professor finkelman: professor finkelman: she didn't smoke a pipe. it is utter nonsense.eople who were close to her say she was allergic to smoke and nobody smoked around her. the problem is that she is a military wife who has traveled from place to place. she lived in some style on these bases because the taylors were very wealthy. they had lots of slaves. they had a plantation in louisiana. some of the slaves would travel with them when they went to bases. she was not a high society woman. she was not a woman who wanted to be around a crowd. this was not a world that she felt at all comfortable with. i am sure when she got to washington and dealt with the gossip and the parties, she simply felt that this is not where she was comfortable and she didn't know how to compete or operate. she retreated to the second story of the white house and let her daughter do most of the entertaining. ms. swain: and the gossip continued because she was an enigma. ms. hunt: -- professor finkelman: and she wasn't there to defend herself. ms. swain: how did zachary taylor die? professor fin