Historical narrative about president lincolns wife mary. She considers how mary would have been remembered if she had died instead of her husband. Also talking about why the critics have labeled her crazy. Southern Methodist University center for president ial University Posted this event. It is not only an honor and a privilege to introduce tonight speaker, it is to me, a personal delight because she and i were classmates in princeton many years ago. Catherine clinton is the professor of American History at the university of texas at san antonio. She is also one of this countrys most distinguished historians of american women, the south, and the civil war. She is a proud daughter of kansas city, missouri, and she studied as an undergraduate at harvard. Shooin for a phd at princeton, completing her dissertation on the direction of james mcpherson. Her dissertation will be published in 1982 as the book the plantation mistress. It was her first work to be characterized justly as pioneering. Drawing on the diaries, man wires of hundreds of plantar challenges and interprets a host of issues related to the old south. The book forces us to rethink some of our basic assumptions about two peculiar institutions. The slave plantation, and the 19thcentury family. It alters our understanding of the old south and womens place in it. Catherine, we go would go on to author or edit by my count some 17 additional books, all of which are in the library. Several became History Book Club selections. These included biography of harry tubman, the mosyslike conductor of the underground railroad which the Chicago Tribune put on their list for the best works of nonfiction in 2004. More recently, she published mrs. Lincoln a life. Volume is an engaging, wonderfully written narrative that provides fresh insight into this complex woman. It is a triumph. According to pulitzer prizewinning historian joseph ellis, the biography is distinctive for its abiding sanity. Its daft and indepth handling of the white house years and for the consistent quality of prose. Along the way, she has also written several history books for children and she has worked as a consultant on to Academy Awardwinning movies. And steven slave spielbergs lincoln. Shes been at commentator for documentaries. Her lectures are often broadcast on bbc and cspan. To utsa she taught at harvard, brandeis, the citadel, wesleyan, and queens university. Belfast, northern ireland. Finally, not long ago, she was elected by her peers and is now serving as president of the Southern Historical association. A richly deserved capstone recognition for her career achievements in her field of endeavors. So far. Please give a warm welcome to professor catherine clinton. [applause] prof. Clinton i am worn out after hearing all of these things. Thank you, tom, for that very warm introduction. Im very pleased to return to the smu campus where i have enjoyed my visit before. To make my way here. Thank you for making my me feel some welcome. About aased to talk topic, mary lincolns assassination. Americans are nationally focused on honoring the memory of the fallen leader and his legacy remains daunting. At this moment in his legacy, it might behoove us to look at the impact of lincolns death when hundred 50 years ago on another key player in the civil war white house. Mary lincoln. It is my hope that from the Vantage Point of a century and a half we can find a more authentic narrative to appreciate what i have come to call mary lincolns assassination. Im not trenches cdquality cd quality, parity, or any other false construct for mrs. Lincoln. I do think a more judicious appreciation of her role in lincolns life and legacy would be served by examining what i call a 3d approach. The experience of mary lincoln on the night of april 14, 1865. Subsequent trauma. , the scrutiny endured by lincolns wife particularly in the white house. Carving out a place for herself as first widow. Three, the character assassination heaped on mary lincoln most lately by a parade of lincoln scholars. I hope to leave all of these elements together to create a more threedimensional look at her legacy. Full dimensions of the 16th president s death are well chronicled. There are over 600 titles of arable and the library of congress. Mary side of the story and the full impact of the tragedy remains relatively underexplored. Lincoln,y, the widow premiered earlier this year. Mary lincoln had influence over lincolns legacy, most particularly his association with black rights as the martyrpresident s gunned down by an opponent of the black vote. On april 11, two days after lee surrendered to grant, lincoln addressed a gathering crowd in the white house balcony. Any reconciliation between former enemies would be challenging. He discussed the need for cooperation and mention the possibility of black veterans voting. Lincoln ended his speech by suggesting there would be further developments. Historian suggested one man in the audience understood perfectly what lincoln intimated. John wilkes booth told his companion that it meant black citizenship and confided, now, i will put him through. Thats the last speech you will ever make. Historians continue to debate the myriad of reasons why lincoln was killed. Recent scholarship has confirmed that lincoln and his assassination was at a minimum politically motivated. Maximum, a crime. It elevated him to our first civil rights martyr. Lincoln is part of a long list of martyrs who died for black voting rights. James chaney, andrew goodwin, Martin Luther king, tragically, so many more. The misguided attempts to razz the defeated south to carry on the revolution rebellion backfired. It took on religious dimensions. His death was linked to that of jesus. To marry lincoln, a terrible fulfillment of premonition which is haunted her for years. The event divided her life into before and after. A wound which would not heal. How did she experienced the death of her husband. Something which nearly half a million wives had suffered in the past half decade. Not well. Extremely poorly. It was this initial. That signal that she would endure a loss of her protector. Late atand wife arrived for theater. Their entrance interrupted the stage. The band played hell to the chief. Settledand the guests into seats in the president ial box. A celebrated actress was playing a starring role in our american cousin. It was a popular standard, but the lincoln presence during the evening into an exuberant page ratification. He was a devoted theatergoer. This evening promised to be jubilant. Mrs. Lincoln was relieved because her son robert had just returned home from active duty. She and her husband have fought bitterly over his enlistment. Army was restored. Lincoln read his wife a playful note that day to invite her on a drive. It was a jet the president was attentive. He engaged the young couple who accompany them to the theater and enhanced mrs. Lincoln surmounted may. While the play, she cleaned to her husband are mentees him about what they guess my think of her. Lincoln replied she will not think anything about it. These were his last words. P. M. , John Wilkes Booth crept into the president ial box and fired his pistol directly into the back of lincolns head. Next he attacked Henry Rathbone with a knife before leaping onto always tohouting tyrants. Whether he hurt his leg in the fall or during the escape on horseback. It remains a matter of dispute. As do so many of the events of that evening. Dissolving into chaos. Noise, blood. Everything went out of focus for mary except her husband had. Send forward on his chest. His limbs slack. Witnesses all agree that mrs. Lincoln screams alerted the audience. Once she saw blood, mary shrieked. They have shot the president. A doctor unable to find the pulse. Dr. Attends mouthtomouth. Followed by she felt helpless. Soldiers lifted her husband. They carried him across the street. During the scene which unfolded, mary wondered why it was not she who was shot. This is actually prompting me to look at a counterfactual issue in an article entitled why first is widow. How would history judge mary if it had been her instead of lincoln who had been shot . What kind of life which he be . What would her legacy be. Lincoln alone was the one wounded and doctors agreed that there was no expectation of recovery. All except mary recognize that the end was near. The cabinet gathered by lincolns bedside while secretary of War Edwin Stanton issued orders and took charge. Updating the outside world, trying to organize an unprecedented National Manhunt to apprehend the assassin. The National Park service preservation at the peterson home allowed visitors today to reimagine lincolns last hours. Many portraits included mrs. Lincoln kneeling or sitting by the bed. The truth was she had been banished from the room. She wanted to remain by her husbands wide. When she began to sob hysterically she was seeing into a nearby parlor. She realized that her husband was not getting any better. Worse. She collapsed into the floor. Edwin stanton barked take that woman out and do not let her in again. The deathbed of a loved one is a hallowed ritual. Her ancestors were scotch iris. In victorian america, attending a dying has been was a wifes most sacred duty and obligation. Depressed interim memory this final moment, to be there at the very end. Everyone crowded in that room that night new a life the breeding was halting and labored. No one summoned mary. Instead, the reverend suggested a prayer. Men encircledzen her beloved leader. Lincoln was abraham dead. Edwin stanton uttered his tribute, now he belongs to the ages. Forgotten are the words of marry lincoln. Why did you not tell me was dying . Her cry was heard throughout the house. It was her was agreed that alerted those outside the peterson home. Abraham lincoln was gone. It was in that moment the circle of men surrounding lincoln expelling his life from his dying bedside that marries the trail began. She became an exile within her own historical experience. Her husbands death mary was cast adrift. Only able to imagine assuming her rightful place alongside her husband. Mary did not want to leave her husband so she stayed on at the peterson home another two hours. Abraham lincolns reputation has soared. His wifes reputation had tumbled into a deeper decline. He becomes the more infirm all. She began an object of pity confined to the sidebars of her husbands narrative. She did survive to attend one of her sons weddings. She dedicated herself to keeping his legacy. His halo polish. Simultaneously, she entered a series of crippling relations and losses. Contemporaries and scholars alike debate the relationship between lincoln and his wife. No other occupants of the white house have endured such media attention. Until the Kennedy White house. The media Industrial Complex which follows. This has been surpassed by speculation. That is bill clinton and hillary. Did marry lincoln ever throw a lamp . Other historical insights. Its important to see marry lincoln and her relationship with her husband continues to fascinate. The questions would follow, did he love her first . Did he love her best . Did he left for it all . Was she the only woman who could cajole him from his crippling, frequent bouts of melancholy and redirecting toward his destined greatness . Did she nag and abuse him. Wishing a partner only for propriety . Was lincolns desire for no companionship purely spiritual or was the physical component . Claims and counterclaims continue to shake, rattle, and roll the scholarship. We try to examine the facts of the courtship. Naturally, dispute the reps. Im happy to answer any questions about this. Its a rather intricate and quite hotly contested id suggest once the gold ring was slipped on marries finger during the ceremony in november of 1842 the two into lines their fate allowing the currents to stir within them. Mary was her has been sounding board. She was deeply partisan. Blimey well. Held for scratches. Advice live freely. Mary believes she had married a diamond in the rough. She spends a good deal of her energy polishing that diamond. 1858, lincoln confided laughingly to a journalist that his wife had insisted that he would eventually be president of the u. S. Marries critics gave her credit for playing a crucial role in the rise of lincoln. Her skimming helped him get the nomination. They were jubilant. He enjoyed getting to meet the president. Mary would have loved the estimation that the polish Abraham Lincoln had acquired may be credited to the influence of his wife. Her husbands election put her under the microscope. Press coverage became relentless during the winter of 1860. The first lady became an easy target for the lincoln presidency. She felt herself in a fishbowl. One journalist recalled that she drove down pennsylvania avenue. When the lincolns arrived at the white house president James Buchanan wrote mrs. Lincoln is awfully western. Glad in unrefined. At one of her first reception in march of 1861 british journalist found the attendance is very scanty. The washington ladies and not yet made up their minds. As mrs. Lincoln going to be the fashion . The draw comparisons between them and the vulgar yankee women. Some of the earliest press reports said she was incapable of measuring up to revise eastern standards. Mrs. Lincoln was quite offended by the cold shoulders. And very intent upon proving her critics wrong. The new first lady believe that the white house should be a shedding symbol of a great nation. Especially when parol abounded. The executive mansion were shabby. Relations complained that the place is no better than a secondrate hotel. Congress approved when he thousand dollars for white house refurbishing which i compared to other congressional appropriations, for example, it was less than the 125,000 appropriated to Andrew Johnson family. Mary lincoln sought the advice of the commissioner of building for the district. He was a former Hotel Manager and tour operator. He had been drafted by new york party boss to assist lincolns. There were Permanent Appointment and he peddled his influence and pocketed kickbacks. 1851, one particularly outraged new york reporter voiced his disdain. Thousands and thousands of dollars for articles of luxurious taste. She was at events in her cousins defense. Mary cannot indulge in the extravagance she selected find china. Chargers were new colors named after european battles. She designated this with the seal of the u. S. On each piece. President ial china was nothing new. This is the very same pattern i saw that was selected by the First Lady Michelle Obama the. What is remembered are not her taste or her pay judaism but that she ordered a second set at a cost of 1100. They insisted that it was not paid for by the district commissioner as is most charged. Fueled rumors about the extravagance. He regaled his daughter with tales of mrs. Lincolns overspending. Scandalous reports that mrs. Lincoln. And lincoln himself. And the treasury department. Newspapers full of allegations feel the controversy. Beenirst lady may have compromising the ethics to which her husband subscribed. Particularly frugality. There is no evidence to suggest that she participated in criminal conspiracy. What was actually investigated for bad financial practices. Remove from office. Naturally not only was this called a conspiracy, but there were those who intimated that there was an intimate conspiracy between the two. Critics continue to spread stories to such a degree that the editor of the New York Herald complained in october about the abuse heaped on the first lady. She remained at the center of media controversy and bad press. Even her husbands own staff refer to their bosss wife as how cap. She suffered from mood swings. First after the death of willy. Then following a head injury from a carriage accident in june 1863. A carriage accident which happened when the carriage was sabotaged. It was lincolns carriage. It was assumed this was an attempt on his life. Instead, his wife had a lifethreatening injury to the head. Thereafter grown son. 1864, she went on another shopping spree. The papers again. Mrs. Lincoln ransacked treasury. Hostesson political complained that while her sister the wife of the president spent her time rolling to and fro between washington and new york. Intent on extravagance for the white house. The New York Times reported austerity campaigns among the well ladies. Mrs. Lincoln counted by talking to congressional members who said that it would bolster the u. S. Economy. She invested in her own agenda and demanded and received confirmation that what she did was to actually be a patriot during this time. We know that she was quite worried. She saw the Reelection Campaign in 1864 quite crucial to her personal relations as well as relations of the nation. The crushing debt that she feared would not come when her has been one and with peas, she felt that she and her husband would be able to enjoy life. With her husbands death on the heels of surrender, she became notorious, eccentric, derided. Bad press during the war was nothing compared to the melodramas as a widow. Most prominent claims by her husbands former partner that lincoln sweetheart from new salem was the former president one true love. , claims byaging lincolns business associate that the president s widow was a blackmailing person besmirching her husbands memory. By trying to pawn her jewelry and wardrobe. Political enemy suggested that she did not deserve sympathy or financial support. When lincoln died, there was no widow pension. Her husbands estate was tied up with lawyers for over two years. She was annas in a state of severe dislocation. Once her older son married in 1868, she took her son to europe for his education. Homesick, the two returned to roberts home in chicago. Shortly thereafter, he fell in. His death hit his mother and brother very hard. If years later, mary lincoln endured and in bettering alienation from her only remaining son robert. 1875, he committed his mother against her will to an asylum. For her own safety. Incalculable damage to her steam. This often created permanent stain on historical reputation. Not only the headlines in the 1870s, the more than 100 years the first question i was always asked was was she crazy . 1920s, willing to