Lincoln's Other White House: The Untold Story of the Man and His Presidency

On June 13, 1862, the Lincolns moved what was left of their family three miles north of the chaotic White House for the summer. Their destination, tradition holds, was a gracious Gothic Revival cottage on the grounds of the Soldiers' Home, the nation's first refuge for old and disabled veterans. On a lush, cool hill overlooking the squalid capital, the Soldiers' Home promised the Lincolns an escape from the "city of stink," where they hoped to recover from the death of their favorite son, Willie, the previous winter.

But the Soldiers' Home soon proved anything but restful. Troublesome generals, contentious cabinet members, touchy diplomats, politicians of all persuasions, old friends, and even curious strangers found their way there at all hours of the day and night.

Sometimes the Soldiers' Home was so close to the front lines, the Lincolns could hear cannon fire. Yet everyone but Lincoln feared how vulnerable he was in such a secluded place. He chose to spend an astonishing quarter of his presidency there, including the time he spent putting the finishing touches on the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation.

But until the National Trust for Historic Preservation began restoration of the cottage, little had been done to explore this missing link in Lincoln's life. For one hundred and forty years, this "legitimate cradle of liberty" remained the most important unknown presidential site in the country.

Elizabeth Smith Brownstein fills in a critical gap. Using diaries, letters, and eyewitness accounts of life at the Soldiers' Home, she provides unusual perspectives on Lincoln's relationships with important members of his wartime inner circle and explores his paradoxical fascination with weaponry. Through the eyes of the soldiers who guarded him at the Soldiers' Home, she traces the evolution of Lincoln's image as "Father Abraham" and paints a touching picture of the Lincoln marriage. She explains why the Civil War poets and storytellers Lincoln loved played such a critical part during a traumatic period in American history. Lincoln's Other White House is a vivid evocation of a turbulent era, and a distinctive, intimate portrait of our most revered but still elusive president.

"Brownstein (If This House Could Talk) compiles a detailed portrait of Lincoln's sojourns to the Soldiers' Home, a country residence on the grounds of a veterans' asylum three miles north of the White House, where he and his family spent several months a year from 1862 to 1864. This 160-year-old villa, declared a national monument in 2000, served as the Lincolns' refuge from Washington's oppressive summers, if not from a steady stream of visitors, the threat of Confederate kidnapping plots and the proximity of the Civil War battlefront. (They were 'in hearing of cannonshot,' Lincoln wrote.) Brownstein addresses familiar themes of the Lincoln presidency, including the solidity of his union with Mary Todd Lincoln. She also cites evidence for the site as the location of the drafting of the Emancipation Proclamation and chronicles both Lincoln's interactions with the free black household staff and escaped slaves housed in nearby camps. This laudatory account, commissioned by the National Trust for Historic Preservation to help rescue the Lincoln Cottage from obscurity, is dense with excerpts from primary source material, if not with new ideas and analysis. Agent, Paul Mahon. (Sept.)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

An intimate look at Abraham Lincoln and his family though the lens of their homes, but particularly the recently discovered cottage at the Soldier's Home  in Washington, DC, where Lincoln spent an astonishing quarter of his presidency. 

The Lincolns spent the summer of 1862 north of the White House at the Soldiers’ Home. The lush, cool hill overlooking the squalid capital promised the Lincolns an escape from the "city of stink." Despite fears about Lincoln’ s vulnerability in the secluded place, Lincoln spent a quarter of his presidency at the Soldiers’ Home. But until the National Trust for Historic Preservation began restoring the cottage, little had been done to explore this missing link in Lincoln’ s life. Elizabeth Smith Brownstein fills in a critical gap. Using diaries, letters, and eyewitness accounts, she provides unusual perspectives on Lincoln’ s relationships, traces the evolution of Lincoln’ s image, examines the Lincoln marriage, and more. "Lincoln’ s Other White House" is a vivid evocation of a turbulent era, and an intimate portrait of the still elusive president.

"It is where Lincoln lived and worked, where his son played and his wife found solace, where ideas took shape and his last, best hopes for America took flight."

–President Bill Clinton, July 7, 2000 from a speech given at the dedication of Anderson Cottage

Advance Praise for Lincoln's Other White House

"Elizabeth Smith Brownstein promises new material and perspectives beyond the familiar Lincolnalia and she delivers. Lincoln's Other White House: The Untold Story of the Man and His Presidency is an engrossing account of Lincoln that centers on the Soldiers' Home, but ranges well beyond the presidential retreat to consider a variety of topics—his marriage, his views on emancipation and race, even his relationship with the secretary of war, Edwin Stanton. This is a significant contribution to the study of the man and to his time and place."

—Jean Baker, Professor of History, Goucher College

"Only on occasion does the unceasing flow of new Lincoln titles yield a book of fresh insight and graceful prose. Lincoln's Other White House has that rare distinction. Elizabeth Brownstein vividly captures life at the Soldiers' Home, where the Lincolns found relief from wartime and White House stress. More than an account of their summer residence, this book also offers lively vignettes and thoughtful assessments of the Union generals, cabinet officers, politicians, and friends who visited him there."

—Cullom Davis, Coeditor, The Law Practice of Abraham Lincoln

ELIZABETH SMITH BROWNSTEIN is a researcher, writer, and producer of cultural documentaries and public affairs programs. She is also the author of If This House Could Talk . . . : Historic Homes, Extraordinary Americans.

Foreword.

Prologue.

PART ONE: Lincoln’s Long Journey to the Soldiers’ Home.

1. Beginnings.

2. The Riggs Villa.

3. Washington and the White House.

PART TWO: Lincoln at the Soldiers’ Home.

4. Embattled Retreat.

5. The Lincoln Marriage.

6. Lincoln’s Achilles’ Heel.

7. Lincoln’s Favorite Storytellers.

8. Lincoln and Freedom.

9. Poems on Slavery.

10. Lincoln’s Secretary of War.

11. Lincoln and the Tools of War.

12. Lincoln’s Quartermaster General.

13. Lincoln as Commander in Chief: The Soldiers.

14. The Generals.

15. The Political General: Daniel Sickles.

16. The Professional General: Joseph Hooker.

17. The Political General: Benjamin Butler.

18. Lincoln and His Cabinet.

Epilogue.

Acknowledgments.

Notes.

Additional Sources.

Index.