A look inside the daily routine of Abraham Lincoln, who started working before breakfast, forgot to eat regular meals, and was known to walk through the White House late at night

Lincoln typically woke up around 7 a.m. He'd work for an hour before breakfast, and sometimes headed out into the early morning to grab a newspaper from a newsboy.

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Source: "Lincoln's Last Months," "Abraham Lincoln: A Biography"

First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln knew that her husband often simply forgot about meals. She'd sometimes invite guests to eat breakfast with the family, in order to ensure the president would remember to come.

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Source: "Lincoln's Last Months," "Abraham Lincoln: A Biography"

Lincoln typically took a simple breakfast: eggs, toast, and coffee.

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Source: "Lincoln's Last Months," "Abraham Lincoln: A Biography"

According to biographer William E. Gienapp, the president would head to the East Wing of the White House to work after breakfast.

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Source: "Abraham Lincoln and Civil War America: A Biography"

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Lincoln's usual tasks included speech-writing, Cabinet meetings, meet-and-greets with the public, and responding to a mountain of correspondence.

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Source: "Abraham Lincoln and Civil War America: A Biography," Fast Company

He had a particularly unusual method for assembling speeches, historian Doris Kearns Goodwin told Fast Company: jotting down thoughts on scraps of paper, and hoarding them all in his desk.

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Source: Fast Company

"When the time came for the speech, he'd just pick these little thoughts out," Goodwin said. "Somehow he managed to get the Gettysburg Address from those scraps."

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Source: Fast Company

An avid reader, Lincoln stayed up to date on news reports. As a lawyer in Illinois, he had reportedly annoyed colleagues with his habit of lying on the law firm couch and reading entire newspapers aloud, in an effort to retain more information.

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Source: "Abraham Lincoln and Joseph Smith: How Two Contemporaries Changed the Face of American History"

Lincoln sometimes took a break for lunch at one o'clock, but often skipped a midday meal. He did have a fondness for apples, however, and enjoyed eating them with nuts, cheese, and crackers, according to food blog The Questing Feast.

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Source: The Questing Feast

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The First Lady insisted on taking her husband on late afternoon carriage rides, for his health. Sometimes, Lincoln would also take a solitary ride on horseback.

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Source: "Abraham Lincoln and Civil War America: A Biography"

Dinner was at six. Lincoln's favorites were relatively simple dishes like oyster stew, corn pone, chicken fricassee, and apple pie for desert. He typically skipped alcohol, and mostly drank water.

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Source: The Questing Feast, "Abraham Lincoln: A Life"

According to biographer Michael Burlingame, he'd sometimes hang out with friends and colleagues in the White House's Red Room after dinner.

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Source: "Abraham Lincoln: A Life"

Lincoln would usually retire to bed at 10 p.m. or 11 p.m. On nights when important news about the war was imminent, the president would stay up as late as 2 a.m., waiting with the War Department's telegraph operators, Burlingame writes.

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Source: "Lincoln's Sanctuary: Abraham Lincoln and the Soldiers' Home," Van Winkle's, "Abraham Lincoln: A Life"

After the death of 11-year-old Willie Lincoln in February 1862, Lincoln's youngest child — 9-year-old Tad — would often sleep on a small trundle bed in the president's bedroom. The president himself struggled with insomnia, and was known to take late night walks.

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Source: "Lincoln's Sanctuary: Abraham Lincoln and the Soldiers' Home," Van Winkle's, "Abraham Lincoln: A Life," Mr. Lincoln's White House