7. Abraham Lincoln and smallpox
During the American Civil War, a smallpox outbreak occurred in Washington DC. Lincoln had never been inoculated for the disease, and the President came down with smallpox during the late fall. Some have speculated the President contracted the disease on the train to Pennsylvania to deliver the Gettysburg Address. However, Lincoln’s son Tad already had smallpox, preventing Mary Todd Lincoln from traveling to Pennsylvania with her husband. Lincoln’s smallpox, long treated as a relatively minor case, was in recent years identified as severe and debilitating for some time. During the late fall and early winter of 1863-64, Lincoln was unable to meet with several advisors due to the risk of exposure.
During the period of the disease in which the President remained bedridden his personal valet, William Henry Johnson served as his primary care provider. Lincoln remained on bed rest for three weeks, before returning to light duties with limited visitors after Christmas. By mid-January Johnson contracted the disease, dying of smallpox in a local hospital on January 28, 1864. Lincoln arranged and paid for the loyal valet’s funeral, and has co-signed a loan for his late valet, Lincoln arranged with the lender to pay half of the balance. The lender forgave the rest of the debt. Johnson was buried at Arlington Cemetery, one of 3,000 African-Americans buried there during the Civil War, as citizens rather than soldiers.