“Lois Romano writes with grace and empathy to bring depth and dignity to Mary’s story, shining a light on the contradictions that defined her—ambition and vulnerability, devotion and volatility, public scrutiny and private sorrow. What emerges is a deeply human portrayal of a fiercely intelligent, emotionally layered, and courageous woman—flawed, fragile, and tested by unimaginable tragedy—who was not merely a witness to history, but a full partner in a presidency that altered the course of American history." - Doris Kearns Goodwin, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and author of "Team of Rivals, The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln." A revelatory new biography of one of the most misunderstood and vilified First Ladies in American history: Mary Todd Lincoln.Mary Lincoln was at the center of politics at a time when society’s expectations for women were rigid and circumscribed. The product of Southern aristocracy, she grew up among an influential clan of politicians and elites who founded Lexington, Kentucky. Mary’s early exposure to the male-dominated world of politics instilled in her a keen political acumen and a fierce ambition. Proclaiming as a child that she was destined to become the wife of a president, she played a crucial role in boosting her husband to greatness.But her hopes for a triumphant experience at the pinnacle of power were lost to the Civil War and unfathomable family tragedies. Still, Mary persevered. She steadfastly supported the Union war effort, visited encampments, tended to wounded soldiers, and generously donated money and gifts to refugees from slavery. She was an unconventional, larger-than-life character who dressed too ostentatiously, grieved too publicly, suffered a shopping addiction, and seemed unable or unwilling to corral her emotions, her temper, and her opinions. She made enemies—influential men who wrote her story for her, often unfairly. After Lincoln was assassinated, she was all but abandoned by the nation he had given his life to defend and preserve.Former Washington Post writer and columnist Lois Romano rectifies the tortured legacy of Mary Todd Lincoln, who was failed at nearly every turn in her widowhood—by her family, by her government, by medical professionals ill-equipped to diagnose her mental illness, and finally, by history. Romano draws on hundreds of archives, letters, and memoirs to provide the most complete portrait—of not simply of an inconvenient widow, but of a brilliant and flawed woman, who possessed uncommon tenacity in the face of extraordinary adversity and personal torment, and helped launch one of America’s greatest presidents. Lois Romano is a long-time national political journalist who was an editor, columnist, and reporter for The Washington Post and POLITICO, and who has covered numerous first ladies. Romano is in conversation with Elisabeth Bumiller, a writer at large for The New York Times, where she focuses on the people, politics and culture of Washington, and how decisions made there affect lives in the nation and around the world. She was The Times’ Washington bureau chief from 2015 to 2024, when she oversaw all news in Washington during the last year of the Obama White House and the next eight years of the Trump and Biden administrations. Over the previous two decades she covered the White House, the Pentagon, John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign and New York’s City Hall for The Times. PURCHASE: https://politics-prose.com/book/9781982140724?ic_referral=ROhrcIM3JimnLwz_-3th9X5kWses4aTwY7Y3aGwRJ6owMyvyNQWq7p57uHi7Lr8u5GMXagL8_DUrTF3DmhZWu4gQbqcG_lLua8kWWcXkWd3TyRLqzP1pB3tCjecp6CN7c9YMX88
