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November-December 2000
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Open Book |
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| Illustration by Lynne Foy |
Children in the White House were something new for Americans, and citizens began showering them with presents. The most valued, and the most lasting, were the pets. Someone presented to Willie a beautiful little pony, to which he was devoted; he rode the animal nearly every day and, being a generous boy, often allowed Tad to ride, even though the younger boy was so small that his legs stuck straight out on the sides. Especially cherished were two small goats, Nanko and Nannie, which frisked on the White House grounds and, when they had an opportunity, wrought destruction in the White House garden. But they were not entirely outside animals; like the public at large, they had the run of the White House. On one occasion Tad harnessed Nanko up to a chair, which served as a sled, and drove triumphantly through the East Room, where a reception was in progress. As dignified matrons held up their hoop skirts, Nanko pulled the yelling boy around the room and out through the door again....
[D]uring his first year in office, Lincoln had all too little
time for his sons, for he was busy learning his job. The Department
of State sent over a detailed memorandum of the clothing that
a president was expected to wear. Obediently, Lincoln followed
directions, though, with his ungainly figure and his immense
height, his coat always seemed rumpled and his cravat askew.
His huge hands, enlarged by years of plowing and splitting rails,
were never comfortable in the white kid gloves that the State
Department prescribed; once, holding up his hands encased in
a new pair of these gloves, he said they looked like canvassed
hams.
