michael burke heymer aptly deems them apologists for mary lincoln. some of her defenders go so far as to justify the physical abuse she administered to her husband, commenting on her reputation for having, quote, a quick temper and a sharp tong concluded, quote -- tongue, concluded possibly she threw coffee at lincoln and drove him out of the house with a broom and possibly he deserved it. the marriage was, quote, a domestic hell on earth, as terrible as death and as gloomy as the grave. after practicing law with lincoln for well over a decade in a two-man firm, herndon explained, quote: poor lincoln. he is domestically a desolate man, has been for years to my own knowledge because of his marriage to a very curious, eccentric, wicked woman. herndon had ample reason to call mary todd lincoln a she wolf, a tigeress and a female wild cath. although -- wildcat. a although mrs. lincoln's biographers have criticized herndon, douglas o. wilson, an eminent lincoln scholar, cogently argued that, quote, it is hard to see that the stories herndon collected or h

so we'll go that way and see what mary lincoln did. when lincoln was first brought in this house, he had nobody guards. the army wasn't here yet. and so strangers actually came into this house and observed lincoln in that bed. they lingered in these hallways and it was not until 15 or 20 minutes later that lincoln was under the full protection in the us army. they then entered the house and soldiers in officers cleared everyone out who was unown to them and didn't belong here. mary lincoln was frantic by then. she came to that front door screaming. where's my husband? where's my husband? why didn't he shoot me? and then mary lincoln entered this front parlor. and she sat on a horsehair sofa in this room. this was the front parlor of the borders, georgia hilde francis who quickly vacated the premises when when the first lady was brought in. mary lincoln would spend much of the night of april 14th in the early morning hours of april 15th in this room. she didn't spend the night at her husband's side. she spent most of the night here with

mary nash stewart was equally reticent. when asked about mary lincoln k mrs. stewart refused to say, oh, she was a todd. eliza francis, one of lincoln's close friends, could have shared much information about mary todd but refused to do so. perhaps relying on -- [inaudible] stated that mary todd made lincoln's life miserable. the journalist -- recalled that it was an open secret in washington that throughout lincoln's presidency the first lady was a source of great and perpetual anxiety and annoyance to her husband. quote: the sufferings of the man on account of her eccentricities to designate -- [inaudible] literally such as would crush a man of less moral and physical constitution. the lady the was mentally unbalanced and, thus, at times was not responsible for her acts. simply, a newspaper editor alexander mcclure stated that lincoln -- his crazy wife when he entered the presidency and many were his sorrows because of the war and struggle for the preservation of -- [inaudible] for his domestic taste and -- was the dark shadow that mrs. lincoln cast upon his

if you noticed john todd stewart and mary todd lincoln, yes they're related, they are cousins. that is in fact how mary todd comes to springfield, she's coming from her home in lexington, kentucky visiting springfield. and it's there that she meets lincoln. now, it has to be said in all candor, that needing lincoln was not always the most easiest thing to do. all right, let's be frank. the man is homely. he is, i'm sorry. it really is true. and off with the big years, the big nose, the high hello cheekbones and although the collar and the stock tie ten to mitigate it, his neck reminded you of a giraffe. the man was six feet four inches tall, most of the hide in his legs. if he was sitting in a chair here, will be the same dimensions as the rest of us. is there was money stood up, he suddenly -- watching and can stand up from a chair was like watching a jackknife unfold. he was awkward, he spoke with a peculiar accent, very high pitched 20 border state type of accent. and he didn't really sound elegant. inelegant however was the word you would probably is most about mary todd. m

now, if you have noticed that john todd stewart and mary todd lincoln, yes, they are cousins, and that is how mary todd comes to springfield and coming from her home in lexington, kentucky, to visit springfield, and it is there that she meets lincoln. now, it has to be said in all candor that meeting lincoln was not always the easiest thing to do, because, all right, let's be frank, the man is homely. he is. i am sorry. it really is true. homely enough with the big ears, and the big nose and the high hollow cheekbones, and although the collar and the stock tie tend to mitigate it, his neck reminded you of a giraffe. the man was 6'4", and most of the height in his legs. if he was sitting in a chair here, he would be about striking you as the same dimensions as the rest of us, but it is when he stood up, hmm. watching lincoln stand up from a chair was like watching a jackknife unfold. he was awkward. he spoke with a peculiar accent and high-pitched, twangy, and not very elegant. elegant is the word that you would use for mary todd. most of her todd relatives did not understand what she s

todd lincoln presented her with a bouquet every single day. they had that kind of relationship. it varied from administration to administration. >> i notice one of the houses was the orchid house. so can you talk about some of the varieties that might have been at that? >> to be honest with you, is everything that was available at the time. it was built during the grant ministration, and it was specifically under first lady grants hospices. she indoctrinated what was known at the time as an orchid trees in the united states because orchids or brand-new. it was as far as varieties go, i can't answer you specifically right off the top of my head, but they literally would've been everything available to them because they were trying to show up as much as possible, frankly. >> i thank you. >> yes, sir? >> was there any geopolitical influence on the white house any gifts of flowers and trees and international bittered visitors for things given to international editors from the garden? >> as a really good question. the good example is the jackson ma

this is a big social step up for abraham lincoln because by marrying mary todd he has effectively married into the first families of the illinois wig party. so he has moved up dramatically in economic terms and in social terms. that upon doesn't mean, though, that he's always the happiest and most content of people. to the contrary. there is a streak of melancholy and depression in lincoln called the hypo which covered him in gloom. to meet lincoln was to meet a complex, complicated person. kelly ann? >> do you think mary todd was just after his money? >> no because in truth, her family was wealthier than he was. her father, robert s. todd, was a very prominent merchant in kentucky, and they're actually much more well off and lincoln is coming up, but again, people would wonder, what does she see in this man lincoln? not enough of it to be a compelling argument. not a gold digger argument. no. she sees qualities in him that others at first blush don't. most of the time when people met lincoln what they thought they were meeting as one illinois acquaintance described it. when you met linco

and mary todd. through its libraries national archives preserves the records of our president back to herbert hoover. the stories told in the library's cover president entire life not just their time in the highest office of the nation. after returning to private life a number of them turn to humanitarian causes and advisory roles, and you'll find those activities documented in the library's as well. after leaving office in 1993, george bush remained engaged in public service and continue to encourage others to make a difference in large and small ways. he shared his decades of experience with his successors and worked ceaselessly for a kinder, gentler america. the days author jean becker was with president bush for nearly all of his postpresidential years. in her new book "the man i knew" she brings the reader into the room with george bush and gives us a close up look at his work after leaving the oval office. jean becker was president george h w bush george h.w. bush is chief of staff for nearly

mary, please tell us about the 2021 finalists. >> thank you and good evening. it is a privilege to be here with you tonight, first ever on this event. in a year marked by national prices, scholarship lincolns legacy reminds us unity as possible great leadership and it's my honor to acknowledge 2021 prize whose work contributes to preserving and advancing that legacy. the first of the 2021 can price for her book talcum runaway slaves to mexico and the road to the civil war examining mexico's abolition of slavery in 1837 is increasingly radical in the policy. a second finalist for the 2021 lincoln prize was adrian confederate the post- civil war word which looks at confederate thinkersed, it's relationships with the united states and its role in this. the third finalist was the women's fight the civil war's battles for freedom and nation providing a n comprehensive district of women's lives and contributions during the civil war and women for a centrally fully engaged throughout the fourth finalist for the 2021 prize was kenneth w no, but acclimate and the americ

the dual challenge was lincoln had some issues with depression. one of his sweethearts died, that was ann rutledge. madly in love with her she dies and he is bereft. he gets very depressed. there is a mary owens before he meets mary todd who was very sprightly intelligent, politically savvy. new henry clay. grew up with that whole culture and that louisville, kentucky. : : : >> . >> that that's what happened. he did not fight the dual if we would have lost lincoln i cannot imagine what this country would be like. good question. thank you. >> if you could one thing to spend infrastructure money on what would it be quick. >> that's easy for me. that would be healthcare. because one of the things i discovered in writing the book backwards is there are massive inequities in terms of healthcare coverage with communities of color and the rest of the country. it is very and evenly divided in a county north of the city we have a plethora of really good hospitals but the south side of chicago is not the case there struggling to stay opens why was been the

he breaks off his engagement with mary todd. it's so bad that speed had to remove all sharp objects from lincoln's room, including his razors so he couldn't kill himself and he nurses him back to health. what's interesting is 20 years later when lincoln is elected president, one of his first meet tinges is with joshua speed to ask him to join his government. speed says no, making too much money ironically as a slave owner. he said i'll do something better. he said i'll make sure kentucky does not secede. he made sure that arms get to pro union forces. he advises him on how to talk about the war with ken tuckians. lincoln goes on to win the war and keep the union in talk. >> of course, the letters between those two, really debating slavery, i think are some of the most ill lum nating to get an insight into lincoln's evolving view on slavery. we've got sam stein with us. he wants to ask you a question, gary. sam. >> hey, sam. >> hey. how are you doing? i want you, if you can, to psychoanalyze presidents and why they are reliant on