Mrs. Abraham Lincoln: A Study of Her Personality and Her Influence on Lincoln

Introduction

Introduction Truth is generatly the best vi?zdicati.on against slander. - ABRAHAM LINCOLN So very difficult a matter is it to tmCG and find out the trutlt of anything by his/m'y. -PERICI.ES Introduction SEVERAL YEARS AGO THE I,ATE DR. WnUAM E. BARTON and I were discussing Abraham Lincoln, particularly the quality of his mind. The subject was intriguing, for Lincoln 's mind presents more than one phase that is not understood . Many of his moods cannot be measured by ordinary standards. To explain him requires considerable knowledge of the laws of inheritance; no small understanding of biology, physiology, and anatomy, and of psychology and psychoanalysis , and behavior in relation to these sciences. To know the politics, the customs, and the habits of his period, and the episodes and incidents of his life, is not enough. Presently the influence of Mrs. Lincoln on her husband became the theme of discussion. In his short autobiographical sketch 1 written in December 18591 Lincoln said in substance that when he came of age (which was about when he arrived in Illinois), he could read and write, and cipher to the rule of three, and that was about all. It is given to few men to grow as much as Lincoln did between r830 and r865, or even as much as he did between 1840 and 1865. How much of the transformation was due to the influence of Mrs. Lincoln? We had no answer. We were compelled to admit that however little one really knew about Lincoln's mind, our knowledge of Mrs. Lincoln's was less. It was not possible to discuss intelligently the influence of the wife on the husband without a better understanding than we had of her. Dr. Barton said (rather than asked) : " Why don't you make a study of Mrs. Lincoln? " He had in mind a study 1 Bibliography, No. 57. 3 REASONS FOR THIS STUDY of her personality rather than one dealing with the incidents of her life. The primary reason for this present study lay in a wish to comply with Dr. Barton's suggestion, principally because he had made it. The intent did not carry beyond a wish to gather some information and to mature some opinions that he might make use of should he wdte a book on the mind of Lincoln. I knew he was contemplating a book on this subject, to be one of his group dealing with different aspects of the life of Abraham Lincoln. Other interests, as well as other Lincoln hooks, engaged the time of Dr. Barton, and he died before he had set down his opinions of Lincoln's mentality. Meanwhile I was becoming more interested in the subject assigned me. I found myself asking how much Mrs. Lincoln's mind influenced that of her husband. In h.ow far was she responsible for decisions he made and positions he held that shaped the history of the country in crucial times? Gradually the wish to find an answer to these questions for myself was added to the wish to help Dr. Barton - in fact, was overshadowing that primary purpose if not eclipsing it. At about this time a third reason for this work came into existence. One day I went to a library and asked the attendant to give me what she had dealing with Mrs. Lincoln. When the material was produced, it dealt principally with Mr. Lincoln; there was little about his wife. I turned most of it back, saying: "I am not looking for material on Mr. Lincoln now. I am making a study of Mrs. Lincoln." The librarian's comment was: "The poor woman lived a life of trouble. She was censured bitterly. She had many enemies. Her reputation is an unhappy one. She died in trouble. She was buried in peace. Why dig her up? Why not let the world forget?" Since then I have heard the same statements made by a number of other people. Very few people think of Mrs. Lincoln at all, or have any real opinion about her. This does not prevent many 4 REASONS FOR THIS STUDY of them from repeating, somewhat superficially, what they have read or heard about her. Ay, and sometimes with some show of emotion. If such expressions can be called a prevailing opinion, then one may say that it is generally accepted that Mrs. Lincoln was and is not...