Abraham Lincoln's wife was long attacked for everything from her spending to her lack of emotional restraint. But with two new plays about her, she is finally getting better press.
During last month's US presidential inauguration, as ever during these quadrennial celebrations, fierce interest focused on the First Lady. Much was made of Melania Trump's dresses, her enigmatic smiles, and especially the navy-blue wide-brimmed boater-style hat she wore for the swearing-in. Was the hat a deliberate choice, to shield her face from the prying eyes of the public? No one could say, but legions speculated.
How unenviable is the lot of the President's wife, lacking in formal power but constantly judged – expected to be immaculately turned out, and to remain, in conduct, ever above reproach. The court of public opinion has found no First Lady more wanting than Mary Todd Lincoln, wife of Abraham Lincoln.
Her husband, who emancipated the slaves, and saved the union, enjoys near-universal adulation, while Mrs Lincoln has been the subject of criticism and disapproval since her first days in Washington in 1861 when she embarked on plans for a lavish redecoration of the White House. She travelled to New York for a shopping spree, and reporters followed her everywhere. One for The New York Herald wrote: "Mrs Lincoln, who has been engaged since her arrival in making large purchases at some of the leading merchants, was out yesterday enjoying herself in the usual way."
First published at BBC News, February 4, 2025
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