tonight, mary todd lincoln. [captioning performed bynational captioning institute] [captions copyright nationalcable satellite corp. 2013] ♪ >> born in 1818 in lexington, kentucky, mary todd grew up and lived to see her husband issued the emancipation proclamation 45 years later. a mother of four sons, she witnessed the death of three of those sons as well as her husband's assassination. her life was filled with tragedy, but as lincoln's political partner, she relished we focus onss.as the civil war years, one of the defining moments in our countries history, a look at the life and times of mary todd lincoln, one of the most complex first ladies ever to live. thank you for being with us for c-span's serious. we invite two of our academic advisors. our guests for this program. rosalyn penn is a history professor at meredith and morgan richard nortonty. smith, our other guest tonight, the director of five presidential libraries, including the abraham lincoln library in springfield, illinois. thanks to both of you f

he writes, "on another occasion, julia was in a military camp when mary lincoln visited. she imperiously commanded julia to leave the room as is done in royal courts. mary ordered julia to back away from her, so julia would never turn her back on the first lady, as if the first lady were a queen and julia a mere commoner. if the humiliating treatment was intended to provoke an outburst, mary lincoln failed. julia later denied she had any ill feeling about her trenat th" guest: i'm not familiar with that particular story. guest: i could've happened during the steamboat days when richmond was being defeated. there were problems there with ms. lincoln. she is very kind in her recollections of ms. lincoln, but when those recollections were dictated, it was years later. ms. lincoln's tragedy had happened, her insanity and all of that. there were problems with mrs. lincoln. mrs. lincoln was very jealous of women and lincoln. i can't think -- there is absolutely no reason for that -- but she was. [laughter] she would be very ugly to people. general love made a remark once there w

lincolns. [video clip] >> this is where she helped build his political career. mary and abraham would invite friends and family over to talk politics. the events of the day. this is where he became the president. mr. lincoln was a very ambitious person. he had a lot of goals in life. those were enhanced when he met and married mary todd. she was ambitious, saying she wanted to marry a man with a good mind, someone who wanted to be president, and there was something about lincoln that she saw the potential and encouraged it and helped nurture it. in the dining room, helping to polish them up for society, the political parties that they have, where they invited a lot of important people. she wielded a lot of power, both of mr. lincoln and where he was going. this is the dining room. when they moved in, it was a kitchen, and that is not something that a college, high- society, upper-class woman would do. mary had grown up with a formal dining room, and she felt she needed to have one because she did not want her children growing up without proper manners, and in a lot o

mary lincoln was devastated about the loss of her sons.o we have historic evidence about how eliza johnson reacted to the loss at first? >> we know she, too, was extremely hurt. there were stories that charles was her favorite son. i don't know if that's accurate or not. just like any mother, she weeped for them continuously. but she was proud of her son. the fact that he became a doctor, that was so important to her that her children were, in fact, educated. mary just couldn't seem to handle it. she had a lot of death in her life as well. >> next is kathy in bensalem, pennsylvania. hi, kathy, you are on. caller: hi. i was just wondering how mrs. johnson felt about her husband's impeachment. >> thanks. we're going to talk about the impeachment a little later on. thanks for that question. we'll work it in as we work our way through the history of the johnson administration. the call is nan in montana. hi, nan. caller: hello. >> do you have a question? caller: my question is, the impeachment of johnson and its associated effect in history. a

, mary lincoln is involved in a pretty serious carriage accident. some scholars believe that the carriage had been tampered with and this is really an early assassination attempt on lincoln. when mary lincoln suffered that carriage accident, and what happens, the driver's seat separates a little from the carriage, mary had to leap out of the carriage in order to save herself. she suffers a head injury. after the accident, she's treated, we believe, at the white house. and after she is treated, she comes to the home to make her recovery. we believe she did that in the mary lincoln room. not only is it the most isolated of the bedrooms, but it is the only one that has windows on three different walls, allowing for better cross breezes to make her recovery more comfortable. in 1862, there is also the imperative of having a more private place to mourn and to believe grieve after the death of their son willie. he passed away in february 1862, and mary lincoln was going about the traditional cultural and social expectations of a woman in mourning, and pelt

it was so different from the way people reacted to mary lincoln. because of mrs.arfield's being awarded almost immediately by congress a presidential widow's pension of $5,000 a year, that also benefited the other surviving presidential widows. true to form, mrs. lincoln's reaction was, i am sure somebody is going to put the kibosh on that and i will not ever get my money. julia tyler wrote an anonymous letter to the press, this is wonderful, but i think it should be double that amount. >> thank you for the series. we were watching cbs one we were watching cbs one morning. who was the only president buried aboveground? they said garfield. we took the car and we drove up there. there is his monument. it has steel bars. it has the american flag draped over it. a beautiful bronze statue upstairs, it is a beautiful place. >> i do not know if he is the only president buried aboveground. thank you for the recommendation. we are trying to interest people in learning more about american history. another video. this is returning to the ohio home of the garfields. we will l

. > mary lincoln. let's listen to edith mayo talk about robert lincoln and his mother. throwing money and ingney -- sewu g money and bonds into her skirts. she was so worried she was impoverished. she was not allowed to testify on her own behalf. all of the people who made this decision were men. pillars all these male of the community testifying andt how she has gone off needs to be institutionalized. verdict on her? was she mentally insane? >> i think she's manic. -- and there was something wrong. she was not a successful first lady. constantly in controversy. she rode irresponsible letters to people. she was course. beautiful and educated. to jeffersonters davis as "jeff." she lost three sons. left.obert todd was he was cold as a fish. ice cold. the one that she was close to. she was terrified of not having any money. they think that people were taking advantage of them and it is understandable. she could not leave anything. she got mixed up at the white house staff in funny ways. there is a green house attached to the white house, she was in there in the winter and

mary lincoln. edith mail helping with the talk about robert lincoln and his mother. >> she was sewing money and bonds in the hems of her skirt literally g -- carrying them around with her because she was show terrified impoverished. was the final straw for him. but interestingly enough, she testify in wed to her own behalf. and all of the people who made the decisions were men. they got all of these male comers of the community to and testify. about, you know, she's -- she's kind of gone off. and she needs to be institutionalized. on -- wasyour verdict she mentally insane? or -- > i think she was mentally -- manic or something like that. they know more about that than me. there was definitely something wrong. not a successful first lady. when you judge first ladies, you harrison and you think of mrs. grant. you think of these people. she just wasn't. was a constantly in controversy. she wrote irresponsibility people.to she was kind of coarse. she was beautifully educated and better, but she would r

you could make the case, as a matter of fact i would make the case there never been a mary lincoln, that probably would not have been a president abraham lincoln. that said, the war comes along and consumes him. in some ways devours him and profoundly affects that partnership. it's that part of the tragedy of mary lincoln. question of what her medical diagnosis was. for get that for a moment, the fact we can all relate to this woman who is losing a great love of her life. ironically once he achieves their common objective. >> i would agree. i just like to move it on a little bit. the presidency is a tremendous crucible for marriages. i think that part of the tragedy of some of the white house marriages has been exactly what you pointing to. i think there are other women in the white house who seen the -- trying to deal with vietnam. just watching everyday as it just ate away at him. by the way, that's when i think the first lady can be at her best because that's when she can provide the most support and can be a soundingboard and can encourage the president. same thing by the way with he

i think they respected her even though -- >> some didn't like mary lincoln.loved to hate. >> i think mary lincoln also was very much hated and that had to do with the civil war, i think, as much as neg. >> most loved? >> probably dolly madison is who i would choose, or jacqueline kennedy in the modern time. >> mamie eisenhower. >> she was very well loved. and what was the last part of her question? >> the dresses for nancy reagan. >> oh, nancy reagan did receive dresses for free from -- as a form of advertising for the different designers who gave them to her. >> was -- would people have designed dresses and given them to the first ladies or would they have purchased them? >> i think after nancy reagan -- >> i mean in the days we're in right now, 1890's and -- people becoming interested in fashion, were they supporting american -- >> i don't think so. >> they did it in europe. the designers, the same way movie stars are today, in europe, the nobility and people like that wore clothes, that's how worth in paris got its name. >> but i'm not familiar with anythi

she has been stereotyped in a way that mary todd lincoln had been stereotyped.t does not show the courage and incredible guts she had. i just wish america understood. if i could tell them one thing about lucy hayes, it is that i find it stunningly haunting how much violence she saw up close during the war. in surgery and out. not only in ohio hospitals, but going to her husband's camps where her brother was a surgeon. she was in and out of the operating room. she did post operative care. she saw people without anesthetics suffering in horiffic ways. when four soldiers, two of whom were wounded and two of whom were significantly ill, missed their train to chicago, she opened her back parlor to her house so they could stay. it makes perfect sense to me that she had those stripes on. i would be convinced that is the least she owed that man. for what she knew he went through. >> on the note about violence -- >> there was a report a bullet went through their parlor window in columbus before they came to the white house. there was no secret service. they took it as it

mary todd lincoln is calling him butcher, a murder. you get the impression that although that's a much more difficult task that he has done something that is not politically sustainable so suddenly you have john c. fremont on the left and he says lincoln should not be nominated. except for "the new york times" perhaps all of the newspapers turn on lincoln. he asks for resignation of his cabinet. general mcclellan comes back on the scene as the candidate on the democratic side and he he says i wanted antietam. i got closer to richmond that grant ever did and i lost fewer than grant did. you said i was an butcher compared to what grant was doing sherman says to himself like that to get it linda -- to atlanta and do it by not losing the west. i can't suffer the casualties grant has taken while they are criticizing sherman, he is outflanking people. except for one or two mistakes he takes atlanta on september 7 and sends a telegram atlanta is ours. we fairly won. everything is turned topsy-turvy. mcclellan does disgrace and call the. he wa

ida mckinley deal with the death of her children in comparison to other first ladies such as mary todd lincoln>> she was up in the attic of writing letters. it is the worst thing that a parent can go through. it is universal area -- universal. >> it became known as the mckinley home. it was seen through different euphemisms. they only lived there for two years. they moved into the saxton/mckinley house. mckinley lived longer and that house than any other place at all. katie came with them. she died of scarlet fever. this is after ida has been through the trauma and is going through dealing with this very bewildering new factor in her life -- and the seizure disorder. some years later she began to take comfort in buddhism. it was reincarnation. you begin to see ida mckinley instead of writing letters to her dead child, she kept katie alive. she would always have a picture on the wall. she kept her close -- clothes and rocking chair and spoke sometimes as if the child was still alive. there are first-hand accounts of her looking at young children because she tapped that perhaps katie had been re

lincoln memorial. >>> and more on the trajectory of the civil rights movement. >>> and peter, paul and mary sang blowing in the wind on the mall 50 years ago. and peter and paul sang it there again today. paul will join me later. humans. even when we cross our t's and dot our i's, we still run into problems. namely, other humans. which is why at liberty mutual insurance, auto policies come with new car replacement and accident forgiveness if you qualify. see what else comes standard at libertymutual.com. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? . >>> president obama, president clinton, and president carter spoke today. and so did kid president, robbie novak. >> i was not here 50 years ago, but i hope to be in the next 50 years. we all have a duty to make sure the world keeps dreaming for better things. keep dreaming, keep dreaming, keep dreaming. >> up next, eugene robinson. . >> this march and that speech changed america. they opened minds. they melted hearts. and they moved millions. hero: if you had a chance to go anywhere in the world, but you had to leave right now, would you g

lincoln memorial. >>> and more on the trajectory of the civil rights movement. >>> and peter, paul and mary sang blowing in the wind on the mall 50 years ago. and peter and paul sang it there again today. paul will join me later. ♪ (woman) this place has got really good chocolate shakes. (growls) (man) that's a good look for you. (woman) that was fun. (man) yeah. (man) let me help you out with the.. (woman)...oh no, i got it. (man) you sure? (woman) just pop the trunk. (man vo) i may not know where the road will lead, but... i'm sure my subaru will get me there. (announcer) love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru. [ male announcer ] from the last day of school, back to the first. they're gonna make everything from posters to do it yourself tattoos. so make sure they've got the sharpies to make their mark. this week only get sharpie five packs for a dollar. staples has it. staples. that was easy. because of a migraine. so they trust excedrin migraine to relieve pain fast. plus sensitivity to light, sound, even nausea. and it's #1 neurologist recommended. migraines are where excedrin excels. clinton, and

>> yes, i was wondering if dolley madison's first husband john todd was related to abraham lincoln's wife maryd. >> i have no idea. >> i'm going to say what is important about that is marry todd brooded that about.todd is a very common name. >> when mary todd comes to down decade later and dolley madison set the example. mary todd tries to ride on her coat tails. but she does not have dolley's sense of tone. she's tone death when it comes to that. >> is it true dolley's son from her first marriage gambled away much of her money? >> that and drinking. >> that will do it. >> yes. >> did he continue his relationship with his mother in later years? >> no, she did not. >> robert, your question about dolley madison? >> i'm questioning what's the relationship between ms. madison and mrs. polk and harrison. >> and harrin. >> i think the polks became friends. people wanted to associate themselves with dolley after she came back to the capitol city and it was cache by association so the polks often invited her to dine with them and take part in parties and so forth in the we should tell people about con

the first woman to be executed in the united states was one of the lincoln conspirator. her name was mary. and when several people on part of the military tribunal who called for the execution, they asked the then president andrew johnson for stay of execution, and he said i must devote too. he denies the stay and said not enough women have been hanged in the war. she was, in fact, hanged. i'll tell you the story about willkie, brother of henry alice, and william who went to florida after the war. went to florida to start a plantation he would create a black labor and create farm that didn't really work out of the because of the great back list against the free black in the south. i believe history is embodied and often embody in people at the particular time who are, as i said, confident, confrontational, eccentric, and may or may not comprise. that's one of the book's subtitle and intend on redefining the american nation. in also doing that, i want to cleans myself as much as possible with perceived wisdom. lots of things we know about. number of things we think we know about. particula

tomorrow night, looking at mary todd lincoln and during the program, visit our facebook page for a discussion with historian catherine clinton responding to your comment in question at .acebook.com/c-span read about the first ladies in the continuing book on the series from the white house a store co-association. you can get your copy for -- historical association. public-span -- we bring events from washington directly to you putting you in the room at congressional hearings, white house events, briefings, and conferences offering complete gavel to gavel coverage of the ..s. house all as a service the c-span, created by the cable television industry 34 years ago and funded by your local cable or satellite provider. now you can watch us in hd. >> looking across the way to the u.s. capitol, things are basically empty this evening and for the next few weeks, august recess, but the issue of the healthcare law continuing to halls duringg town the home district. today, we're going to focus on the affordable care act and ask you about its implementation, ask you what you think about it, how things

tomorrow night, first ladies looks at mary todd lincoln. during the program, visit our facebook page for a discussion with a historian, who will be responding to comments and questions. cspan.ok.com/ the companion book to the series, from the white house historical association. you can get your copy at c- span.org/products. >> egyptian security forces have killed hundreds of protesters at sit-ins supporting ousted president, and morsi. the government has declared a state of emergency and issued martial law. at the daily white house briefing, the deputy press secretary read a statement condemning the government actions. it was held at martha's vineyard, where the president and his family are vacationing this week. united states strongly condemns the use of violence against protesters in egypt. we extend our condolences to the families of those who have been killed and the injured. we have repeatedly called on egyptian military and security forces to show restraint, and for the government to respect universal rights of its citizens, just as w

to be executed in the united states was one of the lincoln conspirators or alleged lincoln conspirator. her name was mary serant. and when several people who were in part of the military tribunal who called for this execution, they asked the then-president andrew johnson for a stay of execution, and he said -- and i really must quote this to you -- he said, he denied the stay and he said not enough women had been hanged in this war. so she was. in fact, hanged. or i'll tell you the story about willkie james who went down to florida after the war. he'd been in the massachusetts 54th, he went to florida to start a plantation where he would pay black laborers and create a kind of new brook farm. it didn't really work out because of the great backlash against the free black in the south. and so i wanted to tell these kinds of stories also partly because i believe that history is embodied and it's often embodied in people at particular time who are, as i said, confident, confrontational, eccentric, sometimes fanatic, often fanatic, and who may or may not compromise. that's one of the book's subtitles. and who

caller: yes i was wondering if dolley madison's first husband john todd was related to abraham lincoln's wife, mary todd. >> i have no idea. >> i'm going to say what is important about that is marry about that. brooded when mary todd comes to down decades later and dolley madison set the example. mary todd tries to ride on her coat tails. but she does not have dolley's sense of tone. she's tone death when it comes to that. >> is it true dolley's son from her first marriage gambled away much of her money? >> that and drinking. >> that will do it. >> yes. >> did he continue his relationship with his mother in later years? >> no, she did not. >> your question about dolley madison? caller: i'm questioning what's the relationship between ms. madison and ms. polk and harrison. >> and harrison. >> i think the polks became friends. people wanted to associate themselves with dolley after she came back to the capitol city and it was cash shea by sort of cache by association, so the polks often invited her to dine with them and take part in parties and so forth in the white house. >> we should tell people abo

lincoln memorial. susan mcginnis is in washington with more. susan, good morning. >> ann marie, good morning.t the first black president in american history is in office on this historic day. president obama will give a speech today from the same spot where dr. king made that famous speech 50 years ago. he and others today will reflect on the progress that's been made in civil rights in this country in the last 50 years and also emphasize the struggles that continue. >> i have a dream. >> reporter: 50 years ago today martin luther king jr. stood on the steps of the lincoln memorial and delivered a speech that would go down in american history. >> my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. i have a dream today. >> reporter: today as many as 20,000 people are expected to fill the national mall to hear tributes to dr. king. felicia ferrell came from massachusetts to be a part of it. >> i hope -- >> in 1963 the march here was about equality and most would agree there has been progress in th

there was something about abraham lincoln where she saw the potential and encouraged it. maryped to showcase what her husband had done, how far he had come. she kind of hinted at where they were headed, stake in the world abraham lincoln had made it and was ready to move on. >> the encore presentation continues tonight at 9:00 eastern on c-span. during tonight's program, and join in the conversation with the history professor. "washington journal" continues. host: we want to welcome andy club fore president of growth. we will talk about health care in a moment. the talk with the republican party circles of the potential for the government shutdown, senator mitch mcconnell saying is something to worry about. how likely is it? guest: is a good question. republicans are divided on the issue. when it comes up for a vote, i am not sure there will be votes to pass a budget. it is extremely likely from our standpoint it could happen because the votes are not there. a lot of conservatives and republicans do not want to go back home and say [indiscernible] they will have to find a road

there was something about abraham lincoln that she saw the potential and encouraged it. mary helped to basically showcase what her husband had done and how far he had calm and kind of hinted at where they were headed stating to the world that abraham lincoln had made it and he was ready to move on. >> he next, alvaro vargas llosa discusses his look "global crossings" which looks at some of the reasons people migrate to foreign lands even in situations where they might risk their own lives. hosted by the cato institute in washington d.c., this is an hour and a half. [inaudible conversations] >> welcome everybody to the cato institute. i am the director here at cato. since the beginning of this year immigration has become a burning public policy issue in washington. for the first time in decades the united states is considering a major reform in the way that it deals with immigrants. the ensuing debate and the possibility of reform is welcome but the fact is politicians are arriving very late to this issue. and that is because in this country there has long been a wide gap betw

lincoln memorial. until then, for all of us at cbs news all around the world, good night. captioning sponsored by cbs captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> your realtime captioner: linda marie >>> breaking news a rapidly spreading grass fire in fairfield is still burning at this hour. there are reports of at least 15 homes damaged including five that appear to be severely damaged. >> it has triggered at least 50 evacuations. an evacuation center set up at fairfield high school. so far, there are no reported injuries. we want to show you these pictures from just about an hour ago. this is the fire at its peak. along marigold drive. fire g one house... then that's just one of the burning homes. the fire was burning unchecked in the neighborhood along marigold drive. fire engulfing one house and jumping to the next and the next. at first, fire crews appeared to be completely outgunned. reporter steve large and his camera crew from our sister station kovr arrived on scene even before the firefighters. >> reporter: this is martin lawler's home. he was watching it burn live and in fact he is still standing across the street. but let me just show you here, that home is on fire. th

lincoln. he also attracted women, and when he was in cincinnati, he started dating a young bookstore clerk named mary lou pease. she soon got pregnant, so they got married, and when albert was captured, he was married with three children, and his wife was pregnant with a fourth. june yous was -- junius was very different. junius was kind of a scrawny, gawky, prematurely bald guy with jug ears. he was a rich kid, son of a cincinnati banker. he was sent to st. xavier college in cincinnati which was a very rigorous jesuit school where he learned to speak ancient greek, latin and french. he thought of himself as an intellectual and a philosopher. in fact, one of his favorite pastimes was to read works of philosophy in ancient greek or french or latin. his friend al a bert used to kid -- albert used to kid him about that practice. junius was not a particularly good natural reporter. he was too shy, and he would basically stand off, stand aside from things and watch them and then sit down and write these kind of flowery literary essays about what he had seen complete with a lot of quotes from ancient write

there was something about abraham lincoln that she saw the potential and encouraged it. mary help to showcase what her husband had done, how far he had come, and hinted at where they were headed. stating to the world that abraham lincoln was ready to move on. >> the encore presentation of first ladies continues tonight at 9:00 eastern on c-span. within the conversation catherine clinton. for american progress and the cato institute discuss the constitutionality of u.s. peace attempts at nullification on several issues. quitting healthcare, gun control -- including healthcare, gun control, and state id laws. a recent survey on americans views on aging. your e-mails, phone calls and tweets. washed in journal is live at 7:00 eastern on c-span -- washington journal is live at 7:00 eastern on c-span. at the republican national committee meeting earlier today in boston, the party highlighted certain people as part of a driving -- a rising stars program. this is 45 minutes. >> to my left, she was first elected to the new hampshire house of representatives at age 23. she is in her fo

mary an as a high school teacher for 34 years can definitely say social media is hurting her students. >> i appreciate that james. and apparently one of the low rated hosts on msnbc tweeted that abraham lincoln hate bill o'reilly. possibly guess but what president lincoln really despised was desperation. finally tonight, the tip of the day. last night during my discussion with james carvil i said there were no republican speakers invited. i was wrong. some were asked to speak and they declined. they should have spoken. the mistake entirely on me. i simply assumed since all the speakers were liberal democrats that the republicans were left out. always check the facts before you make a definitive statement. and when you make a mistake admit it. i'm sorry. i know you watch the factor for accuracy. that is it for us tonight. please check out the website. we would like you to spout off from anywhere in the world. word of the day from the latin do not be puerile when writing to us. i had to take las continue lat school. something. didn't do well. it was tragic. again, thank you for watching us tonight. i am bill o'reilly. please always remember >> it's august 30th.er this is a fox news alert. amer

be 1964 or september almost 80 percent is killed or wounded or missing so the reputation and mary todd lincoln calls him a murderer and you get the impression that is a much difficult task to he has done something that is not sustainable politically so now on the left they say that lincoln and should not be nominated all except the new york's times all turned on him and general mclellan comes back on the scene and says i wanted into the my got closer we lost more people you said i was a butcher and sherman says to himself behalf to get to linda before this election without losing the army of the west i cannot suffer casualties so why ailed they criticize his outflanking people and except for wonder to, he takes on september september 2nd as a telegram and everything turns topsy-turvy he wanted to have them as the man of the hour. . . what. >> grant said that we have better organization and supply. and it was true. his message was the union has more manpower. and you have to target and crush them. after shiloh, grant took that direction and sherman took another direction. in this particular way