Mary Lincoln staunchly supported her husband's career and political ambitions and throughout his presidency she was active in keeping national morale high during the Civil War.

[4] Mary's paternal great-grandfather, David Levi Todd, was born in County Longford, Ireland, and immigrated through Pennsylvania to Kentucky.

[7] Mary was popular among the gentry of Springfield, and though she was courted by the rising young lawyer and Democratic Party politician Stephen A. Douglas and others, she chose Abraham Lincoln, a fellow Whig.

During Lincoln's years as an Illinois circuit lawyer, Mary was often left alone for months at a time to raise their children and run the household.

[13] During her White House years, Mary Lincoln faced many personal difficulties generated by political divisions within the nation.

Considered a "westerner" although she had grown up in the more refined Upper South city of Lexington, Mary worked hard to serve as her husband's First Lady in Washington, D.C., a political center dominated by eastern culture.

[16][17] She had difficulty negotiating White House social responsibilities and rivalries,[18] spoils-seeking solicitors,[19] and baiting newspapers[17] in a climate of high national intrigue in Civil War Washington.

[24] A history of mood swings, fierce temper, public outbursts throughout Lincoln's presidency, as well as excessive spending, has led some historians and psychologists to argue that Mary suffered from bipolar disorder.

[25][26] Another theory holds that Mary's manic and depressive episodes, as well as many of her physical symptoms, could be explained as manifestations of pernicious anemia.

[27][28][29] Mary Lincoln's grief over Willie's death was so devastating that she took to her bed for three weeks, so desolated that she could not attend his funeral or look after Tad.

At one point, Mary developed a headache and was inclined to stay home, but Lincoln told her he must attend because newspapers had announced that he would.

[32] Mrs. Lincoln sat with her husband watching the comic play Our American Cousin at Ford's Theatre, along with their guests Henry Rathbone and Clara Harris.

Shortly before 7 a.m. Mary was allowed to return to Lincoln's side,[35] and, as Dixon reported, "she again seated herself by the President, kissing him and calling him every endearing name.

"[43] Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Lincoln Administration, Maunsell Bradhurst Field wrote, "I had never seen upon the President's face an expression more genial and pleasing.

I am deeply grateful for its expressions of tender sympathy, coming as they do, from a heart which from its own sorrow, can appreciate the intense grief I now endure.Victoria had suffered the loss of her husband, Prince Albert, four years earlier.

[48] In 1868, Mrs Lincoln, who had a lavish, unstable relationship with money, advertised in the New York World for aid and attempted to sell her personal effects at auction, which shocked the public.

Although this book provides valuable insight into the character and life of Mary Todd Lincoln, at the time the former First Lady (and much of the public and press) regarded it as a breach of friendship and confidentiality.

It has now been gratefully accepted by many historians and biographers and been used to flesh out the President and First Lady's personalities behind the scenes in the Executive Mansion and been used as the basis for several motion pictures and TV mini-series during the late 20th and early 21st centuries.

[50][51] In an act approved by a low margin on July 14, 1870, the United States Congress granted Mrs. Lincoln a life pension of $3,000 a year ($72,284 in 2023 dollars).

[52] Mary had lobbied hard for such a pension, writing numerous letters to Congress and urging patrons such as Simon Cameron and Joseph Seligman[48] to petition on her behalf.

[53] At the time a pension was unusual for widows of presidents, and Mary Lincoln had alienated many congressmen, making it difficult for her to gain Congress's approval.

[24] Her surviving son, Robert Lincoln, a rising young Chicago lawyer, was alarmed at his mother's increasingly erratic behavior.

In March 1875, during a visit to Jacksonville, Florida, Mary became unshakably convinced that Robert was deathly ill; hurrying to Chicago, she found him healthy.

[56] The College of Psychic Studies, referencing notes belonging to William Stainton Moses, claims that the photo was taken in the early 1870s, that Lincoln had assumed the name of 'Mrs.

Soon, the public embarrassments that Robert had hoped to avoid were looming, and his character and motives were in question, as he controlled his mother's finances.

She faced a difficult battle, due to negative press over her spending habits and rumors about her handling of her personal finances, including $56,000 in government bonds left to her by her husband.

Barbara Hambly's The Emancipator's Wife (2005) is considered a well-researched historical novel that provides context for her use of over-the-counter drugs containing alcohol and opium, which were frequently given to women of her era.

The imaginative script weaves in queer elements and modern references and has been extended multiple times and will transfer to Broadway due to its popularity.

[70] Mrs. President, a play by John Ransom Phillips, centres around Mary Lincoln's interaction with the photographer Matthew Brady.

[78] Since 1982, Siena College Research Institute has periodically conducted surveys asking historians to assess American first ladies according to a cumulative score on the independent criteria of their background, value to the country, intelligence, courage, accomplishments, integrity, leadership, being their own women, public image, and value to the president.