Mary Lincoln is one of the most
mistreated or even vilified women in history; I never lost chance defending
her. However, I found nothing to defend
her in the movie. It was said that Sally
Field (20 years her senior to her age in 1865) had to put on 25 pounds to match
her “exterior”; she was indeed chubby with “exuberance of flesh”. Mary would scream had she heard this.
Mary Lincoln was a well-bred upper
class aristocrat, vivacious and witty, but was also sharp tongued with quick
temper, prone to get jealous and tempestuous outbursts.
At the end of movie Lincolns
visited General Grant at City Point, VA. Mary and Mrs. Grant were late for a military
review but arrived in time to see an attractive lady (wife of General Ord)
riding beside her husband. Mary threw a
fit calling Mrs. Ord “vile names in the presence of officers”. Mrs. Ord burst into tears and inquired what
she had done.
Many serious historians wrote about
this episode, including Carl Sandburg. Fortunately
the scene was not seen in the movie; otherwise it would be difficult to defend
what was the indefensible.
I read Lincolns: Portrait of a
Marriage a few years ago and became more of a staunch
defender of Mary. Not all her outbursts
were her fault. Walking to his Springfield (Illinois) office one day, Lincoln was pulling Tad (the younger son in the movie) in a
wagon with one hand while reading a book with the other. The baby fell out of the wagon and Lincoln
continued to walk and read, oblivious to Tad’s crying until Mary came, scooping
up the baby and gave her husband a “tongue-lashing” that still could be heard
to this day.
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