
February 23, 1861
After a plot to kill him is uncovered, Abraham Lincoln secretly enters Washington D.C. to be sworn in as the President of the United States.
After his election in late 1860, there was real concern that Abraham Lincoln would be killed before he could actually become the President of the United States.
A good portion of the country wasn't tickled about their President-elect. What with all the "slavery sucks" talk he'd campaigned on, he wasn't too popular with the sizable "people that wanted to own other people" demographic.
Off the bat, South Carolina decided they were going to be their own country and bounced from the United States by December of 1860. Other states like Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas followed suit before Lincoln even had the keys to the White House.
Needless to say, quite a few people were looking to put some air vents in honest Abe's top hat.
But when undercover agents from the Pinkerton Detective Agency discovered a plot to open the doors to Ford's Theater a little early, things got spicy.
Word on the street was that secessionists in Baltimore planned to murder Lincoln as he passed through their town on his cross country trip to Washington D.C. from his home in Springfield, IL.
Allan Pinkerton himself broke the news to ol' Abey-babey, but Lincoln refused to change his publicly announced tour of notable cities en route to his inauguration. He knew that the country was coming apart at the seams and wanted some face time to help calm his detractors and comfort his supporters.
But Lincoln did realize the legitimacy of the threat, and agreed to one small adjustment in his itinerary. That's when he went full Mission Impossible.
At 5:45 pm on February 22, during a fancy dinner in Harrisburg, PA, Lincoln excused himself and ducked out the back door. He swapped his trademark stove pipe hat for a fuzzy beaver one, and changed into a junky suit. The tallest ever President at 6' 4", Lincoln then slumped over and wrapped a blanket around his shoulders and arms.
Lincoln and Allan Pinkerton crept out of the classy dinner and assumed the guise of a sick man and his caretaker. The men (along with Lincoln's secretary) arrived at a decidedly public train station so as to hide in plain sight; instead of a distinguished politician with military escort they appeared as ordinary travelers.
Kate Warne, playing the role of his sister, called out lovingly to Lincoln at the station which furthered the elaborate ruse. She'd already worked behind the scenes to get a private sleeping car arranged for her "invalid brother" with the train's conductor.
After a quick transfer, the train carrying the soon-to-be 16th President of the United States sped off into the night. With his would-be assassins none the wiser, Lincoln successfully arrived the next morning at 6am in Washington, DC.