When Robert was 20, he fell between a moving train and the station platform when a man quickly grabbed Robert and pulled him to safety, saving his life. Robert quickly recognized the good Samaritan as the famous actor Edwin T. Booth. If this name sounds familiar it’s because Edwin’s infamous brother, John Wilkes Booth, assassinated Robert Lincoln’s father one year later.
A couple of other strange things about his life is that he was with President Garfield at a train station when the President was gunned down. He was also with President McKinley when he was killed by an assassin. Feeling like he was bad luck he got out of politics and wouldn't even attend the opening of the Lincoln Memorial in 1922 because President Taft would be there.