That same year, Wikoff then went to Europe, where he acted as a diplomatic agent for the United States, Britain, and France at different times,[4] and even spent some time in prison in Italy.[1] Upon returning to America, he was responsible for the successful tour by famous dancer Fanny Elssler in 1840.[3] In 1852, after a sensational trial in front of the High Court of Genoa, he and a conspirator, Frenchman Louis Vannaud, were sentenced to 15 months in prison for attempting to force an heiress, Miss G. C. Gamble, into marriage in order to gain access to her fortune.[5][6] Wikoff became a close friend of First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln, which created some scandalous gossip.[4] Likely due to this relationship, Wikoff was involved in leaking portions of Abraham Lincoln's 1861 State of the Union Address to the press, which he possibly obtained from Mary Todd Lincoln.[7][8]
Napoleon Louis Bonaparte, First President of France; Biographical and Personal Sketches, Including a Visit to the Prince at the Castle of Ham. New York: George P. Putnam, 1849
My Courtship and its Consequences. New York: J. C. Derby, 1855
The Adventures of a Roving Diplomatist. New York: W. P. Fetridge, 1857