Abraham Lincoin Ghost

There have been several stories about ghosts of former Presidents revisiting the White House. However, the most common and popular is that of Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln's Ghost, or to others as The White House Ghost, is said to have haunted the White House since his death. It is widely believed that when he was president, Lincoln might have known of his assassination before he died

The dream

Lincoln had a dream on April 14, 1865, the day that he was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth. As he told his Cabinet that day:

"In the dream, I was awakened by a faint moaning coming from somewhere nearby. I stood, and began hunting the noise, finally finding my way to the east room, where men and women were shrouded in funeral shawls. I saw a coffin on a dais, and soldiers at either end. A captain stood nearby, and I addressed him 'Who is dead in the White House' say I. 'The President,' is his answer, 'he was killed by an assassin.' In the coffin was a corpse in funeral vestments, but the face was obscured."

Sightings

Lyndon B. Johnson is supposed to have spoken with the ghost of Mr. Lincoln. Johnson, standing in the second floor room that had been Lincoln's office (Lincoln had used the Oval Office as a library), asked "You had a war, you had a Civil Rights movement, you had protesters and critics, what can I do?" And the story goes, the response was "Don't go to the theater." This story is a humorous yarn originated by an anonymous humorist on the staff of Bob Hope.

Lincoln's ghost can see the future, according to some witnesses, mainly White House Press Secretary Marlin Fitzwater in 1990.

In an unkind variant of the story, Lincoln advises his successor that he should go to the theater. The unfriendly variant has been told of many subsequent presidents