Christmas for Tad: A Story of Mary and Abraham Lincoln

In the waning days of 1863, a young Thomas “Tad” Lincoln waits impatiently as his father, President Abraham Lincoln, wrestles with a stubborn wax seal. The scene is intimate and oddly playful—a little boy in a miniature Union colonel’s uniform watches his father’s long, bony fingers struggle with a knife, while the house is heavy with the chill of December and the distant rumble of a war still raging.

Through their banter about axes, draft riots, and the weight of responsibility, the story paints a vivid portrait of a president balancing public duty with private fatherhood. Listeners are drawn into the gentle humor and earnest curiosity of Tad, who sees Christmas as a promise of surprise even as the nation braces for conflict. The opening invites an intimate glimpse of a historic household, where ordinary moments become a lens on the era’s larger struggles.