le, rather glamorous, social world," had to undertake the management of "a home run on very thrifty lines and supported by a slender income." For the next few years she was fully occupied with cooking, cleaning, sewing, and child-rearing--jobs which had, for the most part, been done by slaves in her family's Kentucky home. Her pride and the "challenge of two wealthy sisters in town" drove Lincoln to accomplish tasks she had never considered before and, while she was a success, she also "toiled beyond her physical strength . . . developed migraine headaches and occasionally collapsed into fits of hysterical bad temper."
All the traits and habits that were the basis of her Washington career were formed during her 20 years in Springfield. Despite her heavy domestic workload Lincoln became interested in the world of politics and exerted herself to become a good hostess. She was adept at staging large receptions as economically as possible and, thanks to her early training, she soon excelled at the new job and had "an easy charm that obscured any shortcomin
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