Sherry Chandler » Mary Todd Lincoln
Mary Todd Lincoln
Samuel A. Schreiner, Jr. writing in today’s New York Times online:
PRESIDENTS’ DAY is generally reserved for honoring our presidents. But how about the wives of our presidents? And how about presidential wives who have been unfairly maligned over the years? In this regard, there is no better candidate for rehabilitation this holiday than Mary Todd Lincoln.
For years, authors and scholars have claimed that Mary Lincoln was insane. This is simply not true, and a file of documents found in 1975 in a closet in the Manchester, Vt., home of Mary Lincoln’s son Robert proves it.
The article goes on to offer proofs that, contrary to popular opinion, the Lincolns were happily married and entirely in love. I would venture that marriage to powerful men is always complicated. I wonder whether the same kind of article will be written about Bill and Hillary in centuries to come. Shreiner makes Mary Todd sound a bit like Hillary:
With a well-stocked mind and the nerve to speak it, she persuaded her husband to follow her advice in matters like coveted appointments, and this infuriated the men around the president.
But I’m pretty sure this is most-often true of First Ladies. Though many of us like to pretend that the President’s wife is just a smiling hostess, the nation’s housewife, I think most elections give us two for the price of one. Some are just more willing to play the game.
Anyway, I’ve always had a soft spot for Mary Todd Lincoln, a Lexington belle who married into some pretty hard times.
Possibly related posts:
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
1 Comment
1. Georgia Green Stamper replies at 20th February 2006, 11:42 am :
Thank you for calling my attention to this article, Sherry. I, too, have always had a soft spot for Mary Todd Lincoln. I think it is obvious from what I’ve read that Lincoln, himself, was crazy about her. It seems inconsistent from what we know about Lincoln that he would have cherished a shallow, unworthy woman.
Critics also seem to gloss over the impact that the tragic events of Mary Todd’s life may have had on her emotional well-being. If I had buried all but one of my children and had my husband murdered in front of my eyes, I’d certainly be resentful and clinically depressed (which seems quite a different thing than being “crazy.”)
And then there was that awful war. As I get older, I grasp more clearly just how terrible it was, and the toll it took on the national psyche.
And finally - my psychologist daughter tells me that today there is a 1 in 2 chance that an individual will develop dementia before death. Sigh. I always wonder why dementia isn’t mentioned when the talk about “crazy” Mary Todd Lincoln comes up. (On an “up” note - if one does not develop dementia by age 85, one statistically will not. That is a thread to hang on to as each birthday rolls by and I’m still able to think.) Georgia
Leave a comment