My upcoming novel, The Potusgeists, in which a new president discovers that the White House is haunted by the ghosts of former presidents and first ladies, is based on the actual history of ghost sightings at the White House.
The White House is one of the most haunted houses in America. Ghosts of former presidents and first ladies have been showing up there at least since the Civil War. They have been seen numerous times by the first families themselves.
Harry Truman was sure the place was spooked. He would hear knocks at his bedroom door but find no one outside in the hall. He jokingly wrote to his wife that he expected some deceased presidents might soon come out of their frames to give him advice, which he welcomed.
Mary Lincoln remarked that Thomas Jefferson played his violin regularly in the Yellow Oval Room. Abigail Adams has been seen in the East Room with her arms outstretched, forever doing her laundry. Dolley Madison has made a permanent job out of taking care of the Rose Garden. Andrew Jackson walks the halls, stomping and swearing. William Henry Harrison rummages through the attic, looking for something he left behind. John Tyler haunts the Blue Room, perpetually nervous about proposing to his second wife.
Abraham Lincoln, one of the most frequent sights, tends to appear during national crises. Winston Churchill and Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands reported encountering him in the Lincoln Bedroom during World War II. Teddy Roosevelt, Grace Coolidge, and Herbert Hoover also claimed to have seen him. Eleanor Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower, and Jacqueline Kennedy said they felt his presence.
Sometimes people who weren’t part of the first families appear. David Burnes, the man who sold the land the White House is built on, has been known to call out “I’m David Buurrrnes.” Annie Surratt, the daughter of Mary Surratt, convicted for taking part in the Lincoln assassination, has banged on the front door to beg mercy for her condemned mother. An unknown British soldier from the War of 1812 carries a torch across the grounds.
Are there really ghosts in the White House? The people who have lived there certainly seemed to think so.