Located at 1401 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., the site of the Willard Hotel has been occupied by a lodging house of some kind since 1816. It was founded by Henry Willard in 1850; the current hotel was completed in 1901. It is important to remember that when visiting the Willard that many historic events have taken place on the site, but not in that particular building
The first delegation of ambassadors from Japan stayed at the Willard in 1860 and declared the hotel to be more luxurious than the home of the U.S. Secretary of State. In February 1861, it was the setting for the peace conference that was the final effort to avert the Civil War. Just before this conference concluded, Abraham Lincoln was sneaked into the hotel. Secrecy was vital, due to the numerous threats against his life. He lived at the Willard Hotel until his inauguration March 4, 1861.
The hotel's main claim to fame was during the Grant presidency (1869 to 1877). The hotel was only 2 blocks from the White House, and Grant developed the habit of frequenting the hotel lobby for a cigar and a bourbon or brandy. An urban legend is that the term "lobbying" derives from the favor-seekers who would go looking for Grant in the lobby of this hotel.
The inaugural meeting of the American Cancer Association was held at the Willard in 1907. Woodrow Wilson sketched out the early shape of the League of Nations at the hotel in 1916. The Reserve Officers Association was founded there in 1922, and Martin Luther King Jr. wrote the "I Have a Dream" speech while staying at the hotel in 1963. The Willard Hotel is now on the National Register of Historic Places.
Aside from historic events, numerous famous figures have stayed at the Willard. These include numerous American presidents, P.T. Barnum, Charles Dickens, Harry Houdini, Samuel Morse, Mark Twain and Walt Whitman.
