Abraham Lincoln’s notorious first lady

Mary Todd, a Kentucky belle, was living with her sister in Springfield, Ill., when she first saw her future husband, Abraham Lincoln. Although Mary had attracted the attention of dozens of eligible bachelors, she was immediately drawn to Lincoln, whom she saw as a diamond in the rough. Although Lincoln was from a humble background and Mary Todd was a member of one of Kentucky’s most prominent families, they were soon courting. After a broken engagement, they reconnected and were married in Springfield in 1842.

Mary Todd Lincoln has baffled historians for more than a century. It is easy to write her off as a vindictive, petty, unstable woman, mainly because of a harsh biography that was written about Lincoln in 1889 by his former law partner, William Herndon. Herndon, no fan of Mary Todd Lincoln, wrote one of the first essential books about the president, but it was hardly objective. He presented Lincoln as a saint and his wife as the cross he had to bear.

Not so, claims Catherine Clinton in her new book, “Mrs. Lincoln: A Life.” She builds a convincing case that Mary Todd Lincoln was loving and supportive and had a fairly stable and pleasant relationship with her family. She believes that Mary’s happiest moment came when Lincoln won the presidency — the fulfillment of all her aspirations. That happiness was dashed by the death of three of her four children, the outbreak of the Civil War and a series of scandals that included extravagant shopping sprees, alleged financial improprieties and patronage schemes.

Following Lincoln’s assassination, Mary’s problems continued. Mounting debts, claims that her husband never loved her, and a son, Robert Todd Lincoln, who brought her to trial on charges of insanity and had her committed, broke her spirit.

This insightful, highly readable book puts a human face on one of the most notorious — and misunderstood — first ladies in our history.