Tuesday, September 6, 2011

History Tidbit Twist

On this day, September 6, 1901, President McKinley was shot, mortally wounded, while attending the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York.  He was taken to an ill equipped hospital at the fair, and the only surgeon available to operate was a gynecologist.  President McKinley died on September 14, 1901 from the gunshot wound.
Now the twist,
Robert Todd Lincoln, the eldest son of Abraham Lincoln, and the only one of Abraham's sons to live past his teenage years was present and arrived shortly after President McKinley fell.  He was there as a result of a Presidential Invitation to the event.
In 1881, on July 2nd, Robert was invited by President James Garfield and was present on the train platform and supposedly an eye witness to his assignation on that day.  At the time Robert Todd Lincoln was Garfield's serving Secretary of War.
Robert Todd Lincoln refused Presidential Invitations after the incident with President McKinley.  He was at attendance for the dedication of the Lincoln Memorial in 1922, where President Warren G. Harding and former President William Howard Taft were both in attendance also.
One report said that Robert Todd arrived at the Ford Theater shortly after his father was shot, another reference said he was not present.  One interesting side note concerning Robert and the Booths' is that Robert Todd Lincoln was saved from possible serious injury or death on a train platform by Edwin Booth, the brother of John Wilkes Booth, before his father was shot by John Wilkes.

0 comments:

 
Design by Wordpress Theme | Bloggerized by Free Blogger Templates | coupon codes