Controversy Surrounding Mary Todd Lincoln
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Mary Todd Lincoln (1818-82) was the first presidential wife to become the subject of extensive criticism and a center of controversy. Though, in any other time and circumstances, Lincoln might have made a fine first lady--with her education, social skills, intelligence, taste, and willingness to work on her husband's behalf--the impending secession and war raised political advocacy to such a pitch that her Southern origins, her spending, her manners, and even her appearance were attacked by enemies on both sides of many questions. But, in addition to her excellent qualities, Lincoln also had a strong tendency to express herself freely and too quickly, to allow her temper and anxieties to get the better of her, to be injudicious in her support of various office-seekers, and to spend money as a consolation for her emotional troubles. The years in the White House (1861-65) proved to be extremely difficult for, while being subjected to intense personal attack no matter which course of action she chose, her beloved son Willie died at age 11, she feared that her son Robert would be killed if he enlisted, she often felt incapable of helping her husband in the overwhelming press of his duties, she was separated from her family and friends, and, like everyone else, she endured the seemingly endless war. Lincoln's health suffered greatly during these years and she was never safe from intense headaches, various other physical illnesses, and a tendency to become alternately very dep
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m, for the family.
Mary Todd Lincoln was not only prepared by her education and upbringing for the enormous job of refurbishing the White House, she had also become quite skilled in managing on a small budget. Unfortunately, in undertaking "the task of making a national monument and public meeting place into a livable home for her family" and a suitable residence for the most important man in America, she never really understood the need for applying the latter set of skills. In her view the home was not so much part of the nation's history--her letters never mention any of the previous occupants--but "a suitably splendid domicile for the most successful politician in the land." Her view was that, having 'won' the White House, she should also have won the right to be supported in her efforts to refurbish it.
Congress appropriated the standard sum of $20,000 for the job. Traditionally, especially after a number of first ladies who took very little interest in Washington, let alone the residence, the expenditure of this money was the responsibility of the Commissioner of Public Buildings, a Presidential appointee who would make suggestions that were followed by the first families. But William S. Wood and then Benjamin Brown
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Approximate Word count = 5917
Approximate Pages = 24 (250 words per page)
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