Several Lincoln historians as well as psychologists and psychiatrists have posited that Mary Lincoln dealt with bipolar disorder which was exacerbated by the tragic deaths of her young sons and by the carriage accident that she had while living in the White House. Mental illness of any kind is difficult to deal with, but such illnesses as bipolar, schizophrenia, dementia and others actually rob a person of their sense of self. For this reason I can only have pity and compassion for both Mary and Abraham who dealt with serious depression. How they were able to function normally at all is a wonder. What a shame that there was no medical help in the 19th century to help the mentally ill!
I am a decent in the Lincoln family tree and I have Bipolar, severe anxiety & PTSD, ADHD (that was kinda diagnosed late, a little over 5 years ago, & then also a very recent) Autism Spectrum Disorder diagnosis I'm F/40. I could very easily see mental health struggles not being treated well, or given much of any treatment at all back then, because looking back just in my parents life growing up, and then my grandparents youth; just how bad things were for their mental health because so many things weren't spoken about like that... I'm glad I live in a world today where I have access to counseling for free every week and support groups that most of the generations before us weren't privy to.❤ I have too big of a heart I couldn't have lived before now. 😢 You know how when people say I should have been born in the 50's or 70's or something I mean.... 😅 I was born when I should have that is to say....
I grew up in Springfield, Ill and many ancestors lived here as well. My great great grandfather was an German Immigrant. He came to Springfield in the early 1850s. He was a shoemaker and he worked at a Mather's shoe shop a block from the Lincoln Herndon Law Office. He made shoes for the Lincoln family. Linda Stuan
I can't imagine someone shooting my husband. I doubly cannot imagine being seated right next to him when the shot was fired. It's a wonder she was as with it as she was, IMO.
In the 1800s it was not unusual for lots of babies and people to die due to disease. As sad as her life was, it was no more sadder than all the families who lost their lives, homes., etc. Mary Todd Lincoln was, sadly, mentally ill. Also she grew up fairly well off compared to all the children in America who had no parents due to death or abandonment. This was also why she drove President Lincoln into poverty. She was obsessed with wealth and spending money.
A woman who lived in my town in Northern NY was at Ford's Theater the night Lincoln was assassinated. She told the story over and over again to anyone who would listen until the day she died 50 years later. It must have been a very traumatic experience.
There was a man in his nineties who was on To Tell The Truth in the 1950s who was five years old when he witnessed Lincoln's assassination at Ford's Theater.
@@bryanspindle4455I love those old game shows, especially What’s My Line! I learn so much from them about history and people and things I could not have known because I wasn’t alive back then, even though I wish I was!
If I may ask - Why isn't there a deep dive extensive bio-pic made of this woman? She went through so much and was so tortured. Her story needs to be told properly.
I really enjoyed this, thank you! Ive read a lot on the Lincolns and I have to be honest, I love Mary!! She was a pistol, for certain but so misunderstood too. What woman wouldnt be a little crazy after her husband was shot in the head while sitting next to her!? It certainly would have gotten to me. Then her children all taken from her.... I pray she rests in peace ✝🙏🏼
Jackie Kennedy lost a baby , and she crawled across the rear of the convertible they were riding to grab John’s brain . Jackie maintained with class her composure and raised two children . Jackie wasn’t crazy , except just in grief .
@@catherinemay9997I would tend to agree. What we consider offensive was just language in the day. She demonstrated behaviors that suggested what we would now believe to be personality disorders at best, chemical imbalances more likely. “Lunatic” was just a catch all. Bipolarism wasn’t understood. Likewise, “moron” was used for any person from autistic or slow to someone with Down’s. It’s unproductive to be offended by things said that were common language in the past.
@@martinham1409 Neither of you are spot on. Don't believe the lies told by Jean Baker and Catherine Clinton. Their books are not based on facts - their citations either do not exist or are taken out of context. Mary Lincoln was a danger to herself. She was suffering from hallucinations and delusions.
As much as Abraham Lincoln was loved, respected and admired Mary Lincoln was hated and disliked by a lot of people including the Washington establishment.
New subscriber here! 47 yrs old & I absolutely love history & biographies; They're getting so hard to find! Really enjoyed your narration & the use of topic specific pictures. I know that sometimes it can be hard to find topic specific pictures & videos but I can't stand it when people use pics/videos that don't even coincide w/ the period of time being referenced. Nice job. Greetings from Alabama. 🙂
@@davidb2206 “A fake and a fraud.” How so? How did you arrive at these ‘findings;’ and as to “always causes it:” what exactly is “it?” Please, do expound on your studied findings, and share your finely honed acumen with the class. We have time to wait. I am all ears.
@@mynamedoesntmatter8652 Glad to oblige. ALL of the answers you need are in the two-volume "Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government" by President Jefferson Davis, which you have never seen and never read, most certainly not in any public school in the U.S. Unlike you and me, he was THERE and was an eyewitness.
A sad tale, well-presented. It's not surprising that Mrs Lincoln was as desperate and depressed as she was. I have huge sympathy for her. What a tortured life.
Thanks for all your work, Mary Todd, gets very little good press, a difficult, distressed person. You can argue that Lincoln was a very distressed person, but he acted in (depressed) and she acted out, drama, being difficult, manipulative. Lincoln controls his emotions, holding them in, Mary almost does all the emotion....
Thank you so much for this marvelous presentation! I appreciate how you shared all of the hard facts yet concluded in such a way as to leave the listener with a contemplative and positive thought.
As a historian, I know firsthand how much time and energy are required to put together an hour long “lecture,” and make it informative but also fascinating and even enjoyable. You did a stellar job of telling Mary Todd’s tragic story. When I read my first biography of her life, I struggled with my own emotions. On the surface she’s an extremely difficult woman to like. But upon further research I found myself pitying her. The reality is her childhood was filled with death, negligence, and instability, any one of which can destroy a child’s psyche. She was deprived of the love and security every child needs and as a result, she was a psychologically damaged little girl who grew into psychologically damaged woman. Actually, given the unbelievable amount of heartache she endured, it’s remarkable she was as rational as she was! Despite her mental health struggles, she was quite a trailblazer. At a time when women were believed to be weak & fragile, were taught to be submissive to their husbands, and understood their place was to walk behind their husbands, not beside them, she refused to follow the rules.
Retired Teacher here! I almost majored in history but HIS - Story seemed a bit sexist to me! I preferred HER- story! So I self - educated myself . Baby Boomer here I read the works of Progressive Thomas Paine. COMMON SENSE ! Paine wanted to Free the Slaves and Give Women the Right to Vote in 1776! The Southern colonies refused to sign the Declaration of Independence if those two things were accomplished! It is 2024 and we are still having problems with these REGRESSIVE Southerners! 🤔🤔🇩🇪🇨🇭🇺🇸💙🌊💙🌊🌊🌊💙
German - Swiss American here! I recently read the excellent book Learning from the Germans RACE and the Memory of EVIL by Susan Neiman .Susan is a Jewish woman who was born and raised in the segregrated South in the 1960's. She is a Professor of Philosophy and the Director of the Einstein Institute in Berlin Germany. She raised her 3 children in Berlin. She still lives there . She made the important point that after WWII Germany had to accept its defeat, to move on to EVOLVE. The South and 45 both were defeated April 9,1865 & November 2020! They basically REGRESSED and DEVOLVED! And FYI, my Great-Uncle died on a beach in Anzio,Italy. He was a Staff Sgt in the US Army. He and many other WWII soldiers did NOT DIE so that their country,the USA could become FASCIST! 🤔🇩🇪🇨🇭🇺🇸🌊💙🌊💙🌊💙🌊💙🌊💙🌊💙 IMHO!
@@daren7889Your replies read like a weirdo leftist activist who thinks too highly of themselves. Perhaps take a look in the mirror before disparaging those “Southerners” and others you feel are below you. Also learn a little more history about racist incidents that took place in those Northern states you seem to be giving a pass to
@@daren7889 I am actually a Holocaust and WWII scholar, and the fact is Germany didn’t have to struggle to accept the WWII defeat…after all they were defeated in WWI, only 27 years before. What they did have to accept was the horrific reality that as a society considered to be one of the most advanced in the world, they had perpetuated the worst genocide known to man (at that time). They had to accept the reality of and responsibility for the deliberate torture and murder of 11 million innocent men, woman & children, 6 million of which were Jews and 3.5 million were Soviet POWS. The Germans also had to accept that even if they hadn’t participated in these horrific murders, they had watched it happen and done nothing and were just as culpable as those who worked in the concentration camps, manned the trains that transported the victims from all over Europe to the camps, and the Nazis who rounded up all those innocent people! They didn’t simply lose a war; they were responsible for the annihilation of 2/3 of the Jewish population in Europe, not to mention the murder of tens of thousands of POLES and thousands of homosexuals, the mentally ill, alcoholics, the chronically unemployed, Jehovah’s Witnesses, political opponents, and anyone who protested against the Nazi Party. The reality is in a mere 12 years, Germany went from being a worldwide model of human advancement to being responsible for one of the most inhumane events in human history. Germans were so devoted to Hitler that despite being forced to participate in de-nazification programs, many still believed their actions during the war were warranted. Germany may have progressed after the war, but only because they were forced to participate in denazification programs and, more importantly, because the Holocaust was so well documented by the Nazi party, and by the Allied troops who discovered the concentration camps and the nearby Germans who were forced to view the camps after troops discovered them. The proof was irrefutable! While Slavery, the American Civil War, and racism in America today are utterly deplorable, it is utterly ridiculous to to compare them to Nazi Germany! Americans ARE responsible for an event which can & should be compared to Germany’s WWII & the Holocaust, but it certainly isn’t the Civil War or the racism in Americans today! It’s the methodical destruction 100 million American Indians who thrived in this country long before Europeans ever set foot here. Although I completely understand your outrage over the US Civil War and racism in America, you lost any argument you might have had by comparing it to WWII Germany then & now!
@@toshland5687 Actually, his worst mistake was comparing slavery, the Civil War and racism in America today to WWII Germany and Germany today. The fact is that WWII Germany perpetuated the Holocaust…one of the worst genocides in human history and STILL deal with antisemitism! To compare these is simply ignorant!
I have always been fascinated by Mrs Lincoln. There is so much about her i didn't know and which you brought out. She did have a lot of grief in her life and unfortunately dealt with it in an unhealthy way. However in her credit it seems like no one knew how to help her or knew what was mentally going on in her life. I am sure if they could help her though it would be a battle that most would not want to fight.
To deal with trauma in a healthy way you need others examples and help. A vast majority of people isn't capable to do it themselves. Doesn't sound like she had a good family
She struggled so much. So very sad. Whether she was “bi-polar”, or just clinically depressed, it’s hard to condemn anything about her. America changed that night. It wasn’t for the best for a spell. America grew after the war, and I will ALWAYS believe it was for the better. I would go to the Lincoln Memorial today, but now, that would cause me to be arrested. Our once great nation, the hope of millions, has become a third world country, and each and every president since our inception has spun so fast in their graves, there is nothing left. So sad.
@@ad6417 UNTRUE. Depressed people experience the same actions and emotions as anyone else. You seem like you are one of those people who thinks depression means you sit around moping, in the dark, in your pajamas all day long. Untrue - educate yourself.
I am an immigrant to the US ,I love American history and different characters,events and democratic and industrial revolutions.thank you for the great insight into Lincoln's biography.
American history is so fascinating. There are so many different periods, from the Pilgrims all the way up to modern day. I think the Civil War is appealing to so many, because it is not that long ago historically. I had an ancestor who fought on the northern side. I always think that if I had to go back in time and live for a month in that era it would be familiar enough that I could get along OK once I learned how to bake bread over a fire or in a primitive iron stove. I know that people wore many more layers of clothing and most of it was either cotton or wool. Just keeping your body and clothing clean and your house clean took a LOT of manual labor -- women nowadays do not realize how much work there actually was. Medical care and vaccines were medieval....I think they had a smallpox vaccine by then but TB, typhoid, cholera and death after delivering babies was a normal part of life. I think I like the 1890-1910 period best. There were the fabulously wealthy and the grinding poor, and that separation made life risky and strange. If you get the chance, visit some places where history happened -- a Civil War battlefield, the house of a president, Plymouth and the replica of the Mayflower, the home of an American author, a colonial fort, and so on. That is where US history really comes alive. My parents took us places like that back in the 1960s when we were kids and that taught us all to appreciate history. Often Native American tribes interest foreigners because there is nothing like them in foreign countries, and with the American film industry making many movies with these themes, foreigners can learn more about the tribes, and it makes them want to go out west and see that landscape for themselves. Mesa Verde, for example, is an outstanding place to see very early Native American cultures. By the way, WELCOME to the USA!.
@virginiasoskin9082 Mesa Verde, been there, done that. The cliff dwellings are interesting, but seeing photographs in a book will save you a lot of time, $, and exercise😊
Mary Todd called her privileged childhood “desolate” not only because of the actual death of her mother but also because of the metaphorical death of her father.86 After her mother died, Mary evidently received little attention from Robert Smith Todd, who, a scant few weeks after his wife’s burial, traveled secretly to nearby Frankfort and courted young Elizabeth “Betsey” Humphreys, whom he wed a year later.87 To Mary’s chagrin, the couple produced eight half-siblings for her over the next fifteen years. She evidently felt betrayed, abandoned, and rejected by her “impetuous, high-strung,sensitive” father.88 As a result, deep-seated anger at him apparently smoldered in her unconscious. Mary Todd had some legitimate grievances against her stepmother. She confided to a friend that her “early home was truly at a boarding school,” Madame Mentelle’s Academy
My decision not to join your Civil War Threads is due to the one sided story of Mary Todd Lincoln. Not only did you concertrate on her negative stories, the narration was done in an accusing, humiliating voice. I’ve studied Mrs. Lincoln for a long time using different biographies and research. She was a misunderstood woman and most likely did have mental health issues. But that was not her fault. Her son was a terrible man and also had a difficult with his father also. There were many good things she did during Lincoln’s Presidency. She was surely treated badly and given no financial help from the government. How many women suffered more than she with the deaths of her sons and husband. Even though she grew up in the south, she was not ever a racist. She supported Lincoln’s efforts to free slavery. Anyway, I will not join your Civil War tapestry threads because in this presentation of Mary Lincoln you did not report her life without very telling bias.
I thought it a little odd, as well as anachronistic, for the narrator to place such emphasis on an "ALL-MALE JURY" that declared her insane - what other kind of jury would there have been in the 1800s? And no mention that it would have also been an all-male jury that declared her recovered. There is no need to project 21st-century piques onto another historical era.
Thank you for showing both sides of Mary Todd Lincoln for I believe if it wasn’t for Mary and Abrahams love for their sons I doubt the civil war would have ended when it did. Death hung over both their lives and the fear of losing another son to war was unbearable to them both. Abraham was torn between getting the Thirteenth Amendment signed or ending the civil war. Mary lit a fire under him that gave him motivation to achieve both. Lincoln wore his grief on his face and Mary drowned herself in luxury. Lincoln would have given her anything to protect her from death’s shadow that chased them both. Mary is happy now and I hope some of us are great fully alive because our ancestors survived the Civil War due to Lincoln’s loving their family. 🙏💕
As a native Kentuckian, Ive always been fascinated by the Civil War and the presidents of the Union and the Confederacy alike. My drive home from work now takes me by Mary Todd Lincoln's home, though I've never taken the tour. Thank you for this wonderful presentation!
I went to Louiville Ky on a trip, we went to a home said to be home of Mary Todd I think they said before marrying Lincoln. I was years ago, I can't recall. This is interesting history.
This production was done in a trauma informed way. Kudos. She certainly had a lot of loss. She lost 3 sons and was estranged from the 4th. It seems like she couldve been a pretty fiery president herself! The word 'hysteria' is used often for women in the past, which, to me, signifies the frustration over the constraints put on women, the opportunities they never got. What a sad story. She could've been a real force. Thank you.
Hysteria was any emotion or action that didn't suit the male counterpart. It's the equivalent to some fool nowadays telling you you're emotional because you're winning a formerly rational argument, simply disagreeing with something whether you're actually angry or not, not accepting whatever dumb bullshit and the list goes on 🙄it's option b for when you lack the ability to deal with your own shortcomings and present your side convincingly and intelligently
Very insightful documentary. Thankyou for your hard work. I would surmise the lady had mental problems. Sad that that was influcted on her husband and family. One comment please? When a person of signigicance died in Mary's life, you kept saying she was abandoned. She was not abandoned, the person died. She felt abandoned. There is a significant difference. Thankyou.
She definitely had mental problems but Abraham seemed troubled as well. I don't think it was just Mary inflicting her struggles on the family. You make good insightful points and I agree about her feelings of abandonment.
Do you think mental problems come out of a void? They hardly ever do. People from healthy functioning families deal w it much less and deal with it better. It is the duty of parents to raise their children well. When that doesn't happen lots of grief follows and children can be blamed only to an extent but blame lies on the people around them too. You sound like you're just blaming the victim as if human relationships don't go both ways? We don't actually know much about how people treated her day to day. How they affected, worsened or caused troubles to her. All we have is hearsay and gossip that we call history because it's long gone
Very interesting i went to Lincoln Junior High and Loncoln High and at 40 i went to Lincoln Memorial University so ive always had a close relationship with Lincoln.
Thank you for doing a video about Mary Lincoln. Indeed, from her early background & personal losses, she didn’t seem to cope well & appeared to be a real nutcase. What I don’t understand, is why you didn’t include her frequent use & ultimate dependence on laudanum, which most certainly contributed to her erratic behavior.
Nutcase really isn't a very nice thing to say, 😮 tbh I think the whole thing is much more complicated than calling a names covers. I think MATL had a lot of trauma and tons of ultra compounded grief. I do agree with you that her use of laudanum is relevant to her story, and would have had a huge affect on her behavior & choices. But I also think that of someone can't tell a particularly sensitive part of a story well, then it might be best to leave it out as it was done here. I am actually a decendant of the Lincolns, I was taught say Lincoln was a great (like eight times) uncle. It's interesting because I too suffer from a lot of the symptoms I've heard mentioned Mary suffers from, & I was formally diagnosed with many things like migraines, fibro (I'm confident it's EDS, working on updating that), arthritis, and of course bipolar, anxiety, ptsd, and (late diagnosed I'm 40/f bc women mask better so it was missed most of my life) ADHD & autism spectrum disorder, & all my life have been on and off so many very powerful drugs, including opiates many of which aren't even on the market anymore and even did hero!n for a while, but it's been almost 4 years now since I've touched that crap, and it's been almost 3 years since I've had any needles in my arm (not hero!n obvs) , over two since I've had (smoked) any fentanyl, and over a year since I've even smoked a cigarette, and I've said all that for two reasons, showing our comparison of symptoms & to say that quitting all that hard stuff has all only been made possible because I've been able to stop self medicating and get into a MAT (Medically Assisted Treatment) program and since they didn't have ANY of that stuff I have had back in her time, they had very limited options (I'm also doing multiple forms of therapy and meeting with multiple kinds of doctors) but it is very likely that she suffered from many of the same things as I do and so for her not to have any proper emotional/mental support and guidance in whole life I could see how inappropriate some of her choices and the way she behaved was, especially when you put mind altering substances on top of all of that. Idk I guess I'm just really triggered that you thought it necessary to call her a nutcase, she did some pretty wild, crazy, and unnecessary things & as Abe did tell her if she didn't get it together she might end up institutionalized which indeed happens to people sometimes but calling people names when they're clearly having a difficult time makes me sad. Idk how much experience you've got with mental health struggles, or addiction but I'll tell you from personal experience I'm sure that pretty much no one chooses to have mental health issues or addiction issues for funzies or because they want to be thought of as a nutcase, anyways I'll get off my soapbox now, I just think that addiction is still such a multifaceted, multilayered, delicate and a hotbutton topic, that more than half of people can't agree on because more than half of people would rather punish the addict, & make broad assumptions about addiction, than really stop and take the time to get in there and learn about what's going on, & to really inform themselves. ❤❤❤
I was married to a mainline heroine addict. I get the whole picture. He left his only child fatherless & me penniless. The effects were numerous & far reaching. I’m sorry to read all that you’ve gone through & are going through. I wish you only the best for complete healing & peace in your life. Whether you like my terminology or not, based from the content of the video about Mary Lincoln, to me she was made to appear like a real nutcase.
@danysanerd2383 Chill. I don't think her remark of being a "nutcase" was being nasty, I took it as a general description. We have become a very sensitive society for the words we use. Sry fir all of your illnesses.
I learned through casual history that Mary Todd Lincoln was a bit “ off center” but now I know that she was on the cusp of true madness and understand better why that was the case. RIP MATL
but she stood firm..history has destroyed her..given her no credit for going thru the very worst time in US history..the other first ladies have had nothing to do..Eleanor was very good and my second choice
great point..then throw in unimaginable personal tragedy plus the tragedy of hundreds of thousands of boys killed or mutilated..the Union was in a very dark place..people forget this context when evaluating Mary Todd Lincoln@@adrienebailey9010
I wanted this video earlier this morning on a lazy Cali Sunday it was absolutely amazing and very informative I don’t recall knowing anything in this much detail about Mary Todd Lincoln and you’re voiceover made listening to it spectacular now I’m a new fan giving you a thumb’s up wishing you continued success. ❤
@Threads from the National Tapestry I learned so much about Mary Ann Todd Lincoln that I had never known before. This was the first video from your channel I have watched and I look forward to watching more. Thank you for this - your work is excellent.
My grandfather, who was born a little over 30 years after the Civil War stated this quote, "There are only two that can handle a woman, and that is Abe and God, if she is like Mary Todd!:
I didn't know what to make of Mrs. Lincoln. Through most of this video, I found it hard to reconcile my feelings for her, whether there was some pity, or piteous contempt. Yet, at the end, when you spoke of her being with her family again in death, I felt a well of sadness, and felt tears. An end to what, despite her difficulty from and to others, was surely a painful existence.
I just discovered your reading of Mary Todd Lincoln and enjoyed it very much. Looking forward to hearing more. Your voice is the icing on the cake. Thank you for doing this..
Thank you for this insightful story. I learned a great deal about Mary Ann, and was touched by her life and struggles. I hope she truly rests in peace.
Mary Todd Lincoln seemed to have some serious abandonment issues. Unfortunately, society women can be catty, so no wonder they thought her gowns were scandalous. It would be great to talk about Elizabeth Keckley, Mary Todd Lincoln's dressmaker. A former enslaved woman who bought her freedom then became a popular modiste to Washington's socialite and became Mary Todd's confidante.
Exactly! Mary Lincoln was not all bad! She was a strong supporter of freeing slavery and treated the soldiers in the home for soldiers daily and spent much time caring for them. There was a lot left out that was positive about her life. Lincoln truly loved her and she him.
As an Illinois native, I've always been fascinated by Mary Todd Lincoln. In school we were taught a great deal about A. Lincoln, but Mrs. Lincoln, not so much. TY.
Very well done, sir. Thank you. It's hard to wrap your mind around the amount of tragedy this woman endured. Not unlike the pain and loss in Stonewall Jackson's life.
Varina Davis, like Mary Lincoln and Jackie Kennedy, lost a child duing her husband's presidency. Franklin Pierce's wife was devastated by the death of her only surviving child right before her husband's inauguration. The Todd sisters went to stay with their married sister in Springville as part of a husband-hunting ritual. When Mary married Lincoln, she was in danger of becoming a spinster. Wasn't the Fatal First related to his reluctance to marry her? Douglas was never a serious suitor of Mary. The wedding ceremony was so hastily planned that the wedding cake was still warm from the oven.
It seems like her demeanor was due to the trauma she suffered during her childhood and the losses of her adulthood. Poor woman. She sounds like she may also have dealt with bipolar disorder. Robert Lincoln was a nasty man who treated her terribly.
I had wondered why Robert Lincoln was not buried in Springfield with the rest of his family. Now I understand. Mary would have broken out of her grave and rampaged in fury if he had been.
The woman whose photo is at about 5 minutes and 20 seconds is Kate Chase, daughter of Salmon Chase, future Secretary of the Treasury. and Mary's enemy.
Many women in Washington during the Civil War, described her as being a Virago. I had to look the word up. A Virago is a nasty, short tempered, unpleasant woman. Not quite the flowery description one would want to be tagged with. (Eunice Hunt Tripler).
@@brentinnes5151 Why would anyone be jealous of someone with mental illness and borderline psychosis, not to mention she was an ‘overspender,’ to put it bluntly.
Mary Lincoln was accurately described as VIARGO. She was a definitely a short nasty lady with an attitude. She was raised with an attitude and never departed from it. I would like to know What man doesn't have a say in naming at least 1 of his 4 sons? Have any questions about Mary Lincoln? l suggest you watch this again. ❤
One doc I saw ..a biographer of the Todd family said there was a saying around Lexington at the time...'God has one D, but the Todd's have to have two,'
@@jenniferwest6108Were you born a West? For l truly was, l was made and raised in Texas, but born in Louisiana. I happened to be taken at 18 days old back to the county where l was conceived. And that happens to be San Jacinto Day in Texas. A State Holiday!
Love a strong woman.Approval not needed.A work of art. Her mansion was a statement.Her life is a wonderful encouragement to take the initiative .A broken heart because of loss caused her to be defensive.1865 saw a great first Lady. Her husband the President made no will.Still resilient she received a pension. At the end of the day left an inheritance .⚖️
Years ago I read the book Love is Eternal, I apologize that I don’t remember the author . It was a heart breaking story of the life of the Lincoln’s. Yes it was apparent that Mary had mental illness. But the things she suffered in her life it’s no wonder. And it was horrible how she was treated after Lincoln died. I truly felt such anger towards the way she was treated.😢And her son Robert treated her so mean. I love President Lincoln and Mary. ❤
Your ability as a narrator is astounding! I had such difficulty finding wonderful historical stories paired with such an animated voice, but here you are! Thank you for your gift of story to us! ❤
What does the picture of Jane Austen at 43:12 have to do with this? Incidentally, I have seen the original of this watercolor. It is in the British Library and was done by her (Jane's) sister.
Give the guy a break. Considering how difficult it must be to locate topic specific pictures from two centuries ago I'd venture to say only one mistake in a 45 min documentary is pretty dagone good. 🤷♀️
I think he's haunting the White House to get away from her. I really hope Abe can find some peace wherever he is know, and maybe find himself a proper wife.
Excellent presentation. There is an old saying, behind every successful man stands a strong woman. She was no exception. Had Lincoln's first love , Ann Rutledge, survived, he may well have been content to stay in Springfield. Looking forward to more content.
You can’t really blame Abraham Lincoln for pursuing and sticking with Mary. His options were limited. He was an ugly guy. He made Lyle Lovett look like Cary Grant.
Thank you for putting this video together! For me, Mary Todd has always been an interesting person to learn about. Losing three sons and seeing her husband murdered literary in front of her is beyond comprehension and yes mental illness was barely understood. I've seen some portrayals of Mary Todd and I think Mary Tyler Moore did an absolutely amazing job in showing what a tightrope Mary had to walk. Seemingly no end of criticism she no matter what she did.
I just started reading "Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker" by Jennifer Chiaverini. It is the story of her seamstress, Elizabeth Keckley, a former slave. So far, interesting reading for anyone wanting to learn more of Mary Todd Lincoln.
Women of substance raised in the South behaved just like Mary Todd Lincoln. Saying she had mental disorders is a total slam on the South. It is a shame the way the Northerners treated her. (I’m giving no excuses for the South. They raised their children like the aristocracy-privileged and not self aware.)
Thank you so much for such a wonderful program! I had NO idea what a “challenging” lady that Mary Todd Lincoln was. I have even more respect for President Lincoln. He definitely was very wise and had to be on his guard to keep peace on all fronts! God bless you!
I consider Mary to be one of the most tragic and misunderstood figures in American history. When she was only 6, her mother died in childbirth. She did not get along with the woman her father subsequently married, and left home in her teens to live with older siblings. Mary was intelligent, well-educated, and interested in politics. Her second son, Eddie died at the age of 4, while the family still lived in Illinois. After Lincoln became President, her third son, Willie, died in the White House at age 12. Three years later her husband was murdered as she sat next to him at Ford's Theater. Six years after that, her youngest son, Tad, died at age 18. Having prematurely lost her mother, three of four sons, and her husband, Mary's was a life haunted by death and grief. Yes, she had a difficult personality and wildly labile moods. But I work in psychiatry and agree with those who feel she had bipolar disorder. (Her spending, in particular, would be symptomatic of that.) Today Mary could be successfully treated with modern medications. I so wish there would be a reexamination of Mary Todd Lincoln, taking into account her lifetime of loss and untreated psychiatric illness.
I wonder whether Mary Todd is still harassing her husband in the next world. I also wonder whether this is why he haunts the White House - to get away from her...
From Illinois. Family moved to Bement, Illinois from England in 1858. I always wondered if they saw the Lincolns in person. Or the train that carried his body. Thank you for telling this fascinating story of Mary. God rest her soul.
She is my favourite first lady...despite being from a pro rebel family, she was as fierce a patriot as anyone and supported her husband 100%..she gets a bad rap but the tragedy of children dying and her husband was too much for her and I would say anybody..visiting Union hospitals regularly ..her tenure as first lady was the worst of any..for this reason..she gets my vote...Hillary and Michelle and Jill at the very bottom
@@kathycarroll4383Hillary Clinton, Michelle Obama and Jill Biden will go down in history among the best First Ladies. I don't know where your vicious, negative opinion comes from. You must not be a very good judge of character.
Enjoyed your video, but she WAS nuts! And, funny, some years back I met a man who was some kind of cousin to her, an R Todd. I used to call him "Toddy-Bob." He was a nice guy, married w/a kid; some good people.
Several Lincoln historians as well as psychologists and psychiatrists have posited that Mary Lincoln dealt with bipolar disorder which was exacerbated by the tragic deaths of her young sons and by the carriage accident that she had while living in the White House. Mental illness of any kind is difficult to deal with, but such illnesses as bipolar, schizophrenia, dementia and others actually rob a person of their sense of self. For this reason I can only have pity and compassion for both Mary and Abraham who dealt with serious depression. How they were able to function normally at all is a wonder. What a shame that there was no medical help in the 19th century to help the mentally ill!
I agree. ❤
I am a decent in the Lincoln family tree and I have Bipolar, severe anxiety & PTSD, ADHD (that was kinda diagnosed late, a little over 5 years ago, & then also a very recent) Autism Spectrum Disorder diagnosis I'm F/40. I could very easily see mental health struggles not being treated well, or given much of any treatment at all back then, because looking back just in my parents life growing up, and then my grandparents youth; just how bad things were for their mental health because so many things weren't spoken about like that... I'm glad I live in a world today where I have access to counseling for free every week and support groups that most of the generations before us weren't privy to.❤ I have too big of a heart I couldn't have lived before now. 😢 You know how when people say I should have been born in the 50's or 70's or something I mean.... 😅 I was born when I should have that is to say....
⁹09⁹o⁹⁰⁹o òiiii8
😊😊 45:21 45:21 45:21 45:21
I grew up in Springfield, Ill and many ancestors lived here as well. My great great grandfather was an German Immigrant. He came to Springfield in the early 1850s. He was a shoemaker and he worked at a Mather's shoe shop a block from the Lincoln Herndon Law Office. He made shoes for the Lincoln family. Linda Stuan
Losing three children, and then her husband in a tragic murder is more than most women could bear.
And then happened to keep their remains at home.Until further, arrangements could be made.Talk about heartbreaking there❤
Not to mention her oldest son, kind of betraying her, and having her committed
Seems like karma
@@ernie1238karma for what tho? She wasn’t that bad
I can't imagine someone shooting my husband. I doubly cannot imagine being seated right next to him when the shot was fired. It's a wonder she was as with it as she was, IMO.
She had been through more than most humans will ever go through in a lifetime. God rest her soul.
In the 1800s it was not unusual for lots of babies and people to die due to disease. As sad as her life was, it was no more sadder than all the families who lost their lives, homes., etc. Mary Todd Lincoln was, sadly, mentally ill. Also she grew up fairly well off compared to all the children in America who had no parents due to death or abandonment. This was also why she drove President Lincoln into poverty. She was obsessed with wealth and spending money.
What an ungrateful son
A woman who lived in my town in Northern NY was at Ford's Theater the night Lincoln was assassinated. She told the story over and over again to anyone who would listen until the day she died 50 years later. It must have been a very traumatic experience.
That's fascinating! How do you know about this lady, do folks in your city still talk about her?
Fascinating. Can you recall what she said. Did she write about it?
There was a man in his nineties who was on To Tell The Truth in the 1950s who was five years old when he witnessed Lincoln's assassination at Ford's Theater.
@@bryanspindle4455I love those old game shows, especially What’s My Line! I learn so much from them about history and people and things I could not have known because I wasn’t alive back then, even though I wish I was!
The Ford Theater tour was the favorite part of our visit to dc.
If I may ask - Why isn't there a deep dive extensive bio-pic made of this woman? She went through so much and was so tortured. Her story needs to be told properly.
If you’re a writer, you could contribute?
Is there a list of stuff the cook made for meals back then,,i would like to taste what was popular to eat them days
This story seems to do just that.
I really enjoyed this, thank you! Ive read a lot on the Lincolns and I have to be honest, I love Mary!! She was a pistol, for certain but so misunderstood too. What woman wouldnt be a little crazy after her husband was shot in the head while sitting next to her!? It certainly would have gotten to me. Then her children all taken from her.... I pray she rests in peace ✝🙏🏼
Jackie Kennedy lost a baby , and she crawled across the rear of the convertible they were riding to grab John’s brain . Jackie maintained with class her composure and raised two children . Jackie wasn’t crazy , except just in grief .
It seems to me the son who called her a lunatic was not far from deserving that epithet himself.
I do not believe Robert meant harm.
You are spot on. Robert was 100 percent Todd. He was arrogant self centered and played on his father's name and reputation his entire life.
@@catherinemay9997I would tend to agree. What we consider offensive was just language in the day. She demonstrated behaviors that suggested what we would now believe to be personality disorders at best, chemical imbalances more likely. “Lunatic” was just a catch all. Bipolarism wasn’t understood. Likewise, “moron” was used for any person from autistic or slow to someone with Down’s.
It’s unproductive to be offended by things said that were common language in the past.
@@martinham1409 Neither of you are spot on. Don't believe the lies told by Jean Baker and Catherine Clinton. Their books are not based on facts - their citations either do not exist or are taken out of context. Mary Lincoln was a danger to herself. She was suffering from hallucinations and delusions.
She was a troubled woman. But I do believe she deserved a life long pension.
Oh from the school that money fixes everything. Sure throw more money at it it does not fix anything. It won't take yhe pain in the heart go away
@@WonderfulEagle-mm1vjbut it sure wouldn’t hurt her.
@@WonderfulEagle-mm1vjno but it will feed you. What's wrong with you?
As much as Abraham Lincoln was loved, respected and admired Mary Lincoln was hated and disliked by a lot of people including the Washington establishment.
@@WonderfulEagle-mm1vjyou get your food for free?
New subscriber here! 47 yrs old & I absolutely love history & biographies; They're getting so hard to find! Really enjoyed your narration & the use of topic specific pictures. I know that sometimes it can be hard to find topic specific pictures & videos but I can't stand it when people use pics/videos that don't even coincide w/ the period of time being referenced. Nice job. Greetings from Alabama. 🙂
Welcome! Glad you found our channel.
As an Englishman, it seems to me that President Lincoln fought two civil wars, one between the north and the south and the other at home.
As an American, I surely share your sentiment. Spot on.
Spot on.
Because he was a fake and fraud in character. That always causes it.
@@davidb2206
“A fake and a fraud.” How so? How did you arrive at these ‘findings;’ and as to “always causes it:” what exactly is “it?” Please, do expound on your studied findings, and share your finely honed acumen with the class. We have time to wait.
I am all ears.
@@mynamedoesntmatter8652 Glad to oblige. ALL of the answers you need are in the two-volume "Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government" by President Jefferson Davis, which you have never seen and never read, most certainly not in any public school in the U.S. Unlike you and me, he was THERE and was an eyewitness.
My aunt Catherine was a Todd from Kentucky, related to Mary Todd Lincoln and looked so much like her.
A sad tale, well-presented. It's not surprising that Mrs Lincoln was as desperate and depressed as she was. I have huge sympathy for her. What a tortured life.
Thanks for all your work,
Mary Todd, gets very little good press, a difficult, distressed person. You can argue that Lincoln was a very distressed person, but he acted in (depressed) and she acted out, drama, being difficult, manipulative. Lincoln controls his emotions, holding them in, Mary almost does all the emotion....
Sadly, even today, woman are judged by different standards of behavior.
Maybe it's because men and women are different.
Thank you so much for this marvelous presentation!
I appreciate how you shared all of the hard facts yet concluded in such a way as to leave the listener with a contemplative and positive thought.
As a historian, I know firsthand how much time and energy are required to put together an hour long “lecture,” and make it informative but also fascinating and even enjoyable. You did a stellar job of telling Mary Todd’s tragic story. When I read my first biography of her life, I struggled with my own emotions. On the surface she’s an extremely difficult woman to like. But upon further research I found myself pitying her. The reality is her childhood was filled with death, negligence, and instability, any one of which can destroy a child’s psyche. She was deprived of the love and security every child needs and as a result, she was a psychologically damaged little girl who grew into psychologically damaged woman. Actually, given the unbelievable amount of heartache she endured, it’s remarkable she was as rational as she was! Despite her mental health struggles, she was quite a trailblazer. At a time when women were believed to be weak & fragile, were taught to be submissive to their husbands, and understood their place was to walk behind their husbands, not beside them, she refused to follow the rules.
Retired Teacher here! I almost majored in history but HIS - Story seemed a bit sexist to me! I preferred HER- story! So I self - educated myself . Baby Boomer here I read the works of Progressive Thomas Paine. COMMON SENSE ! Paine wanted to Free the Slaves and Give Women the Right to Vote in 1776! The Southern colonies refused to sign the Declaration of Independence if those two things were accomplished! It is 2024 and we are still having problems with these REGRESSIVE Southerners! 🤔🤔🇩🇪🇨🇭🇺🇸💙🌊💙🌊🌊🌊💙
German - Swiss American here! I recently read the excellent book Learning from the Germans RACE and the Memory of EVIL by Susan Neiman .Susan is a Jewish woman who was born and raised in the segregrated South in the 1960's. She is a Professor of Philosophy and the Director of the Einstein Institute in Berlin Germany. She raised her 3 children in Berlin. She still lives there . She made the important point that after WWII Germany had to accept its defeat, to move on to EVOLVE. The South and 45 both were defeated April 9,1865 & November 2020! They basically REGRESSED and DEVOLVED! And FYI, my Great-Uncle died on a beach in Anzio,Italy. He was a Staff Sgt in the US Army. He and many other WWII soldiers did NOT DIE so that their country,the USA could become FASCIST! 🤔🇩🇪🇨🇭🇺🇸🌊💙🌊💙🌊💙🌊💙🌊💙🌊💙 IMHO!
@@daren7889Your replies read like a weirdo leftist activist who thinks too highly of themselves. Perhaps take a look in the mirror before disparaging those “Southerners” and others you feel are below you. Also learn a little more history about racist incidents that took place in those Northern states you seem to be giving a pass to
@@daren7889 I am actually a Holocaust and WWII scholar, and the fact is Germany didn’t have to struggle to
accept the WWII defeat…after all they were defeated in WWI, only 27 years before. What they did have to accept was the horrific reality that as a society considered to be one of the most advanced in the world, they had perpetuated the worst genocide known to man (at that time). They had to accept the reality of and responsibility for the deliberate torture and murder of 11 million innocent men, woman & children, 6 million of which were Jews and 3.5 million were Soviet POWS. The Germans also had to accept that even if they hadn’t participated in these horrific murders, they had watched it happen and done nothing and were just as culpable as those who worked in the concentration camps, manned the trains that transported the victims from all over Europe to the camps, and the Nazis who rounded up all those innocent people! They didn’t simply lose a war; they were responsible for the annihilation of 2/3 of the Jewish population in Europe, not to mention the murder of tens of thousands of POLES and thousands of homosexuals, the mentally ill, alcoholics, the chronically unemployed, Jehovah’s Witnesses, political opponents, and anyone who protested against the Nazi Party. The reality is in a mere 12 years, Germany went from being a worldwide model of human advancement to being responsible for one of the most inhumane events in human history. Germans were so devoted to Hitler that despite being forced to participate in de-nazification programs, many still believed their actions during the war were warranted. Germany may have progressed after the war, but only because they were forced to participate in denazification programs and, more importantly, because the Holocaust was so well documented by the Nazi party, and by the Allied troops who discovered the concentration camps and the nearby Germans who were forced to view the camps after troops discovered them. The proof was irrefutable! While Slavery, the American Civil War, and racism in America today are utterly deplorable, it is utterly ridiculous to to compare them to Nazi Germany! Americans ARE responsible for an event which can & should be compared to Germany’s WWII & the Holocaust, but it certainly isn’t the Civil War or the racism in Americans today! It’s the methodical destruction 100 million American Indians who thrived in this country long before Europeans ever set foot here. Although I completely understand your outrage over the US Civil War and racism in America, you lost any argument you might have had by comparing it to WWII Germany then & now!
@@toshland5687 Actually, his worst mistake was comparing slavery, the Civil War and racism in America today to WWII Germany and Germany today. The fact is that WWII Germany perpetuated the Holocaust…one of the worst genocides in human history and STILL deal with antisemitism! To compare these is simply ignorant!
I have always been fascinated by Mrs Lincoln. There is so much about her i didn't know and which you brought out. She did have a lot of grief in her life and unfortunately dealt with it in an unhealthy way. However in her credit it seems like no one knew how to help her or knew what was mentally going on in her life. I am sure if they could help her though it would be a battle that most would not want to fight.
Her personal maid wrote a book about her. Read it years ago & really enjoyed it!
What is the book called ? If I may ask?
@@Scoopy38I’d like to know the name of the book as well??
To deal with trauma in a healthy way you need others examples and help. A vast majority of people isn't capable to do it themselves. Doesn't sound like she had a good family
She struggled so much. So very sad.
Whether she was “bi-polar”, or just clinically depressed, it’s hard to condemn anything about her.
America changed that night.
It wasn’t for the best for a spell.
America grew after the war, and I will ALWAYS believe it was for the better.
I would go to the Lincoln Memorial today, but now, that would cause me to be arrested. Our once great nation, the hope of millions, has become a third world country, and each and every president since our inception has spun so fast in their graves, there is nothing left. So sad.
Depressed people are not manipulative and violent.
@@ad6417 UNTRUE. Depressed people experience the same actions and emotions as anyone else. You seem like you are one of those people who thinks depression means you sit around moping, in the dark, in your pajamas all day long. Untrue - educate yourself.
Wow... what a story. Incredible. I feel bad for Lincoln, God rest his soul.
I am an immigrant to the US ,I love American history and different characters,events and democratic and industrial revolutions.thank you for the great insight into Lincoln's biography.
American history is so fascinating. There are so many different periods, from the Pilgrims all the way up to modern day. I think the Civil War is appealing to so many, because it is not that long ago historically. I had an ancestor who fought on the northern side. I always think that if I had to go back in time and live for a month in that era it would be familiar enough that I could get along OK once I learned how to bake bread over a fire or in a primitive iron stove. I know that people wore many more layers of clothing and most of it was either cotton or wool. Just keeping your body and clothing clean and your house clean took a LOT of manual labor -- women nowadays do not realize how much work there actually was. Medical care and vaccines were medieval....I think they had a smallpox vaccine by then but TB, typhoid, cholera and death after delivering babies was a normal part of life. I think I like the 1890-1910 period best. There were the fabulously wealthy and the grinding poor, and that separation made life risky and strange. If you get the chance, visit some places where history happened -- a Civil War battlefield, the house of a president, Plymouth and the replica of the Mayflower, the home of an American author, a colonial fort, and so on. That is where US history really comes alive. My parents took us places like that back in the 1960s when we were kids and that taught us all to appreciate history. Often Native American tribes interest foreigners because there is nothing like them in foreign countries, and with the American film industry making many movies with these themes, foreigners can learn more about the tribes, and it makes them want to go out west and see that landscape for themselves. Mesa Verde, for example, is an outstanding place to see very early Native American cultures. By the way, WELCOME to the USA!.
@virginiasoskin9082 Mesa Verde, been there, done that. The cliff dwellings are interesting, but seeing photographs in a book will save you a lot of time, $, and exercise😊
Immigrants are often better citizens than the ones born here--better educated and conscientious with regard to civics.
Thank you for this lovely portrait of a very complicated human. You handled it with such care.
Mary Todd called her privileged childhood “desolate” not only because of the actual death of her mother but also because of the metaphorical death of her father.86 After her mother died, Mary evidently received little attention from Robert Smith Todd, who, a scant few weeks after his wife’s burial, traveled secretly to nearby Frankfort and
courted young Elizabeth “Betsey” Humphreys, whom he wed a year later.87 To Mary’s chagrin, the couple produced eight half-siblings for her over the next fifteen years. She
evidently felt betrayed, abandoned, and rejected by her “impetuous, high-strung,sensitive” father.88 As a result, deep-seated anger at him apparently smoldered in her
unconscious.
Mary Todd had some legitimate grievances against her stepmother. She confided to a friend that her “early home was truly at a boarding school,” Madame Mentelle’s
Academy
Fantastic job telling her story, I read a book on her and Abraham and their families story. Great video
My decision not to join your Civil War Threads is due to the one sided story of Mary Todd Lincoln. Not only did you concertrate on her negative stories, the narration was done in an accusing, humiliating voice. I’ve studied Mrs. Lincoln for a long time using different biographies and research. She was a misunderstood woman and most likely did have mental health issues. But that was not her fault. Her son was a terrible man and also had a difficult with his father also. There were many good things she did during Lincoln’s Presidency. She was surely treated badly and given no financial help from the government. How many women suffered more than she with the deaths of her sons and husband. Even though she grew up in the south, she was not ever a racist. She supported Lincoln’s efforts to free slavery.
Anyway, I will not join your Civil War tapestry threads because in this presentation of Mary Lincoln you did not report her life without very telling bias.
I thought it a little odd, as well as anachronistic, for the narrator to place such emphasis on an "ALL-MALE JURY" that declared her insane - what other kind of jury would there have been in the 1800s? And no mention that it would have also been an all-male jury that declared her recovered. There is no need to project 21st-century piques onto another historical era.
Thank you for showing both sides of Mary Todd Lincoln for I believe if it wasn’t for Mary and Abrahams love for their sons I doubt the civil war would have ended when it did. Death hung over both their lives and the fear of losing another son to war was unbearable to them both. Abraham was torn between getting the Thirteenth Amendment signed or ending the civil war. Mary lit a fire under him that gave him motivation to achieve both. Lincoln wore his grief on his face and Mary drowned herself in luxury. Lincoln would have given her anything to protect her from death’s shadow that chased them both. Mary is happy now and I hope some of us are great fully alive because our ancestors survived the Civil War due to Lincoln’s loving their family. 🙏💕
Poor woman! She fasinates me.
Even w help I don't think I would have been able to carry on after the children's deaths.
As a native Kentuckian, Ive always been fascinated by the Civil War and the presidents of the Union and the Confederacy alike. My drive home from work now takes me by Mary Todd Lincoln's home, though I've never taken the tour. Thank you for this wonderful presentation!
Take the tour! It's very interesting. The docents do a great job.
I went to Louiville Ky on a trip, we went to a home said to be home of Mary Todd I think they said before marrying Lincoln. I was years ago, I can't recall. This is interesting history.
This production was done in a trauma informed way. Kudos. She certainly had a lot of loss. She lost 3 sons and was estranged from the 4th. It seems like she couldve been a pretty fiery president herself! The word 'hysteria' is used often for women in the past, which, to me, signifies the frustration over the constraints put on women, the opportunities they never got. What a sad story. She could've been a real force. Thank you.
She was estranged from Robert because they were exactly alike.
Hysteria was any emotion or action that didn't suit the male counterpart. It's the equivalent to some fool nowadays telling you you're emotional because you're winning a formerly rational argument, simply disagreeing with something whether you're actually angry or not, not accepting whatever dumb bullshit and the list goes on 🙄it's option b for when you lack the ability to deal with your own shortcomings and present your side convincingly and intelligently
Thank you for your research. I could listen to these fabulous stories everyday.
Very insightful documentary. Thankyou for your hard work.
I would surmise the lady had mental problems. Sad that that was influcted on her husband and family.
One comment please? When a person of signigicance died in Mary's life, you kept saying she was abandoned. She was not abandoned, the person died. She felt abandoned. There is a significant difference. Thankyou.
She definitely had mental problems but Abraham seemed troubled as well. I don't think it was just Mary inflicting her struggles on the family. You make good insightful points and I agree about her feelings of abandonment.
Do you think mental problems come out of a void? They hardly ever do. People from healthy functioning families deal w it much less and deal with it better. It is the duty of parents to raise their children well. When that doesn't happen lots of grief follows and children can be blamed only to an extent but blame lies on the people around them too. You sound like you're just blaming the victim as if human relationships don't go both ways? We don't actually know much about how people treated her day to day. How they affected, worsened or caused troubles to her. All we have is hearsay and gossip that we call history because it's long gone
I’m sorry, to me, she may have had mental issues, but she also sounded very mean……
What a sad, sad story. Thanks for sharing.
Wow, wow, wow!!! Very interesting presentation and so much information! I am going to watch it again. Thank you for your research!
Thank you so much for bringing MTL to life, you did a great job.
Very interesting i went to Lincoln Junior High and Loncoln High and at 40 i went to Lincoln Memorial University so ive always had a close relationship with Lincoln.
Poor lady. Sounds like she was totally lost. RIP Mrs. Lincoln.
Thank you for doing a video about Mary Lincoln. Indeed, from her early background & personal losses, she didn’t seem to cope well & appeared to be a real nutcase. What I don’t understand, is why you didn’t include her frequent use & ultimate dependence on laudanum, which most certainly contributed to her erratic behavior.
Nutcase really isn't a very nice thing to say, 😮 tbh I think the whole thing is much more complicated than calling a names covers. I think MATL had a lot of trauma and tons of ultra compounded grief. I do agree with you that her use of laudanum is relevant to her story, and would have had a huge affect on her behavior & choices. But I also think that of someone can't tell a particularly sensitive part of a story well, then it might be best to leave it out as it was done here. I am actually a decendant of the Lincolns, I was taught say Lincoln was a great (like eight times) uncle. It's interesting because I too suffer from a lot of the symptoms I've heard mentioned Mary suffers from, & I was formally diagnosed with many things like migraines, fibro (I'm confident it's EDS, working on updating that), arthritis, and of course bipolar, anxiety, ptsd, and (late diagnosed I'm 40/f bc women mask better so it was missed most of my life) ADHD & autism spectrum disorder, & all my life have been on and off so many very powerful drugs, including opiates many of which aren't even on the market anymore and even did hero!n for a while, but it's been almost 4 years now since I've touched that crap, and it's been almost 3 years since I've had any needles in my arm (not hero!n obvs) , over two since I've had (smoked) any fentanyl, and over a year since I've even smoked a cigarette, and I've said all that for two reasons, showing our comparison of symptoms & to say that quitting all that hard stuff has all only been made possible because I've been able to stop self medicating and get into a MAT (Medically Assisted Treatment) program and since they didn't have ANY of that stuff I have had back in her time, they had very limited options (I'm also doing multiple forms of therapy and meeting with multiple kinds of doctors) but it is very likely that she suffered from many of the same things as I do and so for her not to have any proper emotional/mental support and guidance in whole life I could see how inappropriate some of her choices and the way she behaved was, especially when you put mind altering substances on top of all of that. Idk I guess I'm just really triggered that you thought it necessary to call her a nutcase, she did some pretty wild, crazy, and unnecessary things & as Abe did tell her if she didn't get it together she might end up institutionalized which indeed happens to people sometimes but calling people names when they're clearly having a difficult time makes me sad. Idk how much experience you've got with mental health struggles, or addiction but I'll tell you from personal experience I'm sure that pretty much no one chooses to have mental health issues or addiction issues for funzies or because they want to be thought of as a nutcase, anyways I'll get off my soapbox now, I just think that addiction is still such a multifaceted, multilayered, delicate and a hotbutton topic, that more than half of people can't agree on because more than half of people would rather punish the addict, & make broad assumptions about addiction, than really stop and take the time to get in there and learn about what's going on, & to really inform themselves. ❤❤❤
I was married to a mainline heroine addict. I get the whole picture. He left his only child fatherless & me penniless. The effects were numerous & far reaching. I’m sorry to read all that you’ve gone through & are going through. I wish you only the best for complete healing & peace in your life. Whether you like my terminology or not, based from the content of the video about Mary Lincoln, to me she was made to appear like a real nutcase.
@danysanerd2383 Chill. I don't think her remark of being a "nutcase" was being nasty, I took it as a general description. We have become a very sensitive society for the words we use. Sry fir all of your illnesses.
@@judithgalloway2238 Thank you for your comment. I couldn't agree more!
The video was interesting but the narrator sounds like an evangelist and seems biased against Mary Todd.
Narrator’s voice is excellent!
You are a gifted narrator. TV can't compete😊
I learned through casual history that Mary Todd Lincoln was a bit “ off center” but now I know that she was on the cusp of true madness and understand better why that was the case. RIP MATL
but she stood firm..history has destroyed her..given her no credit for going thru the very worst time in US history..the other first ladies have had nothing to do..Eleanor was very good and my second choice
There's only a thin line between being sane or insane.
There's only a thin line between being sane or insane.
great point..then throw in unimaginable personal tragedy plus the tragedy of hundreds of thousands of boys killed or mutilated..the Union was in a very dark place..people forget this context when evaluating Mary Todd Lincoln@@adrienebailey9010
Mary was clearly bi -polar.
I wanted this video earlier this morning on a lazy Cali Sunday it was absolutely amazing and very informative I don’t recall knowing anything in this much detail about Mary Todd Lincoln and you’re voiceover made listening to it spectacular now I’m a new fan giving you a thumb’s up wishing you continued success. ❤
@Threads from the National Tapestry
I learned so much about Mary Ann Todd Lincoln that I had never known before.
This was the first video from your channel I have watched and I look forward to watching more.
Thank you for this - your work is excellent.
My grandfather, who was born a little over 30 years after the Civil War stated this quote, "There are only two that can handle a woman, and that is Abe and God, if she is like Mary Todd!:
I didn't know what to make of Mrs. Lincoln. Through most of this video, I found it hard to reconcile my feelings for her, whether there was some pity, or piteous contempt.
Yet, at the end, when you spoke of her being with her family again in death, I felt a well of sadness, and felt tears. An end to what, despite her difficulty from and to others, was surely a painful existence.
The way you retell history is a gift!
I just discovered your reading of Mary Todd Lincoln and enjoyed it very much. Looking forward to hearing more. Your voice is the icing on the cake. Thank you for doing this..
@@candeegolson5596sounds like a sermon.
With such enthusiasm 😂@@nycsearch9945
Thank you for this insightful story. I learned a great deal about Mary Ann, and was touched by her life and struggles. I hope she truly rests in peace.
Mary Todd Lincoln seemed to have some serious abandonment issues. Unfortunately, society women can be catty, so no wonder they thought her gowns were scandalous. It would be great to talk about Elizabeth Keckley, Mary Todd Lincoln's dressmaker. A former enslaved woman who bought her freedom then became a popular modiste to Washington's socialite and became Mary Todd's confidante.
Elizabeth was not very nice to Mary. At all.
Exactly! Mary Lincoln was not all bad! She was a strong supporter of freeing slavery and treated the soldiers in the home for soldiers daily and spent much time caring for them. There was a lot left out that was positive about her life. Lincoln truly loved her and she him.
A fascinating but tragic life.
One wonders the true cause of Robert's disdain for his family and hatred for his mother?
New listener. Thank you for sharing this. Most enjoyable. Keep it up 👍
As an Illinois native, I've always been fascinated by Mary Todd Lincoln. In school we were taught a great deal about A. Lincoln, but Mrs. Lincoln, not so much. TY.
Very well done, sir. Thank you.
It's hard to wrap your mind around the amount of tragedy this woman endured. Not unlike the pain and loss in Stonewall Jackson's life.
Varina Davis, like Mary Lincoln and Jackie Kennedy, lost a child duing her husband's presidency. Franklin Pierce's wife was devastated by the death of her only surviving child right before her husband's inauguration. The Todd sisters went to stay with their married sister in Springville as part of a husband-hunting ritual. When Mary married Lincoln, she was in danger of becoming a spinster. Wasn't the Fatal First related to his reluctance to marry her? Douglas was never a serious suitor of Mary. The wedding ceremony was so hastily planned that the wedding cake was still warm from the oven.
@@anthonytroisi6682wow...Thk U. ❤
It seems like her demeanor was due to the trauma she suffered during her childhood and the losses of her adulthood. Poor woman. She sounds like she may also have dealt with bipolar disorder. Robert Lincoln was a nasty man who treated her terribly.
Thats so hard..if your mother had mental proclivities or alseimers and you did not have any idea how to handle her what would you do?
New sub here from the UK. My Ancestors immigrated to America 😊
Mine from the UK.😊
@esterherschkovich6499 My mum was from Liverpool. She married my American dad. :-) They met over there when he was getting his graduate degree.
Really well done! Truely careful and complete research! Bravo! MM
I had wondered why Robert Lincoln was not buried in Springfield with the rest of his family. Now I understand. Mary would have broken out of her grave and rampaged in fury if he had been.
Robert wasn't buried in Springfield because his alcoholic wife, Mary Harlan Lincoln, didn't want to be buried there.
Didn't HE choose his own place of burial?
The woman whose photo is at about 5 minutes and 20 seconds is Kate Chase, daughter of Salmon Chase, future Secretary of the Treasury. and Mary's enemy.
Many women in Washington during the Civil War, described her as being a Virago. I had to look the word up. A Virago is a nasty, short tempered, unpleasant woman. Not quite the flowery description one would want to be tagged with. (Eunice Hunt Tripler).
jealousy is the word I would use to describe their negative opinion...premiere lady of the nation
@@brentinnes5151
Why would anyone be jealous of someone with mental illness and borderline psychosis, not to mention she was an ‘overspender,’ to put it bluntly.
Mary Lincoln was accurately described as VIARGO.
She was a
definitely a short nasty lady with an attitude.
She was raised with an attitude and never departed from it. I would like to know
What man doesn't have a say in naming at least 1 of his 4 sons?
Have any questions about Mary Lincoln?
l suggest you watch this again. ❤
One doc I saw ..a biographer of the Todd family said there was a saying around Lexington at the time...'God has one D, but the Todd's have to have two,'
Mrs. Lincoln was the real reason Grant and Julia didn't go to Ford's Theater. That harpy was a most intolerable and discordant soul.
Walk a mile in her shoes, before you judge. Grief does terrible things to people.
she was like that BEFORE WH. Just who she was as a person. Do some research, grief aside. @@jenniferwest6108
@@jenniferwest6108Were you born a West? For l truly was, l was made and raised in Texas, but born in Louisiana.
I happened to be taken at 18 days old back to the county where l was conceived. And that happens to be San Jacinto Day in Texas. A State Holiday!
Well,whatever works.
Love a strong woman.Approval not needed.A work of art. Her mansion was a statement.Her life is a wonderful encouragement to take the initiative .A broken heart because of loss caused her to be defensive.1865 saw a great first Lady. Her husband the President made no will.Still resilient she received a pension. At the end of the day left an inheritance
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I really enjoyed this history, didn’t know much of Lincoln. This is great to pass on to the grandchildren! Thank you! I’ll subscribe to learn more!
This is so great! I’m glad I found your channel.
Years ago I read the book Love is Eternal, I apologize that I don’t remember the author . It was a heart breaking story of the life of the Lincoln’s. Yes it was apparent that Mary had mental illness. But the things she suffered in her life it’s no wonder. And it was horrible how she was treated after Lincoln died. I truly felt such anger towards the way she was treated.😢And her son Robert treated her so mean. I love President Lincoln and Mary. ❤
Irving Stone
Thank you for this video!! I really enjoyed it!! Love Lincoln!
Your ability as a narrator is astounding! I had such difficulty finding wonderful historical stories paired with such an animated voice, but here you are! Thank you for your gift of story to us! ❤
Phrasing and style reminds me of Paul Harvey, this is a high compliment. Nicely done 👍🏽
Thank you. This was very interesting and informative.
What does the picture of Jane Austen at 43:12 have to do with this? Incidentally, I have seen the original of this watercolor. It is in the British Library and was done by her (Jane's) sister.
Give the guy a break. Considering how difficult it must be to locate topic specific pictures from two centuries ago I'd venture to say only one mistake in a 45 min documentary is pretty dagone good. 🤷♀️
Poor Robert. Just poor Robert to have such a person in his life let alone his own mother. She sounds insufferable to be around
Thank you for your time and excellent efforts. Time well spent!
Poor Abe for all eternity, poor poor Abe.
I think he's haunting the White House to get away from her. I really hope Abe can find some peace wherever he is know, and maybe find himself a proper wife.
@@LittleKitty22smh🙄
Very interesting piece. I was puzzled by the last portrait shown of Mrs. Lincoln by herself. It so closely resembles the British author Jane Austen.
That's because it was Jane Austen.
I don't think anyone has gotten over his death. Do you think things would be different now??? Maybe the reconstruction would have been different.
She was a buzzkill. Do not recommend to invite to a party. Always bringing up that time so and so died. A walking bummer.
Excellent presentation. There is an old saying, behind every successful man stands a strong woman. She was no exception. Had Lincoln's first love , Ann Rutledge, survived, he may well have been content to stay in Springfield. Looking forward to more content.
History is alive and revelant?!? lol [00:34]
We
Why is Kate Chase’s photo featured when you are talking about Mary Todd Lincoln?
There is a picture of Kate Chase Sprague in there. Stated to be Mary Lincoln, but it's not her.
You can’t really blame Abraham Lincoln for pursuing and sticking with Mary. His options were limited. He was an ugly guy. He made Lyle Lovett look like Cary Grant.
Indeed. Hilarious!!!
Thank you for putting this video together! For me, Mary Todd has always been an interesting person to learn about. Losing three sons and seeing her husband murdered literary in front of her is beyond comprehension and yes mental illness was barely understood.
I've seen some portrayals of Mary Todd and I think Mary Tyler Moore did an absolutely amazing job in showing what a tightrope Mary had to walk. Seemingly no end of criticism she no matter what she did.
Wow. What an oversight! You used a picture of Jane Austen when speaking about Mary’s death.
Thanks for confirming what I was thinking also.
It’s quite possible the photo of Jane Austen was used deliberately; 2 very atypical women for their times!
I just started reading "Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker" by Jennifer Chiaverini. It is the story of her seamstress, Elizabeth Keckley, a former slave. So far, interesting reading for anyone wanting to learn more of Mary Todd Lincoln.
Great story!
Loved it!❤
Women of substance raised in the South behaved just like Mary Todd Lincoln. Saying she had mental disorders is a total slam on the South. It is a shame the way the Northerners treated her. (I’m giving no excuses for the South. They raised their children like the aristocracy-privileged and not self aware.)
Good content. Enjoyed it.
Is your negative tone towards Mrs Lincoln because she was a strong woman who knew what she wanted or because of her mental illness?🤔
It so sad Lincoln family were curse everyone died in Lincoln family. Hopefully Lincoln family members can finally RIP ✌️😢.
Their son, handsome man, served the country, had an interesting life
This poor woman! Such a sad story.
Thank you so much for such a wonderful program! I had NO idea what a “challenging” lady that Mary Todd Lincoln was. I have even more respect for President Lincoln. He definitely was very wise and had to be on his guard to keep peace on all fronts! God bless you!
I consider Mary to be one of the most tragic and misunderstood figures in American history. When she was only 6, her mother died in childbirth. She did not get along with the woman her father subsequently married, and left home in her teens to live with older siblings. Mary was intelligent, well-educated, and interested in politics. Her second son, Eddie died at the age of 4, while the family still lived in Illinois. After Lincoln became President, her third son, Willie, died in the White House at age 12. Three years later her husband was murdered as she sat next to him at Ford's Theater. Six years after that, her youngest son, Tad, died at age 18. Having prematurely lost her mother, three of four sons, and her husband, Mary's was a life haunted by death and grief. Yes, she had a difficult personality and wildly labile moods. But I work in psychiatry and agree with those who feel she had bipolar disorder. (Her spending, in particular, would be symptomatic of that.) Today Mary could be successfully treated with modern medications. I so wish there would be a reexamination of Mary Todd Lincoln, taking into account her lifetime of loss and untreated psychiatric illness.
I wonder whether Mary Todd is still harassing her husband in the next world.
I also wonder whether this is why he haunts the White House - to get away from her...
From Illinois. Family moved to Bement, Illinois from England in 1858. I always wondered if they saw the Lincolns in person. Or the train that carried his body. Thank you for telling this fascinating story of Mary. God rest her soul.
She is my favourite first lady...despite being from a pro rebel family, she was as fierce a patriot as anyone and supported her husband 100%..she gets a bad rap but the tragedy of children dying and her husband was too much for her and I would say anybody..visiting Union hospitals regularly ..her tenure as first lady was the worst of any..for this reason..she gets my vote...Hillary and Michelle and Jill at the very bottom
And Jill doesn’t even get a mention for her HORRIBLE outfits not to say the other two’s involvement in their husbands political standing. Lol
@@kathycarroll4383Hillary Clinton, Michelle Obama and Jill Biden will go down in history among the best First Ladies. I don't know where your vicious, negative opinion comes from. You must not be a very good judge of character.
@@bryanspindle4455
No, they certainly will not.
@@mynamedoesntmatter8652 Yes they will.
@@bryanspindle4455lol that lady spoke the truth
Well done! Well done!
Bravo!
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Loved it!
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I found this to be FASCINATING! I live near Springfield, IL. I didn't know any of this!
What an amazing job you did at putting this together! I like how you left specific dates out and just focused on the story line! Stellar job, sir!
Enjoyed your video, but she WAS nuts! And, funny, some years back I met a man who was some kind of cousin to her, an R Todd. I used to call him "Toddy-Bob." He was a nice guy, married w/a kid; some good people.
President Lincoln talked about being depressed too.
Why show pictures that are not her?
"She had her bosom on full display and a flowerpot on her head." "A garden in motion." OMG, Mary!