Abraham Lincoln as President
At the time of his assassination in April 1865, Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) was considered by a majority of northerners as a competent president. Yet, this was not always the case. Lincoln was elected president at a critical time when the nation was at a breaking point over issues of states’ rights and slavery. As a direct result of his election, eleven states left the Union before his inauguration in 1861, touching off the Civil War.
During much of his first term of office, Lincoln was viewed by many as lacking the skills necessary for the role of President of the United States. He was lampooned as unsophisticated and criticized for tolerating ineffective generals. Lincoln, however, was a skilled politician—wise, tenacious, and perceptive—and learned from his mistakes.
Abraham Lincoln was committed to preserving the Union. He believed that the United States was more than an ordinary nation—it was the testing ground for a unique form of democracy. Many, including Lincoln himself, described one of his greatest achievements as the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863, which shifted the goal of the war from a fight to preserve the Union to one of freeing the enslaved. With Lee’s surrender at Appomattox, Lincoln’s vision of an indivisible Union—and a more perfect one—was fulfilled.
Abraham Lincoln as American Icon
The event that transformed Lincoln into an American icon, equal to Washington and Jefferson, was his assassination on April 14, 1865. The nation was stunned—after winning a four-year struggle to preserve the Union, the leader of that struggle was gone. As a natural reaction, Americans poured out their grief. For days, people filed past Lincoln’s body as it lay in state in the White House and in the Capitol Rotunda. Then, it was borne by a funeral train to Springfield, Illinois, making stops in major cities along the way to allow grief-stricken Americans to pay their respects. Upon reaching Springfield, the president was laid to rest on May 4, 1865.
As the president who saw the nation through four grueling years of the Civil War, Lincoln would have been regarded as an important president and his place in history assured. However, his tragic death completed his transformation into an American icon. He became “Old Abe” who “held the Union together and freed the slaves.”
The Chair
It took longer for the chair to emerge as a symbol of Lincoln’s greatness and personal sacrifice. The comfortable parlor rocker had been placed in the theater box by the manager of Ford’s Theatre for Lincoln's use that evening. After his assassination, enterprising photographers sold pictures of the chair to a public eager for images in an age before photojournalism. The chair was used as evidence in the trial of the conspirators. Then it languished in storage for decades.
In the late 1920s the chair was sold at auction, having been deemed the property of and returned to the widow of the Ford’s Theatre manager. Henry Ford bought it. At the time, Ford was collecting objects for his museum and historical village. He liked objects associated with great Americans, especially self-made men who came from humble backgrounds. Henry Ford clearly understood the importance of this object—he had the chair’s arrival and unpacking filmed.
For decades, visitors to The Henry Ford have sought out the Lincoln rocker. They are drawn to it not simply because of its role at the center of a tragedy, but as symbol of a beloved president. There is a unique sense of awe and reverence that the chair provides. As such, this rocking chair personifies the sacrifice made by Abraham Lincoln in fashioning a more perfect Union.
Charles Sable is Curator of Decorative Arts at The Henry Ford.
Henry Ford, Civil War, Washington DC, 1860s, 19th century, decorative arts, presidents, furnishings, by Charles Sable, Abraham Lincoln
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