<P> In its early history, Brooks Brothers was known for introducing the ready - to - wear suit to American customers . In the mid-nineteenth century, Brooks Brothers outfitted United States President Abraham Lincoln and considered him a loyal customer . At his second inauguration, Abraham Lincoln wore a coat specially crafted for him by Brooks Brothers . Hand - stitched into the coat's lining was a design featuring an eagle and the inscription, "One Country, One Destiny ." He was wearing the coat and a Brooks Brothers suit when he was assassinated . Brooks Brothers also profited from slavery by manufacturing and selling clothes made specifically for slaves to wear . As a supplier of soldiers' uniforms during the Civil War, Brooks Brothers became a target of outrage for its allegedly shoddy production . With a contract from New York state to supply uniforms for the New York Volunteers, Brooks Brothers took shredded and sometimes decaying rags, glued them together and stitched them into uniforms . They would fall apart in the rain and were the subject of ridicule from other regiments . </P> <P> Brooks Brothers has outfitted 40 of the 45 American Presidents . United States President Ulysses S. Grant began his association with Brooks Brothers during the Civil War, when he ordered tailored uniforms for the Union officers in the American Civil War . President Theodore Roosevelt was fond of Brooks Brothers' clothes; he even ordered his dress uniform for the Spanish--American War at Brooks Brothers . Many more presidents, including Herbert Hoover, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama were known to wear Brooks Brothers clothing lines . Franklin Roosevelt wore a Brooks Brothers collared cape and fedora at the Yalta Conference in 1945 . </P> <P> In the late nineteenth century, Brooks Brothers tailored many distinctive uniforms for elite regiments of the New York National Guard, as well as uniforms for New York state troops and Union officers during the Civil War . At that time, contracts for uniforms were notorious as an example of corruption in how they were obtained and the poor quality of the clothing delivered, the uniforms often having been made of pressed rag so that they fell apart in the first rains . </P> <P> The Golden Fleece symbol was adopted as the company's trademark in 1850 . A sheep suspended in a ribbon had long been a symbol of British woolen merchants . Dating from the fifteenth century, the image had been the emblem of the Knights of the Golden Fleece, founded by Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy . In Classical Greek mythology, a magical flying ram, or Golden Fleece, was sought by Jason and the Argonauts . </P>

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