Pictorial representations Lincoln’s deathbed

[LincolnToddFan]

Tad behaved amazingly well, without the trauma of being exposed to the horror of the Petersen House. As a result, he was able to console his mother and comport himself in a mature manner with his memories of his beloved father intact, not dying bruised and disfigured. Who knows if it would have been the same if he had been there to see it all? BTW, he did view the remains of his father at the White House and would have been able to say his good-byes to him at that time. Mary also took him to Oak Ridge Cemetery later that year.

I just don't believe he needed to be at the bloody death scene, but I guess we are all just going to have to disagree on this one.

As for James Swanson's suggestion that Mary should have left the dying AL's side to go comfort Tad, I still think it absurd and hypocritical. She would have been ripped to shreds if she'd done that, with her many enemies seeing her absence as proof that she did not really love her husband!