Given the slowness of travel and the likely level of crisis in the South I cannot imagine a serving President going abroad in the 1860s
When Grant left office he did travel abroad, his trip to Japan was covered to a degree by the newspapers.
A good point. I would see Lincoln and his family traveling only once he left office in 1869. At that point some newspapers might send along a reporter or two, but not much else.
One of the reporters could be Mark Twain.
I think those two would really hit it off.
That could be rather interesting.
I have to wonder, suppose Mr. Lincoln travels to Jerusalem and decides it wasn't the only place he wanted to see? He starts traveling all over the world because, now that he's no longer President, why not?
He may not travel all over the world, but any famous American traveling to Jerusalem would hit a number of European stops along the way. London, Paris, Rome, that kind of thing.
What would the reaction to him in Europe be?
I can imagine that there would be some people in Britain at least that would like to dine with him.
Obviously he's out of office but he's still a former head of state and a very notable figure so he still might be obliged to do some things with the US ambassador for a while.
If he lives long enough, he could make the trip as a former president.