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

For your entertainment.

[iammaxhailme]

hearing that people just walked up to an ex-president's house (pierce) and heckled him shows how different the world was

[dr.veronica]

Also worth mentioning that Grant partially blamed himself for Lincoln's death due to the fact that he had been invited to join him, and as such felt that he should have been there to protect him.

[khalifbrown]

Fillmore is always somewhere else when big events happen

[florianseaman]

It really also speaks volumes that the Confederate President Jefferson Davis himself seemed to at least somewhat mourn Lincoln, after Lincoln was shot and killed Davis wrote in a memoir „Next to the end of the Confederacy itself, the Death of Abraham Lincoln was the darkest day for South“

[glnnchrstphr]

"The greatest man I have ever known." Quote by George Santos.

[ethanfairweather]

For the record, Abraham Lincoln was Theodore Roosevelt’s hero. He idolized President Lincoln.

[davidpumpkinsjr.]

Fillmore was a dick, but people throwing ink at his house for not displaying signs of mourning when he wasn't even home; that's not cool.
I'm surprised Franklin Pierce was sober enough to be that eloquent.
Another reason Grant didn't go to the theater that night was because Julia Grant didn't like Mary Lincoln.

[ungusbungus]

Garfield talking about Lincoln’s fate not knowing he would end up the same way:

[chriscothran]

I can imagine being in the crowd in front of Pierce's home and as he's halfway through his rant saying, "Just put the damn drapes up Frank."

[gregrambo]

"Manhunt. The 12 day search for Lincoln's killers" by John Swanson is about as riveting a book as you'll ever read about the assassination.

[Skip]

Could you possibly do one about how different presidents reacted to John Tyler’s ascension? We’d love to hear your talented research on the subject

[west]

I'm honestly kind of shocked by the fact that there is a photo of Theodore Roosevelt at Lincoln's funeral procession, not only was this historic moment captured but it was preserved to the present.

[cojiro]

That's crazy that Roosevelt is in that photo of Lincoln's funeral procession.

[nmgscp]

Harding's reaction to Lincoln assassination: he kicked in his mother's belly

[tomsullivan]

Martin Van Buren was on friendly terms with Abe.He lived until 1862.

[judyradtke]

Even though Buchanan was a terrible president, at least he felt more sympathy at Lincoln 's assassination than Fillmore or Pierce.

[robertortiz-wilson]

Thank you for researching this and presenting it here! Fantastic information to know!

[saino]

This is a fascinating account of opinions and reactions that I've never seen (or read) before, and I enjoyed it immensely.

[TheOriginalJphyper]

Even if they didn't like him, they still respected him. That's a trait that's sorely lacking among today's leaders.

[BallyBoy]

Such a tiny channel with 3.83k subscribers, yet you've produced such a piece of gold. Really glad YouTube dropped this into my feed. Thanks for your hard work, I know research is rough (I have to do a fair share myself).