Mary Lincoln & Marie Antoinette

What did Mary Todd Lincoln and Marie Antoinette have in common? Let’s just say that these two loved to spend money. Money, I might add which didn’t belong to them. Diaries from the Illinois Historical Library, which were hidden from the public, were released in recent years which disclose Mary’s awful spending. The diaries were written and kept by President Lincoln’s close friend, Senator Owen Hickman Browning. When the Senator died his family donated the diaries to the Illinois Historical Library with the condition they not be made public. The Library kept their side of the bargain until 1994 when it succumbed to the pleas of curious Historians.

What was written in these diaries have enough material for a good book on Todd’s mental state during the Lincoln Administration. But let’s talk about her spending. It is disclosed in the diaries that Mary had expensive taste and didn’t spare any expense to get what she wanted.  The first lady basically engaged in outright “misappropriation of public funds.” Among the items she bought, the diary mentions, 300 pairs of expensive kid gloves, dresses in the amount of $2000 each, some she never even wore! And when she left the White House she took everything that was not nailed down. Bear in mind she is doing this while an expensive war is being fought, and the soldiers fighting it were getting paid a mere $13.00 a month. Had the nation known she was doing this, they would’ve taken to the streets. I can see how they wanted to protect the image of the First Lady.

Before we pass judgment on poor Mary, we must understand she was mad. In these same diaries there is talk of her violent temper, public outbursts, and horrible treatment of her husband. There is mention of her physically and verbally abusing her husband. Her mental instability was no secret however, all of DC knew it.  Her bizarre behavior had no limits, if you crossed her, she’d let you know. Early Lincoln biographers took great care of protecting Mary’s image. Some historians say that these early biographers felt that a lot of the information they gathered about the Lincolns was “considered improper for publication” at the time. Things like Mary throwing coffee at Lincoln’s face in public, throwing potatoes at him, and smacking him in the face with a piece of firewood.

Mary Todd Lincoln wasn’t liked in DC by many because of her mental instability. Lincoln however, remained with his wife. But I can’t say he did it because he “loved” her. I think he felt responsible for her condition and so took care of her. A rumor at the time spread all around that Mary became mad because of a sexually transmitted disease she got from her husband early on in their marriage. Although this is a rumor, it may be true. This was very common in those days.

Source: That’s not in my American History Book-
Thomas Ayres

Civil War Mary Lincoln