Abraham Lincoln statues

[David Lockmiller]

Vinnie Ream, an American Sculptor by Edward S. Cooper (2004) p. 18:

Vinnie came for a half-hour session with the president on most days when he was in the White House. She recalled that there was little conversation at these times. Lincoln would roam around the office, apparently lost in thought, or slouch at his desk with bowed head. . . . Often he would stand by the window and look out upon the White House lawn. He told Vinnie that he used to watch his son Willie play there every afternoon and added that Vinnie reminded him of Willie, who had died two years before. Tears would sometimes stream down his face as he talked about his lost son. Vinnie said later that Lincoln, known for his frontier humor, "never told a funny story to me. He rarely smiled. He rarely smiled." Her enduring impression of Lincoln was one of profound sorrow.