robert had lincoln died quietly in his sleep on july 26, 1926. his widow mary told a relation that she did not want robert overshadowed by his father in death as he had been in life. so she chose to remove him from the lincoln tomb in springfield where he was buried and she reburied him at arlington national cemetery, to which he was entitled because of his civil war military service. she brought the remains of their son jack to the springfield vault and buried him at arlington as well. roberts widow mary died in 1837, leaving over a million-dollar inheritance. robert, as lincoln's only surviving son, was expected to carry on the family line and name. when his only son died, the name died out there and daughter mimi did not produce a grandchild and roberts other female offspring produced two children who did not produce heirs. there is a disputed end and that is not all that happened to the lincoln family, but all that i can imparted during my allotted time. [laughter] i have time for questions. if any of you want to query or comment on what i have said today.

in general, now mary lincoln has become somewhat of an easy figure for people to dismiss and to discredit and degrade and even defame, but there would have been no lincoln without mary. [applause] sidney blumenthal: mary lincoln was difficult. she was volatile. she had an upbringing that created all sorts of problems for her. she had -- her mother died. her stepmother was that of cinderella. [laughter] she loved her father, but he neglected her. and she set her cap on lincoln. they had a tumultuous, confused relationship in which lincoln often, they can did not understand how to handle the members of the opposite sex, and eventually he and mary came together and she referred it to their marriage as our lincoln party. and in the beginning, there were only two members at this party. and it was lincoln and mary. she was a highly unusual woman in that she was political. she grew up in a political household. her father was a business partner and political ally of henry clay. she knew clay, she talked to clay. i think at nine years old, she said she wanted to marry the next president and told h

>> she writes that mary lincoln did not approve of his family and regarded them as lower-class. she turned into hated and she would notsays allow lincoln's family in the house, she would not allow herndon in her house and regarded him as a problem. >> who could be closer to my hero than me? closest. exactly the lincoln had a very strange relation all the way through with his father. he had gone earlier when his father was ill and then recovered and then when his ,tepbrother summoned him again refusing to say that god will take care of things. >> it's brutal. think still felt the andds of that relationship it goes back to the stepmother who made possible lincoln's education. the father regarded education as a waste of time, as useless streaming. in a positive sense of father may have thought my son should be a cabinet maker, carpenter like i am -- you should have a trade. he regarded reading books as a complete waste of time and putting him on the wrong road, away from being able to earn a living. that is why lincoln escaped -- he described his father is a poor, wondering boy, but

lincoln is married to mary todd, whose father is clay's business partner and political ally. also a state senator. this is a connection that lincoln has to clay. in fact -- he is his beau ideal. he reads the louisville paper. papers are kept, preserved. a dozen people will read one newspaper when he is a boy. they don't print local news. that is considered to be word-of-mouth. it is national news, including excerpts from the annals of congress or the congressional globe. we would call the congressional record. whole speeches, lincoln memorizes whole speeches of clay. when he becomes a whig, the first time he betrays clay was in 1840. by then, even then clay carried the burden of having been in politics and fighting in the trenches. he had been -- he suffered many wounds already by 1840. before he had been nominated for president. lincoln supported william henry harrison who he thought was more electable, a general, and lincoln supported clay in 1844 when he was the whig chairman and clay narrowly lost. and then lincoln betrayed him again. lincoln needs clay in lexington after

warm audience, and i'm so glad that i was assigned this hot subject of looking at the first lady, mary lincoln, and her time of trial. but i did want to say, especially, it is wonderful for me to be here because i was really propelled along the road to doing my biography of mrs. lincoln by being here, listening to speakers, having people make comments, someone leaning over to me after a lecture say, isn't it terrible how they shoved mary lincoln out of the room just as her husband died? and that is something that caught me on the road. of course, it is harold and the

did notp approve of lincoln's family, and regarded them as lower class, but that is herndon who hated mary, and she would not have -- and just as he says that she would not allow l lincoln's family in the house, she would notal allow herndon in her house. >> right. >> and are regarded him as a problem. >> well, herndon was jealous, and you know, who could be closer to my hero than me? >> he was exactly the closest he thought. but lincoln had a very strained relations all of the way through with his father. >> didn't go to his death bed. >> he was summoned and he had gone earlier when his father was ill and recovered and then when his stepbrother summonned him again and refused to go and wrote a letter to his father saying, you know, that god will take care of thing, and he refused to see his father when he was dying. >> god will take care of thing, and i won't. >> and he says something like, if we meet now, it is more painful than helpful and it is a brutal weapon. >> i think that still felt the wounds of that relationship and it goes back to the stepmother who made possible lincoln's educ

mary todd lincoln was a porn star. >> tom: watched? [laughter] >> she heard that people teacher salary sucked, so she was drawn to that. [groaning] >> tom: really? >> i agree with you. everyone in porn a star? there are no supporting characters? >> there is a key grip. >> tom: it used to be an adult film actress. but everybody has to be a star. a couple of films, instagram posts. >> not everyone is will smith. i'm saying not everyone is a star. >> do we know how many people showed up for the pta meeting when she was there? a lot of dad's? >> tom: you know the dads at drop off. she's still a great looking lady. but doctor, it is legal. everything she did, even back then when she was doing it, it is legal. i guess you could say if she was doing it at the same time or if she was moonlighting, but it's all in the past, correct? >> to be truth, she disclosed this on her resume to get the job, in favor of what you're saying, mike, i agree with you. unfortunately, i feel so much controversy and such a distraction for the students. i see why t

lincoln said it's my responsibility. it was probably mary who wrote or at least cowrote it. but lincoln took responsibility. they went out to an island of the mississippi river called bloody island because it was the place where dueling was legal. lincoln with a choice of weapons chose broadsword and began slicing off tree limbs, and shields ultimately said maybe we should make up, or something of that nature. [laughter] the irish who fought with him did not know that. i always say the bottom line there is had that duel proceeded, lincoln today might be a rap musical instead of a spielberg movie. the irish mob was unwilling to fight to free slaves who might compete with them for jobs. they burned and pillage their way through manhattan. even in the horror of that, lincoln simply sent a message to his son to come out of new york city and come home. he joked that even that could remind him of a funny story, and ethnic humor was always part of his repertoire. he told the cabinet that general hugh kilpatrick was going to new york to put down the riot, but i promise, his name has

next, historian kathryn clinton talks about what happened to president lincoln's family after his assassination. she discusses mary todd lincoln's struggle with her husband's death. clinton also recounts what happened to the president's two surviving sons and their surviving descendents. this is a part of the lincoln family form symposium. it is about 50 minutes.

lincoln. >> madam president, if you please. >> pauley: three years ago she got her third nomination for the role of mary todd in steven spielberg'st you're up to because you haven't discussed this scheme with me as you ought to have done. when have i ever been so bamboozled. >> jay: a third academy award wasn't in the cards. but for all her recognition, the oscar, goal englobes, multiple emmys, perhaps sally field deserves an award for perseverance. >> don't ever let nibble you that they're better than you, forrest. >> pauley: equal to some of the characters she's played. >> i'll wait for the share i have to come and take me home and i ain't going budge until he gets here! >> pauley: what is it with you and southern women. >> i don't know. >> you're from southern california. >> yeah. >> pauley: and yet, boy, can you do southern women. >> well, i grew up with southern women in reality. my mother, my grandmother they were all from the deep south. so that sound is in my ear of all of them babbling and bubbling together, i can hear it. >> what are we going to do the rest of our lives, stay home, watch the parade go by. >> pauley: and

the lincoln's that were left thad -- tad.y, and for then he was a husband and father, whose compassion would be forever mourned. mary was taken from the room where he lay dying, lincoln smell circle of rivals for his attention began to exclude mrs. lincoln. she received condolences from around the globe. perhaps none meant more to her than the message penned by the british sovereign -- dear madam, though stranger to you i could not remain silent when so terrible a calamity has fallen on you and your country. i must personally express my deep and heart else up at the with you under the shocking circumstances of your dreadful misfortune. no one can enter appreciate then i too am myself utterly broken hearted by the loss of my own beloved husband, who was the light of my life, my all. what your sufferings must be. i earnestly pray that you be supported by him to whom alone the sorely stricken can look for comfort in this hour of heavy affliction. reflection of sympathy, i remain, dear madam, your sincere friend, victoria. watch the entire lecture on colonial america and the british empire on lectures in history at 8:00