LINCOLN, MARY TODD.   Term Paper ID:26489 Click to get this paper

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Paper Abstract: Life,character, relationships, family life, impact of Presidency,her effects on Lincoln the man & the President. Paper Introduction: Mary Todd Lincoln (1818-82) was the first presidential wife to become the subject of extensive criticism and a center of controversy. Though, in any other time and circumstances, Lincoln might have made a fine first lady--with her education, social skills, intelligence, taste, and willingness to work on her husband's behalf--the impending secession and war raised political advocacy to such a pitch that her Southern origins, her spending, her manners, and even her appearance were attacked by enemies on both sides of many questions. But, in addition to her excellent qualities, Lincoln also had a strong tendency to express herself freely and too quickly, to allow her temper and anxieties to get the better of her, to be injudicious in her support of various office-seekers, and to spend money as a consolation for her emotional troubles. The years in the White Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. [xliii]Ibid., 154. When they purchased a home, however, Lincoln, whose "training hadbeen for a position in a fairly idle, rather glamorous, social world," hadto undertake the management of "a home run on very thrifty lines andsupported by a slender income."[iv] For the next few years she was fullyoccupied with cooking, cleaning, sewing, and child-rearing--jobs which had,for the most part, been done by slaves in her family's Kentucky home. Behind the Scenes: Thirty Years a Slave and Four Years in the White House. Wood and then Benjamin Brown French,appointed by Abraham Lincoln, soon discovered that they were merelyauxiliaries to Lincoln's desire to shop. . She was frequently criticized, for instance, forher extensive dйcolletage, but, as Keckley notes, "she had a beautiful neckand arm, and low dresses were becoming to her."[xxxv] On one occasion thePresident, noting the long train of a gown commented that "our cat has along tail tonight," but added, "Mother, it is my opinion, if some of thattail was nearer the head, it would be in better style."[xxxvi] She merelyresponded by looking offended and did not pursue the matter. Crowell, 1973), 31. The quest for favors for her friends was endless, however, and thePresident tried to meet as many of her requests for lower-levelappointments as he could. As her mention of "womanly suggestions" indicates, however,Lincoln did not conceive of herself as truly entitled to inhabit "both themale sphere of public affairs and the female's secluded habitat," and shealways denied that she sought the public spotlight for herself.[lxi] Mary Todd Lincoln was a woman who found a position in life for which,by training and inclination, she was perfectly suited. Elizabeth Grimsley had originally likedthe idea of extensive preparations for the Inauguration, with their heavyemphasis on dressmaking. Watt notonly was unsuited for such a favor he also later confessed to stealing aspeech from the President and giving it to the newspapers before itsrelease date. But she wasas sensitive to criticisms as she was easily seduced by flattery. Mrs. Abraham Lincoln: A Study of Her Personality and Her Influence on Lincoln. In some ways it istrue that, as Baker has noted, Lincoln was born into the wrong time and,"she suffered because she could nowhere observe the necessity for femaleindependence and autonomy, undertaken not for a cause but for self-respect."[lxii] But it is also true that circumstances conspired to bringout the worst as well as the best in her. New York: Norton, 1989.Bassett, Margaret. [vi]Jean H. Stoddard, quoted in Ishbel Ross, The President's Wife:Mary Todd Lincoln. developedmigraine headaches and occasionally collapsed into fits of hysterical badtemper."[v] All the traits and habits that were the basis of her Washingtoncareer were formed during her 2 years in Springfield. As Boller noted, for example, They called her parsimonious for cutting down on White House dinners because of the war crisis; but they said she was callous when she arranged ambitious entertainments to boost the morale of Unionists and demonstrate that the Federal Government was still a going concern.[i] The remainder of the essay deals with other areas of Lincoln's WhiteHouse years that caused controversy--such as her Southern origins, her over-involvement with office-seekers, her dealings with politicians and theirwives--and her relations with her husband as unofficial advisor, hostess,and potential problem. She also made manygreat strides in updating the White House as "Potomac water soon flowedthrough taps, furnaces supplanted fires [and] candles gave way to gaslightin every room."[xxx] But Lincoln discovered as the end of the year approached that she hadexceeded the very large appropriation by the very large sum of $6,7 .This excess came to the President's attention and when he summoned Frenchfor an explanation, the First Lady saw him first and asked him to convinceher husband that such overruns were common procedure. But Lincoln's energies,intelligence, and half-formed political interests were an anomaly in herown time. Notes BibliographyBaker, Jean H. A. [xxvii]Ibid., 89. New York: G. As Lincoln told Keckley, "to me, to him, thereis more at stake in this election than he dreams of."[xlviii] It thenemerged that Lincoln's debts were around $27, and, she claimed, thePresident would be unable to pay them if they were defeated in the electionand the stores presented their bills. A. Lincoln's "cup of happiness ran over . [lxii]Ibid. [xlvi]Quoted in Simmons, 133-34. But she was despised on the one hand as a "traitor to herown people" in the South and, on the other, as a pro-slavery, pro-Confederacy Southerner and a Westerner. Grimsley wasquick to deny the ridiculous claim. But William S. [xiv]Quoted in Boller, 111. There has been considerable debate about the degree to which MaryTodd Lincoln suffered from some forms of mental illness. Mary Todd Lincoln (1818-82) was the first presidential wife to becomethe subject of extensive criticism and a center of controversy. Money was soon to become the key toLincoln's problems in the White House years. Lincoln sought to justify herself byexplaining that the President simply did not understand how expensiveclothing of the proper type really was. [lvii]Ibid., 85. She had been sunk into "an introvert state ofinsularity, separateness, and resentment" since her son's death but heranxiety at the approaching election brought her back to "that ambition anddrive--termed by some aggressiveness, and by others audacity--whichcharacterized her personality."[l] When the war was won and the presidentreelected, however, she returned to her usual buoyant state. Mary Todd was the daughter of Robert Todd, "grocer, banker, cottonmanufacturer, lawyer, and perennial clerk of the Kentucky house ofRepresentatives," and was one of 13 children.[ii] She was well-educatedand socially accomplished when, in 1839, she moved to Springfield, Illinoisto live with one of her married elder sisters. This is followed by a discussion of Lincoln'sspending habits in the public and private spheres. Despite her heavydomestic workload Lincoln became interested in the world of politics andexerted herself to become a good hostess. Her dress forthe second Inaugural Ball cost $2, , and she was back on her "unsteadypinnacle of arrogance"--a clear sign of the seriousness of her swings fromdespair to elation, as she was able to celebrate the mere postponement ofthe inevitable reckoning that awaited her massed debts.[li] Despite the problems with appropriations for the refurbishing of theWhite House and her compulsive shopping, however, Lincoln applied hermanagerial expertise in other areas. [xvii]Elizabeth Keckley, Behind the Scenes: Thirty Years a Slave andFour Years in the White House (New York: Arno Press-New York Times, 1968),135-36. After many years of living ona tightly controlled budget, the President now had a large guaranteedsalary, the public undertook a large number of their expenses, and Lincolnfound that she could easily receive almost unlimited credit in any stores.She first made this discovery on a clothes-buying trip to New York, justprior to the move to Washington in 1861, and she was soon to find out aboutthe use of government funds as well. [xix]Ibid. [xxxi]Leech, 293, 294. And the President himself wasworried enough about her well-being that, during her period of deepestmourning over Willie's death, he took her to the window one day and pointedout the distant Insane Asylum, telling her to "try and control your grief,or it will drive you mad, and we may have to send you there."[lviii] Forone who was usually so sympathetic to all his wife's difficulties theseremarks signal the depth of the President's concern about her at thispoint. BenHardin Helm), Extracts from Her War-Time Diary, Numerous Letters and OtherDocuments now First Published (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1928), 193-94. But everywhere paint was peeling, carpets were wornand soiled, curtain were torn, and everything was terribly dingy. The years in the White House (1861-65) proved to be extremely difficult for, while being subjected to intensepersonal attack no matter which course of action she chose, her beloved sonWillie died at age 11, she feared that her son Robert would be killed if heenlisted, she often felt incapable of helping her husband in theoverwhelming press of his duties, she was separated from her family andfriends, and, like everyone else, she endured the seemingly endless war.Lincoln's health suffered greatly during these years and she was never safefrom intense headaches, various other physical illnesses, and a tendency tobecome alternately very depressed and over-elated. P. Mary Lincoln: Wife and Widow. [li]Leech, 31 . The people scrutinize every article I wear with critical curiosity. The dislike of the first lady,"combining sectional and political antagonism, was soon to deepen intoactual war hatred" as Lincoln's family unanimously supportedSecession.[xii] She had "four brothers in the Confederate Army and threebrothers-in-law in the same service and host of other friends and relativesin the south wearing 'the gray'" yet Lincoln was thoroughly committed toher husband's policies and, as her niece wrote, "had been ardently in favor[of abolition] since her girlhood."[xiii] For most of the war, however,she was repeatedly characterized by rumors and accused in letters, as hersecretary William O. Doubtless if my good patient husband were here instead of being with the Army of the Potomac, both of these missives would be placed in front of him, accompanied by my womanly suggestions, proceeding from a heart so deeply interested for our distracted country.[lx] The degree of indiscretion in sending such a letter to a lukewarmsupporter of the administration, and entirely without the President'sknowledge, is astonishing. As Baker notes, the degree of successshe had in "underwriting her redecorating campaign," and, not incidentally,the fear she had of exposing her shopping problem by presenting her husbandwith a bill, "emerged only later," when it became clear that their term inthe White House had made the Lincolns quite well-off![lii] Most presidentsspent far more money on official entertainments and household expenses thanthey made while in office. Lincoln fulfilled herduties as the President's wife, made many mistakes, and had numeroussuccesses. The President, whowas always "innocent about the cost of the luxurious things which his wifewas fond of purchasing," was outraged, however, and when someone finallyadmitted that his wife had authorized the expenditure replied that he wouldpay for it out of his own pocket since it was entirely inappropriate forthem to spend so much "for flub-dubs for this damned old house, whensoldiers cannot have blankets."[xxxi] The necessary money was found in another appropriation, intended forrepairs to the White House, but the President remained unaware of the depthof his wife's compulsion to spend money. But,worst of all, Lincoln was lonely without her friends and family and, beingrejected by the society that was at her own level, she surrounded herselfwith an "unfortunate choice of intimate friends and [made the] arrogantassumption that they constituted a 'court.'"[xix] These friends includednumerous office-seekers and she consistently broke official rules "in herdesire to oblige a persistent stream of applicants who appealed to herpersonal friendship for them."[xx] But the circle also included even more dangerous friends such as hergardener John Watt "who controlled the payroll of the outside staff, paddedhis expense accounts and kicked back money to the lady of the house, whoused the money for her bills."[xxi] Lincoln even arranged Watt's commissionas a lieutenant although he had been an outspoken secessionist. On hearing the news, Helm said, Lincoln "fell onher knees and wept" but determined that "she must still her sobs, her tearsmust be shed bravely, in secret [since] for her husband's sake as well asfor her won, she must not risk the title of traitor--she must control herparoxysm of grief and assume a smile."[xvi] This family account contrastswith the memory of Elizabeth Keckley who, when Lincoln told her that shehad just heard the news about her brother, said she had been hesitant tomention it because it would be so painful. [xlii]Ross, 153. Boston: Little, Brown, 1953.Ross, Ishbel. There she met AbrahamLincoln, a very poor young lawyer, and, despite the fact that her familyfelt them to be "ill-assorted for marriage," married him in 1842.[iii]Lincoln was quite poor and the couple, who first lived in a boardinghouse,received supplements to their income from her father. [xxxiii]Ibid., 126. Mary Todd Lincoln: A Biography. This was the area inwhich the majority of the public criticism of Lincoln was concentrated and,no matter what she did, she was vilified. We are just fromthe West, and are poor."[lvii] But Keckley, despite her later knowledge ofthe First Lady's extreme problem with spending money far too freely, neverreally contrasted the two sides of her personality--sensing, it seems, thatthe expenditures in fashionable stores met some need that was not entirelyrational and that had little to do with her true conception of theimportance of managing economically. [v]Bassett, 35. Ben Hardin Helm), Extracts from Her War-Time Diary, Numerous Letters and Other Documents now First Published. P. [liv]Quoted in Baker, 192. The President's Wife: Mary Todd Lincoln. In some mattersof patronage and politics, however, Lincoln was perpetually unwise andoften indiscreet. . [xxxvii]Carl Sandburg, Mary Lincoln: Wife and Widow (New York:Harcourt, Brace and World, 1932), 93. But Lincoln replied, You need not hesitate. [iii]Ibid., 33. A Biography. Unfortunatelyfor Lincoln this was a period in which women's clothing had become veryelaborate and required yards of material and extensive decorative touchesto meet the nearly royal standards she set for her own attire. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1941.Randall, Ruth Painter. [xxxix]Baker, 193, 192. Keckley noted howLincoln had persuaded her husband of the importance of some of herhousehold economies by means of politicized persuasion. French accompanied her onnumerous trips to New York and Philadelphia where she engaged in "an orgyof spending, paying top prices for everything" that was being acquired forthe White House.[xxvii] She began with a set of official Haviland china, which pleased her somuch that she had a second set made for the family's use. [lx]Quoted in Sandburg, 91. [xxiii]Justin G. Lincoln apparently resolved to take the accusations of treason veryseriously and was unwilling to even display her sorrow when her youngestbrother was killed in the war. Putnam's Sons, 1973), 141. [iv]W. [xx]William O. [xlv]Dawn Langley Simmons, A Rose for Mrs. Lincoln: A Biography ofMary Todd Lincoln (Boston: Beacon, 197 ), 133. She had fallen in an overturned carriage inthe Summer of 1863 and had struck her head on a stone. Want one of very fine black silk net--with folds around for summer--round at corners and short . She told Keckleythat the President was expected to give a series of state dinners eachwinter that were "very costly," but she believed she could "avoid thisexpense" because, if she were to give three large receptions, "the statedinners [could] be scratched from the programme."[lv] When the Presidentobjected to the idea as a break with custom, and stated that there was moreto worry about than economy in such matters, Lincoln argued that "publicreceptions are more democratic than stupid state dinners--more in keepingwith the spirit of the institutions of our country."[lvi] The argumentspersuaded the President, and Lincoln went on to hold her inexpensiveaffairs--which proved to be a social success--in the midst of a White Houserefurbished along the lines of a European palace. [viii]Quoted in Ruth Painter Randall, Mary Lincoln: Biography of aMarriage (Boston: Little, Brown, 1953), 164. But she had learned many lessonsabout handling her public image--even if she did not always follow them. She felt, like some of Lincoln'scritics, "that her cousin lacked judgment when her eyes focused onsomething she liked."[xlii] But she was equally disturbed by the wildexaggerations published in the press and spread about Washington. When, on the second day oftheir residence, Lincoln and her visiting relatives from Springfieldinspected the house they were shocked to discover that it was in a seriousstate of disrepair. at times when she realizedto the full her ambition to be a Great lady" and presenting herself inmagnificent attire against the background of the newly elegant White Housewas the height of her ambition in many ways.[xxxvii] A large part of hersatisfaction in her expensive gowns came from flattery and public praise.When a writer for Leslie's Weekly said that "no European Court or capitalcan compare with the Presidential circle and the society at Washington thiswinter," he was striking exactly the note to which Lincolnaspired.[xxxviii] She identified with the Empress Eugйnie and "generallyfollowed [her] tastes," with the result that she was compared, but notoften favorably, with European royalty by those who referred to her as "theIllinois Reine" and one of her own sisters described her as reigning overan "overdressed 'Queen Victoria's court' in Washington."[xxxix] She had tojoin in the eventual boycott of international goods but she was determinedto recreate the best styles of Europe with the inferior materials availableto her. [xliv]Leech, 31 . [xxx]Turner and Turner, 89. [xxxiv]Baker, 192. [xviii]Leech, 286. For manyyears the thousands of visitors and office-seekers "had tramped the stairs,loitered in corridors, spat on carpets and floors, and invaded the privacyof presidential families."[xxiii] And the family's quarters were worsethan the rest. [xlix]Ibid., 149-5 . Butthe expenditure for new furnishings was also accompanied by the costs ofcleaning, repair, and modernization of the residence. [xi]Margaret Leech, Reveille in Washington: 186 -1865 (New York:Harper and Brothers, 1941), 286. Mary Todd Lincoln was not only prepared by her education andupbringing for the enormous job of refurbishing the White House, she hadalso become quite skilled in managing on a small budget. Baker, Mary Todd Lincoln: A Biography (New York: Norton,1989), 112. Though thePresident informed their son Robert that she had been "very slightly hurtby her fall," she spent many weeks in bed.[xv] Her niece explained thatthe subsequent shock of the news of Alexander Todd's death accounted forher long convalescence. Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln. Congress appropriated the standard sum of $2 , for the job.Traditionally, especially after a number of first ladies who took verylittle interest in Washington, let alone the residence, the expenditure ofthis money was the responsibility of the Commissioner of Public Buildings,a Presidential appointee who would make suggestions that were followed bythe first families. . But Lincoln persisted. New York: Knopf, 1932.Helm, Katherine. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1928.Keckley, Elizabeth. When it suitedher, Lincoln would draw on the common perceptions and misperceptions of thepublic. But these were also importantfactors in making her the person she was and, had she been otherwise, herchances of success might have been no greater than they were when she wasfaced by the howling wolves of press, politics, and public. Evans, Mrs. Abraham Lincoln: A Study of Her Personality andHer Influence on Lincoln (New York: Knopf, 1932), 131. Herpride and the "challenge of two wealthy sisters in town" drove Lincoln toaccomplish tasks she had never considered before and, while she was asuccess, she also "toiled beyond her physical strength . Lincoln mighthave succeeded much better at the job had she been perceived form thebeginning as the cultured, accomplished person she was and had she not beenborn in the South and lived in the West. . He decided against my husband, and through him against me. Though, inany other time and circumstances, Lincoln might have made a fine first lady--with her education, social skills, intelligence, taste, and willingness towork on her husband's behalf--the impending secession and war raisedpolitical advocacy to such a pitch that her Southern origins, her spending,her manners, and even her appearance were attacked by enemies on both sidesof many questions. [lii]Baker, 191. Unfortunately, inundertaking "the task of making a national monument and public meetingplace into a livable home for her family" and a suitable residence for themost important man in America, she never really understood the need forapplying the latter set of skills.[xxv] In her view the home was not somuch part of the nation's history--her letters never mention any of theprevious occupants--but "a suitably splendid domicile for the mostsuccessful politician in the land."[xxvi] Her view was that, having 'won'the White House, she should also have won the right to be supported in herefforts to refurbish it. She read the popular press for the "detailed descriptions ofEugйnie" as eagerly as she looked for accounts of the war.[xl] When theEmpress wore a dress whose description appealed to Lincoln, then quite soon"Keckley was put to work on an American version" and, by early 1862 Lincolnhad 16 new dresses--a very large number for the time.[xli] The obsessive nature of Lincoln's shopping did disturb some peopleother than the inquisitive press. But she did not long enjoy the extravagantshopping trips away from Washington. New York: Knopf, 1972.----------------------- [i]Paul F. [xiii]Katherine Helm, The True Story of Mary, Wife of Lincoln:Containing the Recollections of Mary Lincoln's Sister Emilie (Mrs. She told Keckley at their first interview, "I trust that yourterms are reasonable. New York: Thomas Y. [xxv]Turner and Turner, 8 . New York: Oxford UP, 1988.Evans, W. The True Story of Mary, Wife of Lincoln: Containing the Recollections of Mary Lincoln's Sister Emilie (Mrs. Although their estimates of her social skills, intelligence, andloyalty were wrong, "the ladies of Washington society persistently jeeredat [her] as an outrageous vulgarian."[xviii] And, unfortunately, Lincolndid give them a great deal of ammunition. [xxiv]Quoted in Randall, 189. [xxxvi]Ibid. . [xl]Baker, 193. [xli]Ibid. [xlviii]Quoted in Keckley, 149. A popular lecturer, Carl Schurz, wroteto tell his wife of dinner with Abraham Lincoln where, His lady decked herself out very prettily and already knows very well how to wave a fan. And she spent vast amounts on furs, laces,and jewelry--including "three thousand dollars for earrings and a pin [and]five thousand for a shawl."[xliv] The relationship between the First Lady's shopping habits and heremotional difficulties becomes most apparent at the time when she had sunkinto deep gloom over the death of her son Willie. But Lincoln's determined insistencethat she had to wear expensive, elaborate clothing to satisfy the publicstruck Grimsley as special pleading. Reveille in Washington: 186 -1865. [xxviii]Ross, 125. She wrote to the publisher and editor of the New YorkHerald exactly what she thought about the Cabinet (an area in which herfrequent advice to her husband was based largely on personalities and wasresolutely ignored). But Lincoln never had any doubts about heradvice no matter how consistently the President refused it on this topic.In many other cases he valued her opinion and she was certainly animportant sounding board for some types of decisions and an invaluableauditor and editor for his writing and speeches. Elizabeth Todd Grimsley, Lincoln's cousin who stayed toassist the family in settling into their quarters, reported of the familysuite that "a mahogany French bedstead, split from top to bottom, was thebest piece of furniture in it."[xxiv] The Lincolns decided to reserve mostof the east side of the house for business and public affairs and the west,with the exception of the state dining room, for the family. Boller, Presidential Wives (New York: Oxford UP, 1988),11 . The stylerequired "extravagant materials and design" and after the Empress Eugйnie"created the 'look' by enlarging the rings of hoopskirts into sphericalcircles of steel [this] doubled the amount of material required for adress."[xxxiv] Lincoln was a pretty woman who remained quite handsome during heryears in the White House and she was always eager to make the most of thebest of her attributes. But, in addition to her excellent qualities, Lincolnalso had a strong tendency to express herself freely and too quickly, toallow her temper and anxieties to get the better of her, to be injudiciousin her support of various office-seekers, and to spend money as aconsolation for her emotional troubles. Her letter, stated that, From all parties the cry for a 'change of cabinet' comes. The East, Blue, and Red rooms showed some trace oftheir former elegance. She was adept at staging largereceptions as economically as possible and, thanks to her early training,she soon excelled at the new job and had "an easy charm that obscured anyshortcomings in her menus."[vi] In terms of other types of politicalassistance she was less interested in the issues, other than very largeones such as maintaining the Union, and instead "fought to make herself herhusband's chief adviser on patronage and appointments."[vii] Though shespent some time living with her husband and sons in a Washingtonboardinghouse during his tenure in Congress, Lincoln was not pleased withthe town and returned to the Midwest. [xxxv]Keckley, 1 1. There was very directly managed patronageavailable everywhere in nineteenth-century presidential administrations;"there were West Point cadetships, postmasterships, commissions and theroutine patronage that went with political power, and [the First lady's]name showed up remarkably often in this respect.[xxii] Judging from herarrangements with Watt and her tendency to accept whatever personal giftswere offered to her, it is not unrealistic to speculate how much money wasbeing paid for many of these favors. A Biography (New York: G. Mary Todd Lincoln: Her Life and Letters. I cannot afford to be extravagant. Stoddard said, "of being at heart a traitor and ofbeing in communication with the Confederate authorities."[xiv] Asjournalistic and political attacks increased in fervor, unpleasant andcruel letters became a daily occurrence and Lincoln quickly assignedStoddard the duty of previewing all of her mail. How then can I sympathize with a people at war with me and mine?[xvii] It is thus very difficult to say exactly what Lincoln did or felt inher private life with any absolute accuracy. The chilly tone of theremarks to Keckley would be reasonable enough in the circumstances for manypeople--and may have reflected what Lincoln believed and thought. But shewas also a highly emotional person, lonely without her great family nearby,and the degree of control she achieved over her grief is more believablethan the idea that she did not grieve. But, she argued, I must dress in costly materials. He is too honest to make a penny outside his salary; consequently I had, and still have, no alternative but to run into debt.[xlix] Her remarks to Keckley reveal her own attitude toward the questionsof honesty, appearances, and the anxiety she felt to defeat those wholooked down on her. But in the normal run of things Lincoln was adept at the publicappearances that mattered so much to her, and to her husband, and was notonly a superb hostess but an intelligent conversationalist and a charmingcompanion. But the previousfew wives had either been reclusive and/or stayed away from Washington asmuch as possible--Anna Harrison, Jane Pierce, and Margaret Taylor--or elsethey had completely despised their official duties and been unwilling hosts--Abigail Fillmore and Sarah Polk. [l]Evans, 168. She bought quantities of items that she could not even use--such as the 3 pairs of gloves that she ordered from a single merchantover the course of four months. As she wrote to oneof the stores: I want you to select me the very finest and blackest and lightest long crepe veil, and bordered as they bring them. Her initial impression on Keckley was one ofextremely careful, not to say parsimonious, management. She chats quite nicely and will be able to adapt herself to the White House without difficulty.[viii] Lincoln turned out to be more at home in the position of First Ladythan her most recent predecessors, "who had remained shadowy privatepersons during their tenure in the White House."[ix] The bachelorBuchanan's niece had been a fashionable young woman, but all the spendingfor the White House went to the President's greenhouse. The greatest surprise to the new First Lady was not the reception ofold Washington but the state of her new home. She was subjected to so muchpointless criticism and made the recipient of so much hatred by people whowere angry with the President--so nearly impervious to such attacks--and bypeople whose hatred of one side or another in the secession and slaveryquestions was so extreme that it took on any handy target. Her high degree ofsocial polish surprised most Washington observers who gave her a chance.The New York Herald's review of Lincoln's first official appearance, at theInaugural Ball, gives a hint of the general view the Eastern establishmenttook when it praised her for having "accommodated [so] readily . [lxi]Baker, 181. But nothing in her behavior was ever extreme enough to justifythe unending stream of public abuse to which she was subjected for fouryears by journalists, other writers, social arbiters, politicians, andprivate citizens--some of whom knew her, most of whom did not. [liii]Ibid., 192. She boughtFrench wallpaper for the East Room consisting of "221 sections of heavyvelvet paper patterned in crimson, garnet, and gold" and had a beautifulpale green carpet specially woven in Glasgow for the same busy room.[xxix]The elaborate papers, carpets and draperies were accompanied by heavycarved furniture, all kinds of ornaments, and expensively bound books. [x]Ibid. But Lincoln desired the spotlight andhad the particular gifts that were suited to the job. New York: Harcourt, Brace and World, 1932.Simmons, Dawn Langley. to theexalted station to which she has been so strangely advanced from the simplesocial life of the little inland capital of Illinois."[x] Both well-meaning Republican women and antagonistic Southernersdecided prior to meeting Lincoln that she would be "unused to politesociety" and both the offers of help from the former and the snubs of thelatter angered the First Lady.[xi] Her manners were Southern and genteel,if somewhat old-fashioned, but her education and family background werenearly as good, and sometimes better, than those of the people whopatronized her. The story of these four years is one ofminor successes surrounded by constant disappointments, failures,difficulties, and deep losses. This led tostories that the government had paid for the second set, though thePresident eventually paid the immense sum of $1,1 for the family dishes.Her further purchase of a 7 -piece set of Bohemian cut glass was equallyunpopular, though, as Ross notes, both the china and the glassware were notunreasonable purchases in normal times and eventually "dignified the dinnertable of a succession of Presidents."[xxviii] Unfortunately, these were not normal times and even those who wouldordinarily applaud her work in the White House felt she was going too farin a time when the city of Washington remained in some danger and money wasso badly needed for the war effort. Lincoln's career in the White House brought her far less joy andsatisfaction than she had hoped. [xxxii]Ross, 131. But the Lincoln family lived on an average of$6,6 per year, barely more than they had spent in Illinois, and, "underMary's direction they saved $7 , of his $1 , salary, less $3,6 fortaxes."[liii] An astute Illinois journalist had predicted that Lincoln would managein just this way and would "see to it that the old man does not return toSpringfield penniless."[liv] To those who knew her, Lincoln's endlessstrategies for saving money formed a startling contrast with her inabilityto control herself when it came to spending on luxuries. For a brief time she was happywith the results of her refurbishment of the White House. [xlvii]Ibid., 131. [ix]Baker, 179. As Stoddard said, Washington society was intent on convictingher of every slander it could manufacture, but, As you look at her and talk with her, the fact that she has so many enemies strikes you as one of the moral curiosities of this venomous time, for she has never in any way harmed one of the men or women who are so recklessly assailing her.[lix]Both Stoddard and French, who were quite familiar with Lincoln's faults,including the capriciousness and abusive behavior that earned her the titleof "Hell-cat" from the White House servants, were willing to defend heragainst the terrible slanders that circulated everywhere. The failure to findcompany at her own social level, her separation from her family and friends(so many of them possibly dying in the war), the loss of her son, her fearsover her husband's health and career, and the danger of assassination, aswell as her fears regarding her mounting debts show that Lincoln was not ina situation conducive to good mental health. The very fact of having grown up in the West, subjects me to more searching observation. She forbade the use offlowers inside the White House "because Willie had loved them" and canceledall the "popular Marine Band concerts which the public so enjoyed, becauseshe could not bear to hear happy music."[xlv] In her mourning shopping washer only source of consolation and her obsession becomes clear from thefascinated attention she pays to the smallest details of clothing meant,after all, to mark the passing of her favorite child. He has been fighting against us; and since he chose to be our deadly enemy, I see no special reason why I should bitterly mourn his death. [Rebels] would hang my husband tomorrow if it was in their power, and perhaps gibbet me with him. But, as theevidence of her behavior shows, she was at least anxious and depressed formuch of the time that she spent in the White House. Mary Lincoln: Biography of a Marriage. [xxix]Ibid., 126. Her style of dress, thoughfashionable, was considered ostentatious and her inability to control hertemper, her occasional indiscretion, and her constant seeking of politicalfavors and patronage were all considered evidence of her vulgarity. [xii]Randall, 183. [lv]Quoted in Keckley, 96. . New York: Arno Press-New York Times, 1968.Leech, Margaret. Putnam's Sons, 1973.Sandburg, Carl. [xxxviii]Quoted in Sandburg, 94. This discussion of Lincoln's White Houseyears begins with her adjustment to the position and to Washington societywhere, although she was not unprepared for resistance, Lincoln wassurprised by its extent. [lix]Quoted in Turner and Turner, 1 1. To keep up appearances, I must have money--more than Mr. Lincoln can spare me. [vii]Ibid., 134. Throughout the 185 s she worked hardon behalf of his various political campaigns and by the time he was electedpresident she was as prepared for the transition as anyone from outside theEastern centers of power could be. With Lincoln it mattered a great deal which side of her was in theascendant at the moment. . Want a very, very fine black crepe veil, round corners and folds around. [ii]Margaret Bassett, Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln (New York: ThomasY. Crowell, 1973.Boller, Paul F. . Presidential Wives. A Rose for Mrs. Lincoln: A Biography of Mary Todd Lincoln. [xvi]Helm, 213. A further circumstance, the fact thatLincoln, unlike any other well-to-do woman of the period, usually carriedher purchases with her seems to be related to her "insistence on gettingthings the minute she wanted them," a characteristic of a person whoshopped for reasons other than the need to have an adequatewardrobe.[xliii] Even if early reports of wild expenditure were exaggerated, Lincolneventually reached the spending heights of which the press had prematurelyaccused her. [lviii]Quoted in Leech, 298. [lvi]Ibid., 97. At her firstWinter levee in December 1861 the guests were amazed at the changes she hadwrought; "the White House had rarely shown such freshness and style and itsmistress had established herself as a personality not to beignored."[xxxii] But this was really the beginning of Lincoln's worsttroubles and it shows the degree of her self-deception, or lack ofcomprehension, that while others cut back on expenditures because of thewar, "she set a new standard of magnificence and then wondered why no oneseemed to approve."[xxxiii] The problem with her spending was much worse in the area of clothingand personal belongings since she had far less money to spend from her ownpurse and was extended almost unlimited credit by merchants. [xxii]Ross 142. I want the genteelest and tastiest you can find and have made.[xlvi] No one but her dressmaker and friend Elizabeth Keckley was aware of"her mounting debts and the compulsion to buy and buy."[xlvii] By the timeof the second presidential campaign Lincoln was plagued with anxiety thatthe Republicans might lose. [xv]Quoted in Helm, 212. On oneoccasion it was reported that Lincoln had purchased a $3, point-laceshawl and Grimsley herself had purchased another for $1, . [xxvi]Ibid., 84. Please get me the finest that can be obtained. [xxi]Baker, 191. Of course it is but natural that I should feel for one so nearly related to me, but not to the extent that you suppose He made his choice long ago. He later attempted to blackmail the White House withLincoln's letters, but when her husband threatened him he backed down. Turner and Linda Levitt Turner, Mary Todd Lincoln:Her Life and Letters (New York: Knopf, 1972), 84. Boston: Beacon, 197 .Turner, Justin G., and Linda Levitt Turner. I hold a letter, just received from Governor Sprague, in my hand, who is just as earnest as you have been on the subject. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.