Through Five Administrations: Reminiscences of Colonel William H. Crook, Body-Guard to President Lincoln

A fascinating behind-the-scenes account of life at the White House in the second half of the nineteenth century

Hired in January 1865 as one of four White House bodyguards assigned to protect the president, Colonel William H. Crook—a Union army veteran and member of the Washington Police Force—developed a close, mutually respectful relationship with Abraham Lincoln. To his profound regret, Crook was not on duty the night that the Great Emancipator was assassinated—if he had been, one of the...