1 00:00:00,560 --> 00:00:02,600 Speaker 1: Well, in case you didn't know this about me, I 2 00:00:02,640 --> 00:00:06,600 Speaker 1: am a major fangirl of Abraham Lincoln. And as we 3 00:00:06,720 --> 00:00:09,720 Speaker 1: close in on the one hundred and sixty first anniversary 4 00:00:10,160 --> 00:00:13,200 Speaker 1: of his assassination, it seems fitting that we take a 5 00:00:13,240 --> 00:00:15,800 Speaker 1: look at the person seated next to him at Ford's 6 00:00:15,840 --> 00:00:19,479 Speaker 1: Theater that good Friday evening in eighteen sixty five, his 7 00:00:19,640 --> 00:00:23,759 Speaker 1: somewhat wacky wife, Mary Todd Lincoln. But she was way 8 00:00:23,800 --> 00:00:28,040 Speaker 1: more complex than the term wacky would imply. I'm Patty Steele. 9 00:00:28,440 --> 00:00:33,440 Speaker 1: Mary Todd Lincoln was smart, driven, ambitious, and passionate. She 10 00:00:33,600 --> 00:00:37,840 Speaker 1: was also pretty clearly mentally ill. That's next on the backstory. 11 00:00:41,240 --> 00:00:45,720 Speaker 1: The backstory is back History loves to simplify huge events. 12 00:00:46,080 --> 00:00:48,440 Speaker 1: It's a way to tell the story without getting into 13 00:00:48,479 --> 00:00:52,040 Speaker 1: the weeds. But sometimes digging into the weeds is where 14 00:00:52,040 --> 00:00:55,760 Speaker 1: you find the most fascinating stuff. Mary Todd Lincoln was 15 00:00:55,800 --> 00:00:59,160 Speaker 1: sitting next to Abe Lincoln at Ford's Theater on April fourteenth, 16 00:00:59,360 --> 00:01:03,320 Speaker 1: eighteen six six five. His assassination that night and his 17 00:01:03,440 --> 00:01:06,880 Speaker 1: death early the next morning left her an emotional wreck 18 00:01:06,959 --> 00:01:09,959 Speaker 1: for the rest of her life, but the disintegration of 19 00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:14,400 Speaker 1: her emotional state started decades earlier. Mary Todd was born 20 00:01:14,480 --> 00:01:18,800 Speaker 1: to wealthy parents in Lexington, Kentucky, in eighteen eighteen. Her 21 00:01:18,840 --> 00:01:22,720 Speaker 1: parents had seven children before Mary's mother died in childbirth 22 00:01:23,040 --> 00:01:25,920 Speaker 1: when Mary was just six years old. The next year, 23 00:01:26,040 --> 00:01:31,319 Speaker 1: her father remarried and had nine more children. Unfortunately for Mary, 24 00:01:31,520 --> 00:01:35,680 Speaker 1: her stepmom, now raising sixteen children, tended to favor her 25 00:01:35,720 --> 00:01:39,680 Speaker 1: own children over the original seven. Family members said Mary 26 00:01:39,760 --> 00:01:43,200 Speaker 1: was jealous of the younger children and threw really vicious 27 00:01:43,240 --> 00:01:47,920 Speaker 1: temper tantrums. As a kid, she clearly felt unloved and unlovable. 28 00:01:48,720 --> 00:01:51,760 Speaker 1: At fourteen, she was sent to boarding school. Now, on 29 00:01:51,800 --> 00:01:54,960 Speaker 1: the upside, she was terrific student and a very social 30 00:01:55,000 --> 00:02:00,880 Speaker 1: young woman. But again, she was also considered to be sarcastic, difficult, volatile, 31 00:02:01,160 --> 00:02:05,320 Speaker 1: and super emotional. Friends and teachers described her as having 32 00:02:05,440 --> 00:02:11,639 Speaker 1: extreme highs and lows, maybe an early sign of bipolar disorder. Ah. 33 00:02:11,960 --> 00:02:16,160 Speaker 1: Now here's where sweet easygoing Abe Lincoln comes into the picture. 34 00:02:16,760 --> 00:02:20,440 Speaker 1: He loved her sparkle and her intelligence, and her ambition 35 00:02:20,639 --> 00:02:24,400 Speaker 1: matched his own. Problem was his mild mannered approach to 36 00:02:24,480 --> 00:02:28,920 Speaker 1: life allowed her frequent temper tantrums to control their life together. 37 00:02:29,680 --> 00:02:33,200 Speaker 1: Lincoln's law partner in Springfield, Illinois, before the White House, 38 00:02:33,280 --> 00:02:36,080 Speaker 1: years said he always knew when there was trouble in 39 00:02:36,080 --> 00:02:39,640 Speaker 1: the Lincoln House because all six foot four inches of 40 00:02:39,720 --> 00:02:43,000 Speaker 1: Abe would be curled up sleeping on a small couch 41 00:02:43,160 --> 00:02:45,240 Speaker 1: in their office when he got to work in the 42 00:02:45,240 --> 00:02:48,919 Speaker 1: morning after he had escaped her anger. He said, Lincoln 43 00:02:48,960 --> 00:02:52,600 Speaker 1: would frequently have bandages on his face and arms after 44 00:02:52,680 --> 00:02:57,040 Speaker 1: she'd physically attacked him with anything from hot coffee dishes 45 00:02:57,200 --> 00:03:00,560 Speaker 1: to even a log. Abe's private secret Terry's in the 46 00:03:00,600 --> 00:03:04,080 Speaker 1: White House called her the Hellcat, and in a biography 47 00:03:04,120 --> 00:03:07,520 Speaker 1: of their boss, said she caused him a lifetime of misery. 48 00:03:08,160 --> 00:03:10,680 Speaker 1: On the other hand, while he was a kind and 49 00:03:10,760 --> 00:03:14,400 Speaker 1: forgiving husband, he was pretty aloof. In fact, during his 50 00:03:14,520 --> 00:03:17,320 Speaker 1: years as a traveling lawyer, he spent as much as 51 00:03:17,360 --> 00:03:20,679 Speaker 1: eight months a year away from home. Mary hated that 52 00:03:20,760 --> 00:03:23,400 Speaker 1: since she had a bundle of things that scared her, 53 00:03:23,720 --> 00:03:27,359 Speaker 1: including thunderstorms as well as the fear of house fires 54 00:03:27,400 --> 00:03:30,080 Speaker 1: and burglars, plus she had to take care of their 55 00:03:30,160 --> 00:03:34,440 Speaker 1: children alone during that time, So the more volatile she became, 56 00:03:35,040 --> 00:03:38,760 Speaker 1: the more he withdrew into his own world. At one point, 57 00:03:38,760 --> 00:03:41,320 Speaker 1: a friend asked him how he put up with her tantrums, 58 00:03:41,360 --> 00:03:44,480 Speaker 1: and he replied if only you knew how little harm 59 00:03:44,520 --> 00:03:47,320 Speaker 1: it does me and how much good it does her, 60 00:03:47,480 --> 00:03:51,040 Speaker 1: you wouldn't wonder. Of course, In eighteen sixty one, the 61 00:03:51,120 --> 00:03:53,960 Speaker 1: couple moved into the White House and never had a 62 00:03:53,960 --> 00:03:58,200 Speaker 1: moment of peace. After that. Mary started a massive makeover 63 00:03:58,320 --> 00:04:00,920 Speaker 1: of the house, which, to be fair, was in terrible 64 00:04:00,960 --> 00:04:04,000 Speaker 1: condition when they arrived. But within a month the Civil 65 00:04:04,040 --> 00:04:06,920 Speaker 1: War had broken out and she was spending a fortune 66 00:04:06,920 --> 00:04:13,200 Speaker 1: on decorating with expensive rugs, furniture, carpets, as well as china, silver, crystal, 67 00:04:13,280 --> 00:04:16,560 Speaker 1: and all kinds of decore. The more the press attacked her, 68 00:04:16,920 --> 00:04:20,080 Speaker 1: the more her spending got out of control. She wasn't 69 00:04:20,120 --> 00:04:23,480 Speaker 1: just buying for the house, now she was buying for herself. 70 00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:27,400 Speaker 1: She wanted to make herself look worthy. She had lavish 71 00:04:27,440 --> 00:04:30,280 Speaker 1: gowns made and within a few months bought as many 72 00:04:30,320 --> 00:04:34,719 Speaker 1: as four hundred pairs of expensive kid gloves. She even 73 00:04:34,760 --> 00:04:38,159 Speaker 1: tried to hide her debts with fake invoices. As the 74 00:04:38,200 --> 00:04:41,480 Speaker 1: press piled on her, she tried to keep a good front. 75 00:04:41,880 --> 00:04:44,840 Speaker 1: She knew that everything she wore, how she entertained, and 76 00:04:44,880 --> 00:04:48,200 Speaker 1: how she supported her husband and family would be dissected 77 00:04:48,240 --> 00:04:51,880 Speaker 1: in the press. It literally drove her crazy. And the 78 00:04:51,960 --> 00:04:55,680 Speaker 1: press took part in it, Also contributing to her depression, 79 00:04:56,120 --> 00:04:59,279 Speaker 1: She and Abe lost their favorite child, eleven year old 80 00:04:59,279 --> 00:05:03,320 Speaker 1: Willie Lincoln, a smart, gentle little boy. They'd lost their 81 00:05:03,360 --> 00:05:05,920 Speaker 1: second born son, Eddie, at the age of four, back 82 00:05:05,960 --> 00:05:08,599 Speaker 1: in eighteen fifty. But now it was the winter of 83 00:05:08,640 --> 00:05:12,120 Speaker 1: eighteen sixty two and the war was not going well. 84 00:05:12,440 --> 00:05:15,279 Speaker 1: Both Willie and their youngest son, Tad came down with 85 00:05:15,360 --> 00:05:20,920 Speaker 1: typhoid fever, probably from a contaminated water source. Tad recovered, 86 00:05:21,120 --> 00:05:24,559 Speaker 1: Willie did not. It broke both Mary and Abe's hearts. 87 00:05:24,600 --> 00:05:27,240 Speaker 1: When he died. It took her months to even leave 88 00:05:27,279 --> 00:05:31,440 Speaker 1: her room. She didn't even attend Willy's funeral. In the aftermath, 89 00:05:31,720 --> 00:05:34,840 Speaker 1: she refused to allow Willie and Tad's two best friends 90 00:05:34,880 --> 00:05:37,560 Speaker 1: back into the White House because she said it reminded 91 00:05:37,600 --> 00:05:40,760 Speaker 1: her of her loss. Now little Tad had lost his 92 00:05:40,839 --> 00:05:45,120 Speaker 1: big brother and his two pals. Mary never really recovered 93 00:05:45,160 --> 00:05:48,640 Speaker 1: from that loss, but life and the war continued. By 94 00:05:48,640 --> 00:05:51,640 Speaker 1: eighteen sixty four, the war effort had paid off, and 95 00:05:51,760 --> 00:05:55,560 Speaker 1: abelink In won re election. Now it's April, the war 96 00:05:55,640 --> 00:05:58,520 Speaker 1: has just ended, and Mary and Abe can breathe a 97 00:05:58,560 --> 00:06:01,360 Speaker 1: little bit easier. For the first time in four years. 98 00:06:01,960 --> 00:06:05,400 Speaker 1: Until that night at Ford's Theater. Both of them were 99 00:06:05,400 --> 00:06:09,160 Speaker 1: bothered by Abe's dreams a few days earlier about seeing 100 00:06:09,160 --> 00:06:12,039 Speaker 1: his own body lying in state in the East room 101 00:06:12,040 --> 00:06:14,919 Speaker 1: of the White House. In the dream, he asks a 102 00:06:14,960 --> 00:06:19,640 Speaker 1: guard what happened and is told the president has been assassinated. But, 103 00:06:19,760 --> 00:06:22,200 Speaker 1: feeling they need a night out, they head to the theater. 104 00:06:22,880 --> 00:06:26,440 Speaker 1: A little over an hour later, John Wilkes Booth takes 105 00:06:26,520 --> 00:06:29,760 Speaker 1: aim during a scene where the audience was laughing and 106 00:06:29,800 --> 00:06:34,119 Speaker 1: shoots Lincoln in the head. After the assassination, Mary Todd 107 00:06:34,160 --> 00:06:37,240 Speaker 1: Lincoln is completely unable to come to grips with what 108 00:06:37,360 --> 00:06:40,880 Speaker 1: has happened. She's in a total state of hysteria, to 109 00:06:40,920 --> 00:06:44,000 Speaker 1: the point that she's forcibly removed from the room where 110 00:06:44,040 --> 00:06:47,120 Speaker 1: her husband lies dying so doctors can do what they 111 00:06:47,160 --> 00:06:50,239 Speaker 1: need to do. Then, after returning to the White House, 112 00:06:50,520 --> 00:06:53,080 Speaker 1: she does the same thing she did after Willie's death. 113 00:06:53,640 --> 00:06:56,479 Speaker 1: She doesn't even leave her bedroom to go to Abe's funeral. 114 00:06:56,960 --> 00:07:00,200 Speaker 1: For weeks, she refuses to leave the White House, even 115 00:07:00,279 --> 00:07:03,720 Speaker 1: to allow the new president to move in. After she 116 00:07:03,839 --> 00:07:07,960 Speaker 1: leaves Washington, she and Tad, her youngest son, moved to Chicago, 117 00:07:08,200 --> 00:07:12,800 Speaker 1: near her oldest Robert, but Mary's grief never eased. The 118 00:07:12,840 --> 00:07:16,080 Speaker 1: only thing that made her happy were travel and shopping. 119 00:07:16,800 --> 00:07:19,480 Speaker 1: Despite having some money left to her by Abe, she 120 00:07:19,640 --> 00:07:23,000 Speaker 1: keeps spending. At one point, she tries selling her clothes 121 00:07:23,040 --> 00:07:26,120 Speaker 1: and other items to make some more money. It causes 122 00:07:26,160 --> 00:07:28,960 Speaker 1: a scandal, and she and Tad wound up moving to 123 00:07:29,040 --> 00:07:31,240 Speaker 1: Germany for a few years to get away from it. 124 00:07:31,840 --> 00:07:35,720 Speaker 1: They return in eighteen seventy one, but Tad dies just 125 00:07:35,760 --> 00:07:39,480 Speaker 1: two months later. He was just eighteen years old. That 126 00:07:39,880 --> 00:07:43,920 Speaker 1: was devastating for Mary Todd, and her obsessive behavior led 127 00:07:43,960 --> 00:07:47,440 Speaker 1: her to contact spiritualists so she could communicate with her 128 00:07:47,440 --> 00:07:50,880 Speaker 1: dead husband and children. She traveled during that time, but 129 00:07:51,240 --> 00:07:54,520 Speaker 1: rushed back to Chicago after having a premonition that her 130 00:07:54,560 --> 00:07:58,680 Speaker 1: only surviving child, Robert, was dying. Of course, he was fine. 131 00:07:59,120 --> 00:08:02,640 Speaker 1: It was eighteen seven five and Robert decides Mary needs 132 00:08:02,680 --> 00:08:06,080 Speaker 1: to be institutionalized. He has to take her to court, though, 133 00:08:06,120 --> 00:08:09,520 Speaker 1: for an insanity trial to get her committed. She spends 134 00:08:09,560 --> 00:08:13,920 Speaker 1: several months in a fancy sanitarium, but eventually manages to 135 00:08:13,960 --> 00:08:16,960 Speaker 1: smuggle a letter out to her lawyer. She wins the 136 00:08:17,000 --> 00:08:21,080 Speaker 1: court case that followed, proving her sanity. After spending a 137 00:08:21,080 --> 00:08:24,480 Speaker 1: few years in France, she returns home to Springfield and 138 00:08:24,520 --> 00:08:27,680 Speaker 1: moves in with her sister, but her relationship with her 139 00:08:27,680 --> 00:08:32,160 Speaker 1: son Robert never recovers. Mary Todd Lincoln died in July 140 00:08:32,280 --> 00:08:35,120 Speaker 1: of eighteen eighty two, and she's buried next to her 141 00:08:35,200 --> 00:08:39,280 Speaker 1: husband and her three youngest sons in Springfield, Illinois. She 142 00:08:39,440 --> 00:08:43,040 Speaker 1: was sixty three years old. Her struggles with mental illness 143 00:08:43,200 --> 00:08:48,079 Speaker 1: and devastating personal losses contributed to the complexity of her 144 00:08:48,080 --> 00:08:51,840 Speaker 1: place in history. I hope you like the Backstory with 145 00:08:51,960 --> 00:08:54,760 Speaker 1: Patty Steele. Please leave a review. I would love it 146 00:08:54,800 --> 00:08:57,920 Speaker 1: if you'd subscribe or follow for free to get new 147 00:08:57,960 --> 00:09:01,440 Speaker 1: episodes delivered automatically. So feel free to dm me if 148 00:09:01,440 --> 00:09:03,960 Speaker 1: you have a story you'd like me to cover. On Facebook, 149 00:09:04,040 --> 00:09:12,400 Speaker 1: It's Patty Steele and on Instagram Real Patty Steele. I'm 150 00:09:12,400 --> 00:09:16,960 Speaker 1: Patty Steele. The Backstories a production of iHeartMedia, Premiere Networks, 151 00:09:17,160 --> 00:09:21,040 Speaker 1: the Elvis Duran Group, and Steel Trap Productions. Our producer 152 00:09:21,080 --> 00:09:24,400 Speaker 1: is Doug Fraser. Our writer Jake Kushner. We have new 153 00:09:24,400 --> 00:09:27,960 Speaker 1: episodes every Tuesday and Friday. Feel free to reach out 154 00:09:27,960 --> 00:09:31,400 Speaker 1: to me with comments and even story suggestions. On Instagram 155 00:09:31,640 --> 00:09:34,640 Speaker 1: at Real Patty Steele and on Facebook at Patty Steele. 156 00:09:35,040 --> 00:09:38,000 Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to the backstory with Patty Steele, the 157 00:09:38,080 --> 00:09:41,040 Speaker 1: pieces of history you didn't know you needed to know.