DRAFT - Awaiting COP Review and Approval: A few of U.S. history’s most famous figures survived smallpox or were touched by the disease in other significant ways. Abe Lincoln suffered through a bout of smallpox while in the White House, shortly after delivering the Gettysburg Address. As young men, prior to their presidencies, both George Washington and Andrew Jackson contracted smallpox. Jackson also lost a close family member to smallpox (his brother) as did Benjamin Franklin whose son was only four when the virus claimed his life. Though he himself was never inflicted with the disease, Thomas Jefferson was a vocal proponent of vaccination. As a contemporary of Edward Jenner, Jefferson’s backing was an important force during the vaccine movement’s infancy.