How Other Presidents Reacted to Abraham Lincoln's Death

The reactions of several presidents to the death of Abraham Lincoln have been well documented. Previous and future presidents had different relationships with Lincoln yet almost universally mourned his death and reacted with expressions of grief and sadness.

0:00 Introduction
0:09 Millard Fillmore
1:42 Franklin Pierce
3:21 James Buchanan
4:20 Andrew Johnson
5:24 Ulysses S. Grant
6:26 Rutherford B. Hayes
7:07 James A. Garfield
8:30 Later Presidents

On April 14, 1865 Lincoln was attending the Ford's Theatre with his wife Mary Todd Lincoln when he was shot in the back of the head by Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth. He died the following day on April 15, 1865. At the time President Abraham Lincoln was killed three former presidents were still living along with eleven men who would one day become president.

His predecessors, Democrats Franklin Pierce and James Buchanan were often in political opposition to the Republican President. Buchanan spoke in a letter to Horatio King about how he had admired Lincoln and considered his death to be a great loss to the nation. Pierce the death as a tragedy yet seemed to show less remorse as his house wasn't decorated in black drapes. Former President Pierce had been one of Lincoln's fiercest critics and had been a friend of Jefferson Davis. He blamed President Lincoln personally and solely for the Civil War.

13th President Millard Fillmore was the earliest president still living at the time Booth killed Lincoln. He and his militia in Buffalo, New York personally escorted Lincoln's funeral train during the procession.

The Civil War general presidents - Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes and James A. Garfield had some of the best documented reactions to Lincoln's killing. They were all fellow Republicans who shared camaraderie in the Union Cause of anti-slavery. Perhaps most devastated of all was Grant who considered Lincoln not just a commander or political ally but also a friend.

Andrew Johnson was serving as Abraham Lincoln's Vice President and would go on to take the office for himself. He reacted with rage upon learning of the shooting and vowed revenge on John Wilkes Booth and the other conspirators.

Less is known of the reactions of later presidents such as Chester A. Arthur, Grover Cleveland, Benjamin Harrison and William McKinley. Even later American Presidents such as Theodore Roosvelt, William Howard Taft and Woodrow Wilson were only children; however, a photo of Lincoln's funeral procession does feature Teddy Roosevelt (along with his brother Elliot) among the watchers. Reacts

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