Apparently, some of the presidents and their family members who have lived in the White House over the years have enjoyed their experience so much that they're hard-pressed to leave. According to some very reliable - and, in some cases, quite notable - witnesses, a number of them still reside in the presidential abode, and appear to have no intention of leaving.
Certainly, every old house has the suspicion of ghosts surrounding it, but one of the more celebrated of such houses is none other than the White House – the President’s very abode. Although we can never truly know which tales are the mere fancy of an overactive imagination, the stories that have circulated regarding the White House have some astonishing evidence to back them up – by some rather influential people.
Abraham Lincoln
One of the most frequent sightings is that of former President Abraham Lincoln. A wide variety of guests have reported seeing his stately figure in or near his bedroom on frequent occasions, and some have refused to use this room as their guest chambers. Although he never actually slept there, history has shown that he used the room as his personal office or cabinet room, where he used to go to work or collect his thoughts. His apparition, however, has also been sighted in other locations around the White House.
Grace Coolidge was the first person to ever report seeing the ghostly figure of Lincoln. At the time of the sighting, he was said to have been standing – hands clasped behind his back – and staring out of one of the windows in the Oval Office.
One of Franklin Roosevelt’s staff members spied Lincoln’s ghostly figure sitting on the bed in what was once his bedroom, pulling his boots on his feet. So frightened was she that she simply screamed and fled, not returning to the room.
Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands was disturbed by a knocking at her door one night, as she was preparing to retire in the room across the hall from what’s known as Lincoln’s bedroom. Upon opening the door, she was greeted by the ghost of the 16th President himself. Without saying a word, he simply looked at her and walked away. She was reported to have fainted dead away and spent the night lying on the floor.
Knowing full well that the spirit of Lincoln was known for knocking on doors within the confines of the White House, President Harry Truman wasn’t surprised at all when, upon hearing someone knock on his door at 3:00 a.m., found that it was simply Abe Lincoln himself paying a nighttime visit. Truman’s daughter, Margaret, had also reported strange encounters with the former President.
Winston Churchill flatly refused to sleep in the room that was once known as Lincoln’s sleeping chamber. After having sighted the ghost of Lincoln himself, he insisted upon staying in a different room altogether. Apparently, just after Churchill had left the bathtub and headed for the bedroom – wearing nothing but his cigar – he came face-to-face with Abe, at which time he had the wit to say, “Good evening, Mr. President. You seem to have me at a disadvantage.” At that, Churchill reported, Lincoln simply smiled gently and vanished.
Although most presidents – who served after the sightings of Lincoln’s ghost were reported – took to the hauntings in a good-natured way, the one exception was former President Richard Nixon, who was known to have ordered the spirit to “Quit messing up my damned recording devices!” Hey, there’s a surprise.
According to Tobias Johnson – a butler since the days of the Kennedy Administration – Lincoln’s ghost is always quite polite and typically seeks to gain your attention with a light tap on your shoulder or a quiet cough.
Among the many witnesses to the various sightings of President Lincoln – aside from the ones previously noted – were Theodore and Eleanor Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower, Harry Truman, Jacqueline Kennedy, Lady Bird Johnson and Maureen Reagan.
Honest Abe wasn’t the only ghost who has been reported to haunt the White House, however. According to a variety of sources, there are a number of others – both presidential and otherwise – who have decided to take up permanent residence there, as well.
Other Presidential Specters
Although the ghost of Abraham Lincoln is said to be the most active – and most popular – within the confines of the White House, there are many reports of other presidential figures who have come back to their local haunt.
According to a number of witnesses, President Harrison has been seen and hard rummaging through the attic of the White House, looking for something within the contents of old boxes that are stored there.
Andrew Jackson has been seen enjoying the benefits of the canopy bed in what was once his bedroom, according to eyewitnesses. In addition, members of the White House staff often hear the sounds of laughter coming from the room, and have reported a cold spot that often presents itself, as well.
Another report has Andrew Jackson stomping about and swearing in the Rose Room. This was witnessed a number of times by none other than Mary Todd Lincoln.
Also seen by Mary Todd Lincoln was the ghostly figure of John Tyler, the tenth president of the United States.
Women, Children and Non-Presidential Men
Of the apparitions that seem to have made the White House their home, not all of them are former presidents – or even men.
The wife of President John Adams has been seen by numerous people who have been guests of the White House. Since she preferred to do her own laundry, and chose a particularly sunny area – the East Room – she’s often seen walking about holding piles of laundry or hanging freshly washed linens on the line.
Dolly Madison has been seen in the rose garden on several occasions, and is said to have appeared when Edith Wilson – wife of Woodrow Wilson – made plans to have the rose garden replanted. As the gardeners prepared to go to work, Dolly appeared to them and told them to leave her garden alone and not bother her arrangement. The gardeners were so frightened that they fled in terror and refused to make any changes to the rose garden. To this day, it’s still arranged in the same way as it was when Dolly Madison was alive and well in the White House.
Willie Lincoln, one of the son’s of President Lincoln who died in his childhood at the White House, has been seen by a number of witnesses – including White House staff members – particularly in the area of what is referred to as Lincoln’s bedroom. At times, both he and his presidential father are seen there together.
Several diplomats and their wives who have visited the White House have complained of what appears to be a British soldier approaching them throughout the night, attempting to light their bed on fire with a torch that he’s holding in his hand. He’s believed to be the ghost of a British soldier who was involved in the burning of the White House in 1812.
The ghost of Major Henry Rathbone, who’d accompanied President Lincoln to the theater on the night of his assassination, has been witnessed by a number of observers. Another victim of John Wilkes Booth on that fateful night, Rathbone was stabbed in the head and neck region while attempting to escape the assassination scene. Although he lived, he never mentally recovered from the head trauma that he received and, eventually, killed himself and his wife 18 years after the fact.
In addition to its human counterparts, a spectral black cat has also been viewed by a multitude of people. According to witnesses, the cat appears in the basement of the White House immediately preceding a national tragedy, such as in the case of the Stock Market crash and the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
Haunting Sounds and Smells
Not every spirit manifests itself, but make their presence known through a variety of other means, including sound and smell. A number of witnesses – including guests and members of staff – have reported hearing spectral noises in various parts of the White House, some of which has been bits of ghostly conversation. Still others have experienced the presence of a spirit through the sensation of smell.
The wife of President Grover Cleveland – the first woman to give birth in the White House – can be heard screaming from the pangs of childbirth on occasion.
Of all of the hallways within the structure of the White House, perhaps the most commonly visited by spirits is the second floor hallway. Quite often, footsteps can be clearly heard pacing back and forth – believed by most to be those of Abraham Lincoln.
When President Grant was in office, a number of his staff members reported having conversations with the spirit of Willie Lincoln – one of the sons of Abraham Lincoln who died during his childhood.
David Burns, who gave the government the land on which the White House stands, has never been seen, but has been heard on a number of occasions. Each time, witnesses claim to hear him say – quite clearly – “I am David Burns,” and sometimes, “I’m Mr. Burns.”
In the East Room of the White House, the smell of damp clothing and soap are commonly experienced, and believed to be another manifestation of Abigail Adams, who used to wash and hang the laundry in that room.
In addition to the more common sightings and sounds or smells that are associated with specific specters, there’s also the occasional rumbling of an encounter with one of the more unlikely figures from history. Perhaps the most common of these is the sighting of Thomas Jefferson in the distant past, but no specific details are available and no evidence exists that would help to corroborate such a story.
Of all of the spirits that are reported to walk the floors of the White House, Abraham Lincoln seems to be the one whose sightings have a specific purpose. His ghost is said to become particularly active during times of war, when he’s seen and heard restlessly pacing the hallways and knocking on bedroom doors throughout the day and night. Also during such times, witnesses tend to see his gaunt figure standing at the window of his bedroom or the Oval Office, looking out over what were once the battlefields during the Civil War.
The fact that Lincoln is sighted so frequently is of particular interest, since both he and his wife – Mary Todd Lincoln – were known to have conducted séances in the White House, in an attempt to contact the spirits of their deceased sons. Both strong believers in the existence of the afterlife, the Lincolns devoted a great deal of time trying to establish contact with the youngsters, and were said to be quite open-minded about interaction between the two planes of existence.
During recent administrations, no new sightings have been reported, leaving us to wonder whether or not these experiences weren’t, perhaps, the products of various hyperactive imaginations, or if our forefathers and their various family members have finally found peace beyond the strictures of the earth’s boundaries.