America's historic White House and the ghostly tales that still haunt it

Abigail Adams, America’s second First Lady, has been said to appear in the East Room, reportedly attending to her former duties.

As the US welcomed its 47th President, tales of the White House’s spectral past surfaced online, spotlighting eerie accounts associated with the presidential residence. Built in the late 18th century, the White House has not only housed presidents but also, some believe, the spirits of its past inhabitants. These tales, frequently reported by US media outlets, have woven ghostly figures into the fabric of White House lore, making it one of the most well-known haunted sites in America.

Among the most famous spectres said to linger in the White House is President Abraham Lincoln. Assassinated in 1865, Lincoln’s ghost is often reported in the Yellow Oval Room and the Lincoln Bedroom. High-profile figures such as First Lady Grace Coolidge, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and even Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands reportedly encountered Lincoln’s apparition in these rooms, solidifying his status as the White House’s most frequent and renowned ghost.

One of the earliest mentions of ghostly encounters came from President Harry S Truman, who documented his own unsettling experience in 1946 in a letter to his wife, archived at the Truman Presidential Library. In the letter, Truman recounted being disturbed by mysterious noises in the White House halls: “I jumped up and put on my bathrobe, opened the door, and no one there,” he wrote.

After checking down the hallway and in his family’s rooms, he returned to bed, only to hear further sounds in the corridor: “Jumped and looked and no one there! The damned place is haunted sure as shootin’.” Truman even joked with his wife, saying, “You and Margie had better come back and protect me before some of these ghosts carry me off.”

Lincoln’s ghost isn’t the only spirit believed to linger. Abigail Adams, America’s second First Lady, has been said to appear in the East Room, reportedly attending to her former duties. Adams’ spirit is often accompanied by the faint scent of lavender and damp clothing, a characteristic likely linked to her historical use of the East Room as a space to hang laundry.

In a more recent account, former President George W Bush’s daughter Jenna Bush Hager spoke of her own strange encounter during her father’s presidency. She and her sister Barbara heard music emanating from the fireplace in their room on two separate occasions.

In a 2018 interview, Jenna recalled the unsettling experience, describing how they were awakened by piano music from the 1920s followed by opera music a week later. “Our phone rang, and I woke up, and all of a sudden we heard like 1920s piano music coming out of our fireplace. It was like the middle of the night, and you can feel the music out of the fireplace,” she explained on "The Kelly Clarkson Show".