. His success was given to his privilege and his name.

    • @chomama1628
      @chomama1628 2 роки тому +1

      You may inherit a name but your accomplishments are your own. As for his mother and her mental illness, unless you have dealt with it you don’t understand how it can devastate a family. Today we have other options not afforded people back in Victorian times.

    • @pickle581
      @pickle581 2 роки тому +2

      @@chomama1628 Mary Todd was eccentric but did not have mental problems.

    • @John-th4sy
      @John-th4sy 2 роки тому

      Tragedy lol. Lincoln caused 600,000 battle field deathsthen add the men with injuries that worse than death,and add in all the widows and orphans. He ruined about two million lives. Without a care in the world-Yeah me and my family going to the theatre gonna have a good time who cares about the lives i ruined ha ha. He was a total dirtbag, married a crazy because no decent women would have had him. No consideration for anybody or anything. Nobody was surprised but him when his second term ended early. The SOB deserved exactly what he got. He was worthless that's why John Frederick Parker was his body guard that night at Ford's Theatre. Well, Parker didn't waste his time at the theatre. He went to the nearest tavern to get drunk and boogie woogie dance with the local harlots. That's exactly what I would have done. It's documentedthat a few days later Mary Todd started yelling at him. Why would anybody care about her? ABe and Mary Todd didn't give a damn about anybody else. It's called KARMA! The best part is Parker was fired three years later, YEAH 3 YEARS for making a real mistake. He got caught sleeping on duty. He made a real mistake in 1868 and lost the job. The fascination with this murdering amoral scumbag is baffling. No man in history has done more to earn his fate than lincoln.

  • @donnyboon2896
    @donnyboon2896 6 років тому +122

    And Robert Todd Lincoln appears to have been quite modest.

    • @ALANRLEAKE
      @ALANRLEAKE 5 років тому +28

      Robert Todd Lincoln did wonder if he was star crossed ( or what the exact term ) in his personal life as he outlived 3 of his brothers and one of his own children ( plus dealing with the health problems of his mother ). Also he was at the location where President Garfield and President McKinley were shot. He later told Theodore Roosevelt not to have him in his presence less he put the deadly curse on Roosevelt.
      My great grandfather knew him well personally and joined him for golf with friends at Robert Lincoln's summer home in Manchester, Vt.

    • @dankoher4318
      @dankoher4318 5 років тому +7

      Alan Leake
      It’s insane what a small world 🌎 we live in.

    • @emmabradford1740
      @emmabradford1740 4 роки тому +3

      While committing his mother...taking away her right to decide what was best for her. Who got him into Harvard? His rail-splitting father, who overcame enormous obstacles to become a professional man -- the ultimate professional man.

    • @TakersMissy
      @TakersMissy 4 роки тому +2

      @@ALANRLEAKE Oh, how COOL! 🙂 During his lifetime, did your great grandfather ever talk or write about Robert Todd Lincoln - for instance, did he ask him about his father? I LOVE history; there's always something fascinating to be learned from it. Until just now, I had never been sure if any of Pres. Lincoln's children lived to adulthood.

    • @steveshapiro326
      @steveshapiro326 3 роки тому

      @@ALANRLEAKE Avid golfer. Did Robert drive his own Rolls Royce or have a chauffeur ?

  • @pagamenews
    @pagamenews 5 років тому +14

    I learn more in a 7 minute video clip here than I did in a 47 minute long history class in high school.

  • @maryerb6062
    @maryerb6062 Рік тому +3

    I love this! He DOES deserve to be remembered for his own things.

  • @davidpostma9862
    @davidpostma9862 2 роки тому +2

    Our two family ancestors worked for Pullman while Robert Lincoln was the President. Pullman is now a historic place as of its dedication the last few weeks.
    Robert Lincoln was also the benefactor for the Glenwood School for Boys in Glenwood, Illinois. It’s still there.

  • @AmbyJeans
    @AmbyJeans 5 років тому +63

    Thank you for doing a video of Robert Lincoln! He never gets talked about much and that's a shame!

  • @1happygal2bhere50
    @1happygal2bhere50 4 роки тому +47

    My grandmother told we children about her trips to the park in Washington, D.C. when Mr. Lincoln would be at the park. He played with the children, including my grandmother on occasion.

    • @2doodledo
      @2doodledo 3 роки тому +2

      Wow! That is awesome!. Sure wouldn't happen these days. It's an armed fortress there. Ty for sharing!

    • @karenlynningalls5851
      @karenlynningalls5851 2 роки тому +2

      He also saved a child from drowning in the Potomac River. I met her when she was 101 (she was born in 1869).

    • @geoffreyfoster8039
      @geoffreyfoster8039 2 роки тому +1

      Which Mr. Lincoln? The president? Or one of the others.

    • @karenlynningalls5851
      @karenlynningalls5851 2 роки тому +1

      @@geoffreyfoster8039 I think she's referring to Robert Todd Lincoln.

    • @1happygal2bhere50
      @1happygal2bhere50 2 роки тому

      @@geoffreyfoster8039 Todd Lincoln

  • @janetclaireSays
    @janetclaireSays 2 роки тому +11

    I'm surprised that Robert Lincoln hasn't been more written about nor had a movie made about his life. What an amazing character!

  • @dawnkurtz9541
    @dawnkurtz9541 3 роки тому +11

    Loved the story of Edwin Booth rescuing Robert. My dad’s mother, Ruth Booth Unklesbay was a great niece to the Booth brothers. I remember my dad and his brother discussing the Booth dueling pistols, in which one killed Mr. Lincoln. I wish I had listened closer as a child! My father was born 1910 so you can see his mother easily fit the time era. Love history!

  • @captainamerica6525
    @captainamerica6525 5 років тому +57

    History guy I can tell this video was done with extra passion. A fine job!

  • @londawarren8278
    @londawarren8278 5 років тому +62

    Nicely done...especially with human narration, not robotic! Thank you.

  • @carolbradley4845
    @carolbradley4845 2 роки тому +1

    My daughter and I visited his home in Vermont this past summer. It was beautiful and they had lots of pictures of the Lincoln family. We even got to see President Lincoln’s stove top hat under glass display. Beautiful gardens too.

  • @bobward8707
    @bobward8707 3 роки тому +20

    Anyone interested in him should be sure and visit Hildene, in Vt. His summer home in the mountains. It's absolutely beautiful.

  • @WWTormentor
    @WWTormentor 4 роки тому +13

    I think his life is worthy of a Hollywood movie. Thank you for bringing this to our attention. I never knew this piece of history.

    • @annieoakley2925
      @annieoakley2925 3 роки тому

      There have been several done over the years. "Young Mr. Lincoln", (Henry Fonda 1939) and "Abe Lincoln in Illinois (Raymond Massey 1940) considered among the best.

  • @prof2yousmithe444
    @prof2yousmithe444 6 років тому +16

    Loved this!! You are correct, he certainly deserves to be remembered as more than Presidfent Lincolns son!

  • @familytreenutshistorygenealogy
    @familytreenutshistorygenealogy 3 роки тому +10

    It sure wound be hard to live up to a legacy like that.

  • @poco1174
    @poco1174 2 роки тому +9

    I consider myself an amateur historian. A hobbyist, but after listening to this, just an amateur. Truly great stuff. Feltonesque in fascinating fine points of history.

    • @benbaker2965
      @benbaker2965 2 роки тому

      Feltonesque! I love it. Did you create that? It is a great compliment BTW. 👍

  • @rosaleerich2090
    @rosaleerich2090 5 років тому +37

    I've always loved Abraham Lincoln. And this report on his son, certainly measures up. Thank you History Guy for your research and obvious devotion😉☺

    • @nancyayers6355
      @nancyayers6355 3 роки тому

      MRS. Lincoln was a more interesting historical person than her son!! She lived a very tragic life!!

    • @greyghostscsa394
      @greyghostscsa394 2 роки тому

      Then you obviously don’t know the real Abraham Lincoln. History has made him out to be a greater man than he actually was.

    • @jameswood231
      @jameswood231 2 роки тому +1

      @@greyghostscsa394 Any hard feelings there? Lincoln was just a simple man, who played a very important role in America's history. Now we have Antifa and other communist/fascist groups and CRT who want to not only erase the Legacy of Lincoln, but that of the Confederate South as well. Seems to be working. Statues and other Dixie memorabilia of General Robert E Lee and other brave Confederate souls are being erased more and more from the public eye. Doesn't seem to fit their agenda or narrative, so they want to rewrite and usurp actual history.🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 Patriots stand strong. PS: I had kin who fought on both sides. I stand for an United America. The Republic, for Which it Stands, One Nation, Under GOD, Indivisible and Justice for All.

    • @geoffreyfoster8039
      @geoffreyfoster8039 2 роки тому

      @@greyghostscsa394 We aren't born great. We become as great as the challenges we have to meet to overcome. Yes Lincoln achieved greatness.

  • @fionajane56
    @fionajane56 5 років тому +7

    The more of your videos I watch, the more I am astonished at what history goes by without people knowing about it. Thank you for this wonderful trail through time.

  • @tabbat3328
    @tabbat3328 Рік тому +2

    Fascinating. I can't believe that I never heard of him before. What an amazing life!

  • @thomasperri5316
    @thomasperri5316 3 роки тому +2

    I visited his beautiful home, Hilldene, in southern Vermont near Manchester. Worth the trip.

  • @tamumalone1718
    @tamumalone1718 5 років тому +16

    Wish you were my history teacher when I was in school 📚

  • @lloydclement2152
    @lloydclement2152 6 років тому +8

    I too am a history buff; your take on Robert Todd Lincoln was great, and I loved it.

  • @mountainlace5603
    @mountainlace5603 3 роки тому +1

    Visited his home in Vermont. I was impressed by his accomplishments and humility

  • @joesmith3501
    @joesmith3501 Рік тому

    Great video. I’ve toured his home and Pullman Car in Mass. I have a photograph like the one behind you of my Uncle Lonnie Preston Smith’s platoon when he did basic training before he shipped off to Europe during WWI. He was at Verdun during the great battle. Terrible battle. I also have the flag my great great grandparents flew in their window until he returned. His sister, my great aunt Carrie Mae McDonald, who drove until she was 100 and lived to be 110, had the picture in her house and I’d always admired it. When she asked me, “Joe is there anything in this house you might want after I’m gone?” all I could think of was that picture. It’s hanging beside my bed and is my favorite physical possession. I know the world is going to lose all of this history but I appreciate the ones like you that are keeping it alive as long as possible. Again, great video. Keep up the good work

  • @SCW1060
    @SCW1060 4 роки тому +42

    My Great Grandfather fought in our Civil war for the Union army

    • @seanmorrissey1528
      @seanmorrissey1528 4 роки тому +7

      My 3rd great grandfather fought for the Union. 1st Regiment NY, Mounted Rifles.

    • @JT-vy3rp
      @JT-vy3rp 3 роки тому +6

      I had three great Grandfather's who fought in the Civil war. One in the 33rd Mississippi one in the 7th Mississippi and one in the 40th Ohio

    • @Rumpleskin
      @Rumpleskin 3 роки тому +1

      mine on the other side....not for slavery,but i do belive in states in states rights.

    • @dcasper8514
      @dcasper8514 3 роки тому +2

      John Temple....How do you
      Rate with 3 great grandfathers. ?

    • @davidblaskie8987
      @davidblaskie8987 3 роки тому

      My Great- Grandfather also fought in the Civil War- for the Unions' Army of the Potomac.

  • @Pugletts
    @Pugletts 5 років тому +17

    I so enjoyed hearing this about Mr. Lincoln, I will be listening for more wonderful stories and bios.

  • @gbmgnrs
    @gbmgnrs Рік тому +13

    Excellent! You are truly great at teaching and educating history...bravo and thank you!

  • @johndoudna7055
    @johndoudna7055 3 роки тому

    Thank you, for your energy, engagement, and presentation. The short format is exactly right for these times. Much appreciated.

  • @michaelhalbert9264
    @michaelhalbert9264 6 років тому +149

    Not a good channel, a GREAT one. Thank You

  • @kaymuldoon3575
    @kaymuldoon3575 6 років тому +35

    I remember hearing the stories about how he had been present during Garfield’s assassination and was saved from the train by Edwin Booth. So fascinating.

    • @jimcactus9265
      @jimcactus9265 4 роки тому

      I am not sure what you mean by "accomplished". RTL benefited from his father's status as President as well, I'm sure, from the sympathy people felt for him after the assassination. His acceptance to Harvard, appointment to the military as an officer, and all his remaining positions smack of cronyism and favoritism. RTL was NOT self-made like his father.

    • @geoffreyfoster8039
      @geoffreyfoster8039 2 роки тому +1

      @@jimcactus9265 Once a son leaves home it's up to him to make the right choices leading to success. However, looking at the Hunter Biden situation, I do agree with you that some sons of famous fathers have undeserved success handed to them. but Hunter Biden and Robert Lincoln are on the opposite ends of the presidents' sons spectrum.

  • @gunshipgray4295
    @gunshipgray4295 Рік тому +3

    Thank you for everything you do ! I always enjoy your historical segments.

  • @tomslog
    @tomslog 2 роки тому +12

    Really enjoyed the info on Lincoln's son. Truly inspirational bio.

  • @nana-x9
    @nana-x9 5 років тому +10

    Loved this episode. Thank-you for it. Totally agree about Robert’s life & accomplishments. He deserves to be remembered for his greatness. Did not know he was there when the Lincoln Memorial was presented. I hope he felt some honor for them building a unbelievable monument to the probably our greatest President. Such a shame he really had no “life” with his father.

  • @dungeonrat
    @dungeonrat 5 років тому +75

    What I would like to know is who are the 73 dolts who didn't like this presentation? How can you know where you are, if you don't know where you came from? Better yet; how can you know where you are going, if you don't know where you are? Understanding history is fundamental!

    • @ldchappell1
      @ldchappell1 5 років тому +3

      People dislike videos for all kinds of reasons. Maybe they didn't like the video quality or the sound quality. It's better to look at the amount of people who gave it thumbs up, and compare it. More than 12,000 people liked the video and only 120 disliked it. That's only 1%.

    • @freedmm3122
      @freedmm3122 4 роки тому +3

      Michael Schroeder history should be one of the most important classes in our schools!

    • @skiprussell2606
      @skiprussell2606 4 роки тому +4

      All the morons care about now is how much free shit can I get, And vote to make someone else pays for it. No honor amongst thieves! F-ing Democrats!

    • @qzdv
      @qzdv 4 роки тому +6

      Skip Russell how does this have anything to do with politics, or democrats specifically? Please keep your whataboutism to yourself when trying to put everyone on the internet into a single box mentally

    • @skiprussell2606
      @skiprussell2606 4 роки тому

      @@qzdv Can't handle the truth?

  • @crackerjack4790
    @crackerjack4790 2 роки тому

    Thank you so much. I strive to learn something new every day (I'm 75). This was new to me. keep up the wonderful work.

  • @sandicianciulli3463
    @sandicianciulli3463 Рік тому

    President Lincoln still holds a special place in the hearts of many Americans, it's nice to learn about his son. I wonder how you feel about resistance by some people to limit teaching diverse history in our public schools and universities. I am 74 years old and I'm just learning about 2 of my ancestors who were in the first class of the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania. I'm born and raised in the Philadelphia area and I just learned this and it has meant so much to me, yet I meet people born and raised in Carlisle that never knew there was an Indian School there. There are other groups who contributed to American exceptionalism and all of their stories should be told for the benefit of us all. We live in such amazing times where you can access information in the palm of your hand and learning all these stories that take you on a roller coaster ride sometimes, are invigorating and inspire a sense of belonging as a participant in the great American experiment.

  • @elfowl6873
    @elfowl6873 5 років тому +8

    I love history!!!!! Thank you for the lesson, I didn't know 95% of your lecture. What a great man, Robert Todd Lincoln.

  • @benjaminhedrick
    @benjaminhedrick 4 роки тому +87

    Now I want to know what became of HIS kids!

    • @chinmustache6420
      @chinmustache6420 3 роки тому +12

      Sadly, the Lincolns didn’t have many kids, so the line died out a couple generations after

    • @michaelrochester48
      @michaelrochester48 3 роки тому +14

      He had a son and daughter only son had a kid..but that kid died in 1985 and no descendants live today

    • @ronald6138
      @ronald6138 3 роки тому

      yes YES YES please

    • @patrickmiano7901
      @patrickmiano7901 3 роки тому +4

      @@michaelrochester48 Maybe it’s for the best. Who could flourish in the shadow of Abraham Lincoln?

    • @jujubees5855
      @jujubees5855 3 роки тому

      Read the book on it

  • @032319581
    @032319581 Рік тому +2

    I have watched this many times and this has to be my favorite video that you have done.

  • @Ladysensei
    @Ladysensei 2 роки тому +1

    So strange that very little was taught in history class about him. Nice to learn this about him and that he lived to see the dedication of his father's memorial. Thank you

  • @flashesofblack4128
    @flashesofblack4128 6 років тому +14

    A very great post! I have always wondered about the offspring of Mr. Lincoln and you have answered it. Thank You sir.

  • @binklebabe4725
    @binklebabe4725 6 років тому +400

    Fascinating. He looks absolutely nothing like his Dad!

    • @atomicorang
      @atomicorang 6 років тому +11

      Binkle Babe Reminds me of Prince Harry..sorta looks like Prince Charles? NOT!

    • @mariocisneros911
      @mariocisneros911 6 років тому +61

      Lincoln said he looked like his mother

    • @jamesdunn9714
      @jamesdunn9714 6 років тому +39

      Abraham Lincoln may have had acromegaly and as such his features would have been altered by such. it would have affected any resemblence of father and son.

    • @elhombredeoro955
      @elhombredeoro955 6 років тому +32

      Binkle Babe he looked like his mother Mary Todd.

    • @jamesdunn9714
      @jamesdunn9714 6 років тому +41

      Upon futher reading although it's plausible that Lincoln suffered from a mild case of acromegaly as evidenced by his long thin jaw he may have had some other issue. Marfa's syndrome is another possibility as it is noted by long thin arms and legs with an average length torso which Lincoln most definitly possessed. However. he most likely had Endocrine neoplasia that causes similar symptoms. Whatever the case we will never know for sure, but it did affect his physical apperance and would change him in a way that made him look different and so Robert Todd would never have resembled his famous father. One last note; Lincoln had long powerful arms with a very muscular back and shoulders. Necessary hard work gave him an extremely powerful physique; born a long thin baby he developed into a 6'4" powerfully built but very slim man weighing probably less than 180 pounds. ( His father was 5'10" and his mother was 5'8" tall. She was of the Hanks family and Tom Hanks can claim her and Lincoln as his forebearers.)

  • @arthurscott4467
    @arthurscott4467 2 роки тому +10

    I am glad that there people like you ,to preserve history's sometimes overlooked , sometimes politically deleted events . These stories make history more alive . Your style makes me want more. You are the Andy Rooney of the internet , keep up the great work.

  • @arnepianocanada
    @arnepianocanada 2 роки тому +2

    You helped to bring him out of his father's shadow. Excellent program.

  • @DJR100
    @DJR100 6 років тому +105

    Interesting to think that in his lifetime he saw both the Civil war and WWI,and that my grandfather was also contemporaneous with him.

    • @alexisjankowski3281
      @alexisjankowski3281 5 років тому +1

      David Rambo Wow!!

    • @Arturo-sm1tb
      @Arturo-sm1tb 4 роки тому +5

      History's Forrest Gump. No one in American history has ever been close to such a direct part of multiple world changing events. He was witness to Lee's surrender, Garfield's assasination, and proximate to 2 other (out of the 4) presidential assasinations. Unbelievable, but true.

    • @StanSwan
      @StanSwan 4 роки тому

      You mean great great grandfather. Mine served in the Civil war and died in the 1920s.

    • @IowaKim
      @IowaKim 4 роки тому +1

      @@StanSwan You would be surprised how many people have grandfather's that far back. I do genealogy and a 72 year old man I work with, grandfather was born in 1864. I am 60 and my own grandfather was born in 1884, so it is possible to have a grandfather going back even further (considering that is from 2 trees I have worked on).

    • @StanSwan
      @StanSwan 4 роки тому +2

      @@IowaKim
      My family tended to have children later than was common back then. Having children at 13 was common years ago.

  • @georgiamule
    @georgiamule 5 років тому +5

    An extraordinary story of a largely overlooked historical figure. Thank you for the education

  • @Teho231
    @Teho231 Рік тому +2

    Thank you History Guy, you make history so interesting and inviting.

  • @EGMiller2
    @EGMiller2 2 роки тому +1

    What an excellent overview! Thank you!

  • @psdumas
    @psdumas 5 років тому +10

    great enthusiasm! I learned something! My father was a great Lincoln-phile, and it touched me as a child when he told me about Willy's death. Made me a history lover too. Thanks!

    • @frankpaya690
      @frankpaya690 4 роки тому

      He was the son that was supposed to "replace" the other son, Edward who died at 3 of tuberculosis. Lincoln, as well as Mary were virtually inconsolable after they lost Willey, in 1862, At the age of 12.

  • @DrWoodyII
    @DrWoodyII 6 років тому +222

    Imagine all the changes that Robert Tod Lincoln saw during his lifetime. He witnessed the change from the horse-drawn carriage to automobile and to aircraft. He saw the change from relatively small, wooden, sail-powered battleships to the modern, steel hull warships with giant, rifled artillery. When he died, man was only 43 years away from walking on the moon. Now, changes are proceeding exponentially, think of all the things that you will have witnessed during your lifetime.

    • @jaycorby
      @jaycorby 5 років тому +12

      DrDread - You and I think alike. I'm always rewinding and fast forwarding the lives of relatively famous people and those who never made the books. I was a history teacher for 30 years and believe me it was more a passion than a job or career. Have you seen the UA-cam videos that show photographs of the last survivors of Washington's Continental Army? The camera didn't appear until around 1840, so these veterans are well on in age when their pictures were taken. One is even wearing his tricorn! I have always wished both still and moving pictures had been invented long before they were - it would be extraordinarily special to see actual photos of people such as Martin Luther, King Henry VIII, Queen Elizabeth I and George Washington.

    • @michelehofstetter4803
      @michelehofstetter4803 5 років тому +12

      I started in nursing in 1979 & regularly worked with people 90yo+, one being 104 yo. Some of them suffered from various dementias, but some were still pretty sharp in the noggin. Great history from people who went through it. One of my patients was a vaudeville comedienne in the 1910s, another was a Broadway actress. One of the JFK administration higher ups who was a patient showed me photos of himself playing football with the Kennedy men, boating with Jacqueline, attending meetings in the Oval Office, etc. He actually had an engraved invitation to dinner at the WH that was scheduled for several days after JFK was supposed to return from Dallas - very cool. I took care of a man who was very prominent in the Civil Rights Movement. Amazing people!

    • @RisingSon011
      @RisingSon011 5 років тому +3

      DrDrea Robert Lincoln and my great grandfather or born and died in the same year and I always wondered about all that changed they obviously saw during their lifetimes both were born in the 1840s and probably went to their graves in an automobile hearse

    • @AKIABBRA
      @AKIABBRA 5 років тому +4

      This is WOW!!

    • @richardertter4651
      @richardertter4651 5 років тому +3

      @Dave Bronstein No, he owned a Lincoln.

  • @cellolion6631
    @cellolion6631 Рік тому

    Thank you! I didn't realize that any Lincoln children had survived, much less, had an outstanding history!

  • @Mrs.957
    @Mrs.957 3 роки тому +1

    Amen 🙏 he should be recognized thank you for this I’m going to subscribe😊🇺🇸

  • @kyannos
    @kyannos 5 років тому +24

    Your fascinating to listen to, maybe cause your so into it and the passion shows, Great presentation!!

  • @patricksanders858
    @patricksanders858 4 роки тому +5

    HG, well you did it again! I DOnow know Robert Lincoln as more than just Abe's son! I really had no idea that he was so accomplished!

  • @laurablake6121
    @laurablake6121 2 роки тому +1

    Nice little bio of an amazing man! Thank you!

  • @haysmor
    @haysmor 2 роки тому +1

    Outstanding and touching video. Great job History Guy

  • @tomgilman7035
    @tomgilman7035 6 років тому +6

    Thankyou, History Guy, for all of your excellent videos. Love them.

  • @Classicrocker6119
    @Classicrocker6119 5 років тому +10

    This was very important and interesting to know. I'm in Canada and have always been intrigued with US history.

  • @64powers
    @64powers 2 роки тому

    Every time I watch any of your videos I can say I learned something new. Thank you.

  • @ivokarmely453
    @ivokarmely453 Рік тому

    This is the first History Guy video I watched a few years ago. This you tube channel has grown up so much since then.
    President Lincoln's Robert Todd Lincoln was a great man and definitely deserves to be remembered!!!

  • @JesseDean1253
    @JesseDean1253 6 років тому +8

    Thank you for a terrific lesson in history taught with a clear. love and appreciation for your subject! Bravo!!!

  • @TaggingTechnician
    @TaggingTechnician 6 років тому +15

    A glimpse of your passion for history in this video, and I am amazed and delighted! Please don't stop! Your presentations are always entertaining, enlightening, and informative! Thank you!

  • @kellyharrison5184
    @kellyharrison5184 Рік тому

    Thank you for that fascinating bit of history!

  • @noeldavis3918
    @noeldavis3918 Рік тому

    I have loved your program for several years. And loved history since the fifth grade. Im 83 and history is still no. I WITH ME. No one presents history as you do. You have an exciting voice. Never go away. Take care my friend.

  • @BlackAnvil47
    @BlackAnvil47 5 років тому +3

    Best 5 minutes given to History on UA-cam to date...Thank you.

  • @markb20
    @markb20 6 років тому +4

    Fascinating subject and so informative, History Guy, thanks so much! Like you (and myself), there are so many lovers of history that really enjoy presentations such as yours. Great work!

  • @geoben1810
    @geoben1810 Рік тому

    Aa always, the History Guy brings little known history to the fore and as always, it certainly deserves to be remembered. Thanks H.G.