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Abraham Lincoln
An 18" by 24" poster, suitable for framing.

Ideal for a kid's room, a school, a library, a club meeting room, or anywhere you would like to see the President who held our country together during the Civil War dealing with a lesser challenge.

Add a note requesting it, and the artist will dedicate your poster with a personal message.

President Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) played chess. One of his chess sets is displayed in the Smithsonian. He did play an occasional game at the White House.

One time he was playing chess with Judge Samuel Hubbel Treat, a close friend since the days they were admitted to practice law in Illinois on the same day. Lincoln's wife sent their son, Tad (Thomas), to say dinner was ready. When his father continued with his chess game, Tad went over to the game and kicked the chess board off the table.

The judge was speechless, but Lincoln said mildly, "Come, Tad," and they walked away together to have dinner. Lincoln bought a chess set for his son Tad, which is on display at the National Museum of American History.

Historians refer to this as an example of Lincoln's calm approach to dealing with a crisis, a trait that would serve him well during the Civil War. We can only speculate about his understanding and forgiveness as he showed Tad, how Lincoln would have demonstrated his statemenship to heal his country after the Civil War had he not been assassinated.

Although Tad has his uppity moments, he was best known for his dedication to the Sanitary Commission, a group that raised funds for bandages, hospitals and so forth to aid the wounded during the Civil War. At 11 years of age, he kept coming up with fund-raising events for them.

Judge Treat was a quiet, thoughtful man, fond of reading and respected by his peers as a man devoted to his judicial duties. His wife bore him no children and historians speculate that he was a lonely man in his latter years, perhaps enjoying Tad's antics in some vicarious way.

MegaChess commissioned renowned historical researcher and painter Maria Radnoti to look into the details and to paint the result, which is the poster.