mary todd lincoln was scandalous.she was shopping buying tons of dresses and gloves and she even bought a very expensive china service and then liked it so much she got a companion set. president lincoln called her her flub dub and called her off financially. i'm asking this country to sacrifice and you're spending like there's no tomorrow. she went to continue to spend white house he gardener to cover her budget. that was a huge scandal. andrew jackson's wife, rachel, who was alive when he was elected but died right before the inauguration in 1829. she had been married two men at the same time because of the snaffue of divorce laws at the time and called negative words. nancy reagan with a lot of dress fathers high-end designers while her husband is making drastic cuts in social programs and not giving the dresses back or turning them over to the museum. hat was a minor scandal. i think it's a good thing we are having a conversation like this because we have to have that conversation. it's a highly public role and ng

mary lincoln portray by sally field in the phil about lincoln and some of the literature on givenn of late has told, a wider perspective on mary lincoln. she does not rise to the top. she remains to the bottom, about 10 places from the bottom, but her stature increased a little bit with more understanding of the difficult situation she was placed in. and no longer just thinking of mary lincoln as someone who was mentally unstable, as she had been per trade for a long time. the other first ladies near the bottom, in many cases, are associated with presidencies that were seen as unsuccessful and that they added little to it. florencele first lady, harding, i think stands out near the bottom because it is more and more been saying that she played some role in some of the perhaps corrupt aspects of the harding and ministration. -- administration. so florence harding is nailed as lacking integrity peerages course right at the bottom. the other first ladies that tend to be at the bottom in many cases are associated with little-known presidents, and some of the president am a both bookon and

mary lincoln portray by sally field in the film about lincoln and some of the literature on lincoln of late has told, given a wider perspective on mary lincoln. she does not rise to the top. she remains near the bottom, about 10 places from the bottom, but her stature increased a little bit with more understanding of the difficult situation she was placed in. and no longer just thinking of mary lincoln as someone who was mentally unstable, as she had been portrayed for a long time. the other first ladies near the bottom, in many cases, are associated with presidencies that were seen as unsuccessful and that they added little to it. one notable first lady, florence harding, i think stands out near the bottom because it is more and more been saying that she played some role in some of the perhaps corrupt aspects of the harding administration. so florence harding is nailed as lacking integrity, she scores right at the bottom. the other first ladies that tend to be at the bottom in many cases are associated with little-known presidents, and some of the presidents, both johnson and pierce,

daniel day-lewis plays abraham lincoln, followed by the voices of thaddeus stevens and mary todd lincolntepped out upon the world stage with the fate of human dignity in our hands. asked usm lincoln has to work with him to accomplish the death of slavery. that was an excerpt of "lincoln." clarence lusane, talk about the lincoln and slavery. >> the lincoln administration was a turning point in terms of the history of the relationship between african-americans and the white house. it was in his tenure that the first meeting took place between a u.s. president and leaders of the black community. this happened in 1862, i believe. up until that point, although african-americans, particularly free african-americans in the north, has been organized and those policy issues around slavery, they simply had no access to the white house or to policymakers. lincoln opened up some of that. part of what moved lincoln from being not just anti-slavery, but that you hadnizing to eliminate slavery, that abolition was the only path from hisin part, came discussions with black leaders. not only church leader

that first lady's rating moves a little bit and mary lincoln portrayed by sally field in the recent film about lincoln and some of the literature on lincoln of late has told, has given a wider perspective on mary lincoln. she does not rise to the top. she remained near the bottom, but her stature increases with a little more understanding of the difficult situation she was placed in and no longer just thinking of mary lincoln as someone who was mentally unstable, as she had been portrayed for a long time. theother first ladies near bottom in many cases are associated with presidencies that were seen as unsuccessful and they added little to it. one notable first lady -- florence harding -- stands out here the bottom because it's more and more been seen that she played some role in some of the perhaps corrupt aspect of the harding at the list ration and the harding times. florence harding is nailed by these historians as lacking integrity and scores right at the bottom. the other first ladies that tend to be at the bottom in many cases are associated with little-known presidents and presid

lincoln is to be deplored. that overlooks the extraordinary price that mary paid in the course of her life. not only as i say losing her mother at a most impressionble age, remember, lincoln jilted her. they were to be married on the first of january, 1841, and for reasons that historians are still debating, he in effect walked away from that ceremony. and it was almost two years before they were brought back together and were married in november of 1842. this is a woman accustomed to luxury and she lives in the globe tavern in springfield, illinois, with her husband and their children. and then when he is elected to his one term in congress, she accompanies him, which is unusual. because wives, particularly a freshman congressman, do not often do that. it turned out to be an unsuccessful experiment. life in a washington boarding house was really impossible. so she and their son, bobby, left, went back to lexington, back to the luxury that thank she had known. but then came -- the luxury that she had known. but then came the long crossing the desert years when lincoln was not only out of off

mary lincoln has been on this list in the past. >> absolutely. and really, that is most notable when you talk about the bottom five. mary lincoln has been among the bottom five each and every time until this year.

>> was mary todd lincoln on the train? was she in danger as well? >> one of the very interesting things about the store. was mary todd lincoln on the train? among the many reasons lincoln was criticized was that night, his family was on the train, the thinking was quite reasonably if you were in so much danger, why did you beat your wife and children on the train to face these dangers that you would not. and mary todd lincoln, so there is to be some flock in the white house after rawl, if it is under a bodice. it was a fair criticism. but the truth is there's a great deal of evidence to suggest the superintendent of police in baltimore who came under a great deal of criticism from pinkerton had a plan to take the lincoln family off the train before it got to baltimore, have them to lunch at the home of a prominent citizen of baltimore and take them to the second train that would carry them the rest of the way to washington which would have -- might have sidestepped the issue as effectively as pinkerton's plan did. so it is quite possible that she was

i think that mary lincoln, portrayed by sally field in the recent film about lincoln, and some of theiterature on lincoln of late has given a bit of a wider perspective on her. she does not rise to the top, she remains near the bottom, about 10 places from the bottom, but her stature increases as ofre is more understanding the difficult situation she was placed in and no longer does thinking of her as someone who was mentally unstable, as she had been per trade for a long time. in many cases associated with one notable. and first lady, florence harding, stands out near the bottom because more and more it is seen that she played some role in perhaps the correct -- the corrupt aspects of the harding administration. is nailed bying these historians as lacking integrity, scoring right at the bottom. others at the bottom are associated with little-known presidents. some of them, johnson and peers, who tend to book and the civil war, a time when we were looking for great leadership, it was not until lincoln, one of the most highly regarded presidents, took over, but the first ladies before

is athink mary lincoln story of great personal tragedy in the midst of a national tragedy. >> louisa catherine adams. her husband john quincy adams who was a diplomat and a difficult -- and a difficult personality. she took six children across the continent. >> in a carriage with courses in the snow. >> as a double about herself -- a diplomat herself trying to emote this new democracy to the russian court and all of the other european countries that were posted there. she did her part. >> calling or visiting was very important as part of your role as a politician's wife in washington. he would drop these lengthy lists of people for her to visit on his behalf. you sortthe way that of solidified your political support. she said sometimes she made as many as 26 visits in one day which would be hard to do in the modern era but if you could put yourself back to a time when washington had roads this must've been quite a feat. i think she really entertained him into the white house at a time when it was considered unseemly for a president to campaign for himself. >> linda is watching as an

barbara henderson wants to know other than mary lincoln, were there other first ladies suffering with depression? is there anyone else besides jane pierce? >> barbara bush talked about it very candidly. and frankly help to clear away this dickman, much as mrs. ford did with alcohol and chemical ependency. i suspect pat nixon's life was probably not a laugh riot. >> louisa catherine adams, when er husband was going through impeachment, she was a reluctant warrior into politics. i think that was a very difficult and depressing time for her. >> when louisa lost an infant, her intellectual husband, acting utterly in character, responded by giving her a book on diseases of the mind. so if she wasn't depressed, she had every reason to be. remember, she discovered chocolate. she became a chocoholic, which afforded some relief at least. >> chocolate is a great thing. i'm curious who the panel thinks is the most intelligent first lady. i know mrs. obama is one of our most educated first ladies through the series, i now know nd i am oppressed with how smart lou hoover was an mrs. kennedy. who d

lincoln, the big bed. and the other pieces of furniture that mary todd lincoln had ordered. he moved them to that space which been lincoln's bedroom. we redid it. we had a little square about this big of wallpaper that have been in the room when it was his office. we reproduced it. we knew we had the bill of sale of the carpet that had been bought at the time that lincoln lived there. we went to the same place in england which had done in the carpet for him and we do not know for sure which of the patterns they had sold. we do not really have a picture of it. but we knew on the bill of sale, it is go which the curator thought meant green and oak. we went and had that done. >> what did we not know about the first lady and her role you think the american public should know? >> the public sees the first lady in glamorous circumstances, state dinners in a beautiful gown. a speech where the heads are in suits or whatever. what they may not imagine looking at the white house from the outside is it is actually a very normal life upstairs on those two floors that are the white house

lincoln, the big bed. and the other pieces of furniture that mary todd lincoln had ordered. he moved them to that space which been lincoln's bedroom. we redid it. we had a little square about this big of wallpaper that have been in the room when it was his office. we reproduce it. we knew we had the bill of sale of the carpet that had been bought at the time that lincoln lived there. we went to the same place in england which done in the carpet for him and we do not know for sure which of the patterns they had sold. we do not really have a picture of it. but we knew on the bill of sale, whichsaid ga which -- go the curator thought meant green and oak. we went and had that done. not know about the first lady and her role you think the american public should know? sees the first lady and glamorous circumstances, state dinners and a beautiful down. a speech where the heads in suits are whatever. what they may not imagine looking at the white house from the outside is it is actually a very normal life upstairs on those two floors that are the white house residence. --st light is

mary lincoln didn't entertainment because there was a war going on and show was morning.tertaining got to be better >> as we moved into the 21st century, to t-- what changed in terms of the role of the first lady? >> transportation was a big factor in what changed. it didn't take six weeks to cross the ocean. you could do it in one week now. and after president wilson was the first president to leave our shores and go abroad. i think haft went abroad briefly but it was wilson who went abroad and that is when heads of state were coming to the country. during that earlier period, the diplomats were like quasi. they were representing their governments. they were treated royally. i think the first head of state came during the grant administration. and then during roosevelt's administration, he had the brother of wilham who put on a grand affair for him. and the mood of the whitehouse and oplence increased a lot. >> any examples of a mistake at a state dinner and how a first lady handled that? or a faux pas. >> they with well loved and kept in the protocol loop of who is to g

we looked back at the wallpaper lincoln had in his office, at the carpet he had in his office, and we did reproductions of those. then we had old photographs of the way marytodd lincoln dressed the lincoln bedroom the purple and gold and fringe and lace, high victorian decorations. we did have later photographs with the bed still dressed the way she had dressed it, so we did that again. >> how did the bushes used the white house as a social instrument during their years? what was entertaining like while we had wars going on? >> i think they had only really begun to entertain, i think it backfired literally because they had fireworks and they had not warned everybody that it was happening, so they sort of exploded all over town. then after september 11, i think there was a great deal of thought as to what was appropriate and how to do it. i think laura bush was instrumental in seeing the white house as a living, historical institution and using it as a way to help people understand what the lives had been like for people who lived there at the time and the way it reflects the period in the context of the time. the meticulous need to re-create what mary lin

mary lincoln didn't entertainment because there was a war going on and show was morning. what changed in terms of the role of the first lady? >> transportation was a big factor in what changed. it didn't take six weeks to cross the ocean. you could do it in one week now. and after president wilson was the first president to leave our shores and go abroad. i think haft went abroad briefly but it was wilson who went abroad and that is when heads of state were coming to the country. during that earlier period, the diplomats were like quasi. they were representing their governments. they were treated royally. i think the first head of state came during the grant administration. and then during roosevelt's administration, he had the brother of wilham who put on a grand affair for him. and the mood of the whitehouse and oplence increased a lot. >> any examples of a mistake at a state dinner and how a first lady handled that? or a faux pas. >> they with well loved and kept in the protocol loop of who is to go where and everything. but the one story i love the most is the sad sto

. >> was mary todd lincoln on the trade or the children? >> one of the very thing interesting things. among the many reasons lincoln was criticized for falling in with a plan that night is his family was on the train with him. quite reasonably if you were in so much danger than why did you leave your wife a and children on the train to face the dangers but quoting "the baltimore sun", they spoke admiringly of very tied coming through town as scheduled so there is some to be in the white house after all even if it is under a bodice. but the truth is there is a great deal of evidence to suggest that the superintendent of baltimore who came under a great deal of criticism under pinkerton had a plan to take the lincoln family of the tree before it got to baltimore baltimore, have them to lunch at the home of a providence citizen and take into the second train to carry them the rest of the way. which might have sidestepped the issue has effectively as pinkerton planted. it is quite possible she was not on the trade anymore than he was. but to fa

looked back at the wallpaper lincoln had in his office and the carpet he had in his office and we did reproductions of those. and then we had old photographs of the way marytodd lincoln had draped the lincoln bed with the purple and gold and the french in place, really high victorian decorating. we did have later photographs with a bed still dressed the way she dressed it, so we did that again. >> we how did the bushes use the white house as a social instrument during their years? how did they use it to advance policy and what was entertaining like while we had wars going on? >> guest: well i think they had only barely begun -- the it kind of backfired literally because they had fireworks and they hadn't warned anybody that was happening. everybody was sort of alarms. then after september there was a great deal of thought as to what was appropriate and how to do it. i think certainly laura bush has been instrumeninstrumen tal in seeing the white house as a living historical institution and using it as a way to help people understand what the lives have been like for the people that live there at the time and the way that reflects the period and the way th

mary todd lincoln struggled right alongside her husband with the pain of the civil war. losing thousands and thousands of men in the north and south. mary todd lincoln would take donations and provide them to soldiers. she would organize donations for former slaves and runaways then moved to washington and were living an abysmal conditions. before there was public housing and things like that. i am sympathetic to your concern. i have always been an ardent advocate of veterans affair. medicare, social security programs. childhood vaccinations and things that make sure that all americans have a decent quality of life. i guess, i do not know if the words help or not, but i can assure you that we have multiple first ladies who have been champions. eleanor roosevelt, as much as anyone, visited soldiers in combat zones. independent of her husband, who was wheelchair-bound and unable to travel. she was the eyes and ears. she visited soldiers and hospitals. she took great concern. paid great personal attention to this issue. host: now to providence, rhode island. jack is on the l

mary todd lincoln. police lincoln. twl's been a lot since 1964.st, paint now counts as a swimsuit, which it didn't in the past. but being chosen to be on the cover is a big deal. s.i. goes to great lengths to keep it secret, and they have kept it secret until this moment. our head of security, my right hand man guillermo has been guarding the advanced copy. guarding it with what? >> guillermo: with my life, jimmy. >> jimmy: he has a briefcase cuffed to his wrist. and a decoy guillermo? is the magazine in that briefcase? >> guillermo: yes, jimmy. >> jimmy: i don't know which one i'm talking to anymore. open it up and let's unveil this thing. this is big. we're going to unlock -- the handcuffs are already unlocked it looks like. okay, all right, all right. what is that? >> jimmy: a remote contro-- >> guillermo: a remote control, jimmy. >> jimmy: where's the magazine? >> guillermo: let me show you. >> jimmy: wow. that's quite a cover. >> guillermo: that's not one cover model. that's three. for the first time ever, there are three models on the cover

lincoln? >> i can't -- >> jerome? what about mary todd and his relationship together? deep love and this is where my book is so different from other books. we discover for the first time a real sexuality in lincoln. i think that this was one of the critical areas that i wanted to write about is his love affair with mary. this was never mentioned in any other book. you a powerful sexuality and so did she. she was really a bombshell of the 19th century, the kind of 19th century marilyn monroe. but we don't see this written. lincoln, thess of business of keeping the country together, that was a vital part of his strategy as leader of the country. what did you learn in doing the research about his understanding of about business and organization and with it -- and logistics? had a batch of mediocre generals. he really had to become his own general. cabinet that was fighting among itself so we had to be the supreme politician. he had to become the commander-in-chief of the nation in a way that we had never seen before. the writ ofspend habeas corpus because so many sabae we

certainly, lincoln is the one you think about the most, the worst time in our country's history, when brother fought against brother and maryodd lincoln was very unhappy. her brothers fought for the confederacy and she wished them dead and they did die. and then they lost a child while they lived there as well. you can imagine what it was like for her to have those tragedies and you knew what it was like for him as well. the president at a time when our country was at war with itself. one of the things that is comforting about living there with all of the history that you live with is that you see how we have overcome, in our country, the challenges that we faced. you think about the long years of world war ii and eleanor roosevelt and other times in our history and how difficult it was for people and how we overcame those challenges. so there is a certain comfort in knowing that, while peace is not forever, neither is war and we will be able to overcome these types of terrorism. time passes and things change. i do think, in our country, that things get better. that is a reassuring idea while you are living there. >> you wr

way, william todd -- the pioneer who drew the flag on a bed sheet -- was the nephew of mary todd, abraham lincoln's wife. with "flag facts," i'm brandon. >> the tallest building in our part of the world is getting closer to opening. but what makes this building special isn't its height, but what it represents. one world trade center is rising from the ashes of the 9/11 terrorist attack in new york city. this was all that was left of the famous twin towers that gave the area its name -- the world trade center. the terrorists weable to destroy those original towers, but they couldn't destroy our national resolve to rebuild and to honor those who lost their lives in the attack. in fact, one world trade center will reach a symbolic height. just as 1776 is an important date in american history, 1776 is precisely how tall the new building is -- 1,776 feet. one world trade center will also have an observatory open to the public. you can expect it'll become a very popular tourist attraction. >> this report is brought to you by the consumer electronics association. >> there's a lot of buzz words here at the

was mary todd lincoln on the train? among the many reasons lincoln was criticized for falling in with pinkertons plan on that night, his family was on the train with him and the thinking was quite reasonably, if you are in so much danger why did you leave your wife and children on the train to face these dangers that you would not? .. >> have them to lunch at the home a prominent citizen of baltimore and then take them to the the train, to the second train that would carry them the rest of the way to washington which would have, might have sidestepped the issue as effectively as pinkerton's plan did. so it is quite possible that she wasn't on the train any more than he was. but the perception that lincoln had left his family to face the perils that he himself would not also clung to him like glue. anyone else? ma'am? >> yes, a couple quick things, and i apologize if you already addressed this. but, first, what specific thing kicked off for you about this event that made you say i want to spend the time researching exact

mary todd lincoln would take donations and provide them to soldiers.she would organize donations for former slaves and runaways then moved to washington and were living an abysmal conditions. before there was public housing and things like that. i am sympathetic to your concern. i have always been an ardent advocate of veterans affair. medicare, social security programs. childhood vaccinations and things that make sure that all americans have a decent quality of life. , i do not know if the words help or not, but i can assure you that we have multiple first lady's who have been champions. roosevelt, as much as anyone, visited soldiers in combat zones. independent of her husband, who is wheelchair-bound and unable to travel. she was the eyes and ears. she visited soldiers and hospitals. she took great concern. at great personal attention to this issue. host: now to providence, rhode island. jaclyn on the line for democrats. caller: hi. extent with certain the gentleman from arkansas. my heart goes out to him. i worked on wall street for over 30 years. i

a year ago we found a heretofore letter from mary todd lincoln a year before her husband's death. i love the letter. even though the press tended to say it's not much of a form i loved it because mary todd is writing in 1864. she's having a big fancy white tie black-tie kind of gal at the white house and she's worried about a babysitter. she's trying to find a babysitter for the youngest, the fourth boy tad. so in the middle of the civil war and the white house she needs to find a babysitter. i think that's the perfect duality. i love it and here's the person she is requesting to be her babysitter. a guy named charles forbes. one year later when lincoln is hit in ford's theater charles forbes was the guard at the door tell me that's not freaky. so history, we don't know much about the war of 1812 by 450 pages down the first draft was probably 650 and i'm sure i'm scratching the surface of it. there is just so much out there but thanks for the kind words. one or two quick ones. [applause] >> tecumseh was shawnee but among many other tribes as well. tecumseh had a rough upbringing. h

a year ago we found an unknown -- an unknown letter from mary todd lincoln written a year before her and's death. i love the letter even though the press tended to say it's not much of a letter. mary todd is writing agency for, she's having a big fancy gala at the white house. she's worried about a babysitter. she's trying to find a babysitter for the youngest. she's trying -- so i'm in the middle of the civil war and the white house, she has to find a babysitter. i love it. here's the person she's trying to get as a babysitter, charles forbes. history still has her secrets. we don't know much about the war of 1812. i put 450 pages down, first draft was probably 650. i'm sure i'm scratching the surface of it. there's so much out there. thanks for the time. one or two more quick ones. [inaudible] >> tecumseh was shawnee but he was doing many other tribes as well. he was raised by a chief from another tribe. his mother leaves him when he's young and moves away with another try. is raised by an older brother. tecumseh is a very rough upbringing. you might say he was swept around as resul

mary lincoln portray by sally field in the film about lincoln and some of the literature on lincoln of late has told, given a wider perspective on mary lincoln. she does not rise to the top. she remains near the bottom, about 10 places from the bottom, but her stature increased a little bit with more understanding of the difficult situation she was placed in. and no longer just thinking of mary lincoln as someone who was mentally unstable, as she had been portrayed for a long time. the other first ladies near the bottom, in many cases, are associated with presidencies that were seen as unsuccessful and that they added little to it. one notable first lady, florence harding, i think stands out near the bottom because it is more and more been saying that she played some role in some of the perhaps corrupt aspects of the harding administration. so florence harding is nailed as lacking integrity, she scores right at the bottom. the other first ladies that tend to be at the bottom in many cases are associated with little-known presidents, and some of the presidents, both johnson and pierce,

a year ago we found a new unknown letter from mary todd lincoln a year before her husband's death greater love the letter. mary todd is writing in 1864. she's having a big fancy white tight black tie galley at the white house. she's worried about a babysitter she is trying to find a babysitter for the youngest and fourth boy tad, tadpole they called him. in the middle of the civil war at the white house she needs to find a babysitter. i think that's perfect. i love it and here's the person she is requesting to be your babysitter. a guy named charles forbes. one year later when mcinnis hit in ford's theater charles forbes was the guard at the door. tell me that's not freaky. we don't know much about the war of 1812. ipo 450 pages down and the first draft was probably 650. i am sure i'm scratching the surface because there's so much out there but thanks for your time. one or two quick ones. speak to come so was shawnee but among many other tribes as well. tecumseh had a rough upbringing. he was raised by itchy from another tribe. his mother leaves him when he is young and moves away with an