Not only a symbol of power, the White House is also said to be the place where many of America’s most souls hide with mysterious and haunting stories to this day.
In a letter that President Harry S. Truman wrote to his wife and daughter, it was revealed that he was often awakened in the middle of the night by knocks on the door, which after he went to check many times, there was no one. When he returned to his room the sound of footsteps and knocking came from the next room.
His bodyguards also confirmed that no one was near his bedroom at that time.
The White House has long been rumored to be the refuge of many spirits. (Photo: Huffington Post)
After President Truman wrote a letter to his wife, his daughter wrote her father a letter in response. In the letter, Margaret Truman shares similar mystical stories. Margaret said that she and her mother were also skeptical about the existence of ghosts in the White House.
This is just one of many ghost stories in the White House handed down from many US presidents. The White House has long been known as a haven for spirits that both presidents and staff say they have encountered.
Small but creepy stories spanning two centuries have made the house at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in the eyes of many Americans the most famous haunted house in this country.
One of the best known stories is about President Abraham Lincoln (1861-1865) and the haunting anecdotes associated with him.
Lincoln once revealed that his son Willie, who died at the White House in 1862 at the age of 11, from typhoid fever regularly “visited” him. Former US first lady Mary Todd Lincoln, who was deeply saddened by the sudden death of her son, also claimed to have seen Willie’s ghost many times.
But not only the spirit of her son, Mary also said that she saw former President Thomas Jefferson playing the violin and the ghost of former President Andrew Jackson.
By the time President Lincoln was assassinated in 1865, many people said they had seen no less than one ghost of the 16th President of the United States.
Grace Coolidge, wife of President Calvin Coolidge (1923-1929), reported seeing the ghost of President Lincoln standing and staring out the window from the Oval Office.
Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, during a visit to the White House in 1942, recounted how she panicked when she saw President Lincoln in a tall hat standing in the hallway late at night.
Ms. Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of President Franklin, who had 12 consecutive years in office from 1933-1945, although never seen, confirmed that former President Lincoln was present everywhere in the White House.
Many people therefore believe that President Lincoln is the spirit that appears in the White House most of the ghosts appearing here.
President Lincoln is said to be the most common ghost in the White House. (Photo: Realtor).
“It’s been said that President Lincoln will come back whenever he feels the country is in trouble,” said one White House tour operator.
In an article published in the Washington Post in 1989, White House director Rex Scouten revealed that President Ronald Reagan once confided to him that his dog would enter any room but his bedroom. Lincoln.
“He just stood outside and barked non-stop,” Scouten said.
One of the more mysterious stories is about Annie Surratt. Some people claim to have seen the ghost of Annie banging on the door begging for the release of her mother, Mary Surratt, executed in 1865 for her part in the plot to assassinate President Lincoln. According to oral stories, the ghost of Anne Surratt will appear at the door of the White House every 7th July, the same day Mary Surrat was taken to be executed.
There are also other stories involving the ghosts of former first ladies.
Abigail Adams was the first lady to live in the White House. She used to use the East Room to dry clothes. Since Abigail’s death, some say she’s been seen walking around in that room with her arms outstretched as if she were holding a bed sheet.
First Lady Dolley Madison, wife of President James Madison, the leader of the United States from 1809 to 1817, had another pastime of tending the garden.
She is also the one who built the Rose Garden next to the Oval Office. During President Woodrow Wilson’s tenure from 1913 to 1921, some workers who were ordered to dig the garden under the orders of first lady Ellen Louis Wilson reported seeing her ghost around the Rose Garden and out. ordered them to stop digging.
Not only appearing at the White House, Madison’s ghost is also said to appear in the house on the corner of 18th Street that she and her husband moved to temporarily after the British burned down the White House during the war in 1812.
“The bells often rang even though there was no one at the gate to ring them. The ghost of a white woman slides up the stairs. Scary screams, miserable groans resounded in the house,” the WP writer described the house in an article published in 1969.