Lincoln's Cottage: A Visit to a 19th Century Camp David, Part 2

BARBARA KLEIN: The Civil War lasted from eighteen sixty-one to eighteen sixty-five. Troops were stationed at the Soldiers' Home to protect President Lincoln during the war. At first he did not welcome them. He did not think he needed their protection. But he began to enjoy talking to them. In fact, much of what historians know about the president's time at the house is from stories told by those soldiers. One soldier told of guarding the president's house on a day when Lincoln was sitting on the porch with his young son Tad. They were playing a game of checkers. The president asked the soldier to put down his rifle and join them. The young soldier was confused. He was supposed to guard the president, not play a game. But the president was also commander-in-chief of the Army and Navy. The soldier decided he could not refuse the request. He spent the afternoon playing checkers with the president. STEVE EMBER: Not far from the house was a military hospital. The president would sometimes watch the wagons arriving with soldiers wounded in the war. He would sometimes talk with the soldiers. The man with the long, sad face wanted to hear news about the battles they had been fighting. He said it helped him understand their experiences. BARBARA KLEIN: Today the house at the Soldiers' Home is known as President Lincoln's Cottage. But Lincoln was not the first president to use it. That was James Buchanan, the president just before him. Later, presidents Rutherford Hayes and Chester Arthur also used it. A Washington banker named George Washington Riggs built the house in eighteen forty-two. In eighteen fifty-one, he sold the house and the land around it to the federal government. The government later expanded the house and used the land to build the Soldiers' Home for veterans. Today it is called the Armed Forces Retirement Home. More than one thousand retired service members live there. STEVE EMBER: The location of President Lincoln's Cottage has not changed since Lincoln's day. But the city of Washington has. The house is now within the city limits. Historians have compared it to the modern presidential retreat in the mountains of Maryland. They call it a kind of nineteenth century Camp David. The thirty-four room house opened to the public in February of two thousand eight after fifteen million dollars in work. The National Trust for Historic Preservation has restored the building so it looks as it did when Lincoln and his family lived there. For example, workers removed more than twenty layers of paint from one room. The paint hid the wooden walls of what was Lincoln's library. Visitors can see lines left by bookshelves on the walls. BARBARA KLEIN: Guides tell visitors that Lincoln lived at the house for one-fourth of his time as president. He and his family would go to the house in June or early July and stay until early November. They did this in eighteen sixty-two, sixty-three and sixty-four. Records show that one year, White House workers moved nineteen wagonloads of belongings to the house. These included toys, clothing and furniture. STEVE EMBER: One night in eighteen sixty-four, President Lincoln survived an assassination attempt. He was alone, returning on horseback from Washington. Someone shot at him. It happened near the house. His tall hat flew off and soldiers found it on the ground with a bullet hole through it. He was not injured. After that, the War Department increased his protection. But it was not enough to save his life. Records show that he visited his country house for the last time on April thirteenth, eighteen sixty-five. The next day, John Wilkes Booth, an actor and supporter of the defeated Confederacy, shot President Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in Washington. STEVE EMBER: Our program was written by Nancy Steinbach and produced by Caty Weaver. I'm Steve Ember. BARBARA KLEIN: And I'm Barbara Klein.Internet users can learn more about President Lincoln's Cottage at lincolncottage.org. Source: Voice of America