Robert Todd Lincoln

Lawyer and businessman (1843–1926), eldest son of President Abraham Lincoln, who served as US Secretary of War (1881–85) under Presidents Garfield and Arthur before a later career as president of the Pullman Company. Matters to this vault as the War Department official whose refusal to authorize a further rescue attempt — after Lieutenant Garlington's 1883 relief mission to the stranded Lady Franklin Bay Expedition failed — drew public criticism from Chief Signal Officer William B. Hazen, criticism that (per a Tier-4 account still awaiting Tier 1–2 confirmation) triggered Hazen's own 1885 court-martial (claim-hazen-1885-court-martial-was-for-criticizing-lincoln-not-the-expedition-disaster). Arthur gave Hazen only a mild reprimand, and the press sided with Hazen over the Secretary.

References

• claim-hazen-1885-court-martial-was-for-criticizing-lincoln-not-the-expedition-disaster

• question-verify-hazen-court-martial-charge-against-lincoln-at-tier-1-2

• 2026-10-12: Two independent Tier 2 sources (a Smithsonian archival finding aid and Cleveland Abbe's 1887 obituary of Hazen) now confirm Hazen's criticism targeted Lincoln's inaction specifically — previously this page's framing rested on a Tier-4-only account (claim-hazen-1885-court-martial-was-for-criticizing-lincoln-not-the-expedition-disaster).