He was born just ten months after the death of his older brother Eddie, who died of tuberculosis earlier that year just shy of his fourth birthday.

If they pulled down all the books from the shelves, bent the points of all the pens, overturned inkstands, scattered law papers over the floor or threw the pencils into the spittoon, it never disturbed the serenity of their father's good nature.

When his father's friend Edward Baker was killed in action at the Battle of Ball's Bluff in 1861, ten-year-old Willie wrote a eulogy for him that was published in the National Republican.

[5] Another time, when his father took him to Chicago in 1859 on a business trip, a wide-eyed Willie wrote home to a friend: "This town is a very beautiful place.

"[6] When Lincoln took office as President of the United States, Willie and Tad moved into the White House with the rest of their family.

After some days, Tad began to grow stronger, but Willie gradually weakened; Abraham and Mary spent much time at his bedside.

[11][12] The 2017 novel Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders takes place during and after Willie's death and depicts Abraham's journey through his grief.

A fictional version of Willie's death is also depicted in a biographical action horror mashup novel, Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter, by Seth Grahame-Smith and the subsequent movie of the same name based on the novel.