JFK - The Legacy, oil painting by Debra Keirce

More than one American President has had to face rocky times during his career.  However, two men who called 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue home will be as remembered for their rocking chairs as for their rocky administrations.

While the kids were rockin' and rollin', John F. Kennedy was just rocking...a lot. 

A simple oak porch rocker with arms helped ease the persistent pain in the JFK's back.  The one he used sold at auction in 1996 for $442,000.

Lincoln is also known for a rocking chair...

A Lincoln rocker is a high back rocker, usually with a mahogany frame.  It is often upholstered or may have a cane back and seat.  It has distinctive "swan neck" arms.  Rumor has it that this was not the President's favorite seat.

Mrs. Lincoln probably wasn't crazy about it either.  It was the chair in which he was sitting on April 14th, 1965, the night he was assassinated at Ford's Theatre.

Even though it was associated with a national tragedy, the Lincoln rocker's scrolled arms and upholstered back style remained quite popular.   There are quite a few of them around.  You may even have one in your home.

They sell for about $200.

Sidebar:

After the assassination, the original Lincoln rocker was confiscated by the War Department to be used as evidence during the trial of the conspirators. In 1866, the rocker was given to the Smithsonian where it remained in storage.

In 1921, a member of the Ford Theatre family asked the government for custody of the rocker.  The government complied.  The theatre Fords sold the chair at auction to another Ford...a member of the automotive Ford family.... for $2,400.  Today the chair can be found in the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan.