“The American Presidency”
Presidential Artifacts on Display

Among the hundreds of artifacts that document the office of the president, the following rare items are included in "The American Presidency: A Glorious Burden." The artifacts help tell the story of the public and private lives of America's leaders. For more information, or to request electronic versions of most of the images listed below, please contact Alicia Cordes at 651-296-4681 or alicia.cordes@mnhs.org.

Artifacts from the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History

• The inkstand used by Abraham Lincoln to write the first draft of the Emancipation Proclamation
• An iron wedge used by young Lincoln to split rails
• Cell key and shackles from conspirators in Lincoln's assassination
• The medical kit used at Lincoln's autopsy on April 15, 1865
• A portable writing desk, field telescope and surveyor's compass used by George Washington
• A silk gown worn by First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy for a White House reception
• A piece of Franklin Roosevelt's 1934 birthday cake
• An ornate musket presented to Thomas Jefferson at the end of the Tripolitan War

Artifacts from the Minnesota Historical Society's "From the Great State of Minnesota" exhibit component

• Handwritten ballots cast for Abraham Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin in 1860 by the Minnesota Electoral College
• Paper candle lanterns carried in the 1888 election by supporters of Democratic nominee President Grover Cleveland and Republican nominee Benjamin Harrison
• An engraved silver water pitcher set used at the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis in 1892
• A 1904 bandana bordered with a likeness of "cowboy" President Teddy Roosevelt
• A paper elephant sign supporting [Harold] "Stassen for President" (circa 1948 - 1952)
• A "We Like Ike" sign circulated by the Hennepin County Republican Campaign Committee in the 1950s
• A 1962 "New Frontier" board game created to refute President John F. Kennedy's vision for America
• A 1968 peace-print dress worn to support Democratic nominee Eugene McCarthy
• A printed mini-dress featuring prominent African-American leaders, actors and athletes, created to support Vice President Hubert Humphrey's 1968 campaign