even mary todd lincoln, abraham lincoln was devastated after his first unsuccessful run for the senate and it was mary todd who said you can do this. what if she hadn't been that kind of encouragement and we wouldn't have had abraham lincoln wising up in politics. you know the story of nancy ragenned and how powerful she was. she watched his back and was his closest person advisor. they worked as a couple from the time he entered politics. the women in the victorian age, frances cleveland was enormously popular, first celebrity first lady yet her husband didn't want her in the public eye. she had to find other ways to wield her influence. she, when they lost the white house after the first time, turned and said to the staff keep the drapes as they, are we'll be back in four years, and they were. she was right about that. she knew the strength of her

[laughter] >> you found some wonderful things about mary todd lincoln. did you have an unexpected favorite source for mary todd lincoln speak with no. you know i didn't really spend that much time delving into mary todd lincoln because she has been written about a good deal. obviously, i had to do with it. she was the first lady. the parts that i found interesting for what other people who were contemporaries wrote about her. because again, it was the first person and they saw it. they all have views but elizabeth's book is very eye opening about the white house and what was going on in the white house but then also her niece, so towards the end of the war mary lincoln's half-sister came and stayed in the white house for about a week. her husband was in the confederate army and even killed. mary lincoln's brother and half brother has brothers and brothers-in-law were all in the confederate army. which major suspect to the north the way varina davis the suspect to the south. and so this half sister came and stayed and that woman's daughter later wrote a bo

did you have an unexpected debris at source for mary todd lincoln? >> i didn't spend that much time delving into mary todd lincoln because she has been written about a good deal. obviously i had to deal with her. she was the first lady. the parts that i found interesting were what other people who were contemporaries wrote about her because again it was the first person they thought. they all had views. elizabeth cap please book is very eye-opening about the white house in what was going on in the white house. but also her knees. towards the end of the war, and mary lincoln's half-sister came and stayed in the white house for about a week. her husband was in the confederate army and had been killed. very lincoln's half brothers and brother-in-law were in the confederate army which made her suspect to the north the way granted davis a suspect to the south. this half-sister came and stayed on that woman's daughter later wrote a book defending her aunt mary but it was also very clear how very crazy mary lincoln was. her sister kept a diary during her wee

. >> you mentioned mary todd lincoln. yet she did not leave washington dc and travel to springfield. why is that? >> mary todd lincoln's life was one -- she had to face any many tragedies and this was perhaps the greatest of all -- her husband the assassinated, and she was rightfully devastated by that. she was just not emotionally capable of making that trip. her son, robert todd lincoln was there with her. >> if you look on your screen, there are some of the reenactors. who are those folks in the tents and how long have they been camped out? >> some of them have been here since last wednesday and thursday night, when i was out here, we came out for dinner. a lot of the tents were out at that time and it was a beautiful scene. it was beautiful and the oak ridge cemetery gate the gate was lit up and across the road and across the road worthy tents with the fires -- were the tents with the fires and lit for the evening. >> we are to an expert on the subject of abraham lincoln's numeral. abraham lincoln died here in washingt

. >> that dates back to 18 61 bought by mary todd lincoln as part of her right house refurbishing. is eight feet long, six feet wide. >> mary todd lincoln drape the bed with purple and gold and fringe and laced. high victorian decorating. we did have later photographs with the bed still dressed the way she had rested. we did that again. ms. swain: i am going to let that video stand because our time is going to evaporate. i have two get this story. this is another one of my favorites. the story of caroline harrison. it's caroline harrison had worked her will, what would our precious white house look like? what was she wanting to do? mr. seale: she was incorporating a lot of ideas. one big wing was supposed to be the national gallery of art. the green houses were moved there so you could see over them from the windows of the house but then there was a guest and office wing on the left and the national gallery on the other. she was very sincere about it. she was a very ambitious woman and political to her toes. she was one of the founders of the dar. that is what she planned for the h

the apocryphal story is that on the way home, abraham lincoln said to mary that " this is where i would like to be buried." >> you mentioned mary todd lincoln. yet she did not attend the funeral in springfield. she did not leave washington, d.c., and travel with the train to springfield. why is that? richard: mary todd lincoln's life was one -- she had to face many, many tragedies and this was perhaps the greatest of all . her husband being assassinated next to her. and she was rightfully devastated by that. and was just not emotionally capable of making that trip. back to springfield. her son, robert todd lincoln was there with her. and he did, to springfield for the funeral. >> if you look on your screen there, we see some of the reenactors. you may have seen the tens of a moment ago. who are those folks in the tents and how long have they been camped out? richard: i think some of them have been here since last wednesday and perhaps that is when they first came but thursday night when i was out here, we came out after dinner. it was just -- a lot of the tents were up at that time, and as i say, it was a beautiful scene. it was alm

. >> you mentioned mary todd lincoln. yet she did not leave washington dc and travel to springfield. why is that? >> mary todd lincoln's life was one -- she had to face any many tragedies and this was perhaps the greatest of all -- her husband the assassinated, and she was rightfully devastated by that. she was just not emotionally capable of making that trip. her son, robert todd lincoln was there with her. >> if you look on your screen, there are some of the reenactors. who are those folks in the tents and how long have they been camped out? >> some of them have been here since last wednesday and thursday night, when i was out here, we came out for dinner. a lot of the tents were out at that time and it was a beautiful scene. it was beautiful and the oak ridge cemetery gate the gate was lit up and across the road and across the road worthy tents with the fires -- were the tents with the fires and lit for the evening. >> we are to an expert on the subject of abraham lincoln's numeral. abraham lincoln died here in washingt

the 1st first lady to get the press coverage, and i'm willing to be corrected on this, mary todd lincoln the sectarian nature, she is fair game, southern sympathizer spendthrift a hysteric. the piece five years ago but was mary todd lincoln bipolar? we are still beating up on her. her. nancy reagan get some of that coverage when she 1st arrived. we will wait to show people. i am thinking about an example with hillary clinton during the campaign early on i will last and by and stay home and bake cookies. how did she recover from the learning curve of presenting herself that way? >> i we will say i will say this. he writes with john mccain and is his alter ego. with the lewinsky story 1st broke it was walking down the street with a cigarette in his mouth and says can this guy take a punch or what. he was talking about clinton i would say the same thing about hillary clinton. i will take everything you can dish out and pay it back with interest. >> in 92 she was one of the 1st presidential candidates to participate in the cookie bake-off recipe contest. part of how she responded was she sof

the story is that on the way home abraham lincoln said to mary, this is where i'd like to be buried. >> you mentioned mary todd lincoln and yet she didn't attend the funeral in springfield. he didn't leave washington, d.c. and travel with the train up to springfield. why is that? >> well, mary todd lincoln's life was one that she had to face many, many tragedies. and this was perhaps the greatest of all. her husband being assassinated next to her. and she was rightfully devastated by that. and was just not emotionally capable of making that trip back to springfield. her son robert todd lincoln was there with her and he did come to springfield for the funeral. >> we see, if you look on your screen there, some of the reenactors. might have seen a moment ago some of the tents. who are the folks in the tents and how long have they been out there camped out? >> well i think some of them had been here since last wednesday and perhaps that's when they first came. but thursday night when i was out here, we came out after dinner and it was just a lot of the tents were up at that time. and as i say, it was a beautiful s

what is mary todd lincoln? yes. first ladies for $400, please. andrew. who is truman? correct.

here, and the first first lady to get tough press coverage and i'm willing to be corrected -- mary todd lincoln because of the sectarian nature of that war. she is fair game. a southern sympathizer, a spendthrift, his stairic. we're still at it. there was a piece five years ago, was mary todd lincoln bipolar. it's 2010. we're city billing it on her. nancy reagan got that kind of press coverage when she first arrived. >> how did she regroup. >> you know how she regrouped. >> we'll wait and show people. i'm think about an example with hillary clinton during the campaign early on, two for one and i'm not going to stand by my man and stay home and bake cookies. how did that campaign recovery? how did she recover from the learning curve of presenting herself that way? or maybe she didn't? >> the clintons -- i'll say this about -- i'm get to to quote a friend of mine, mike salt sir john mccain's alter ego and during the -- when the lieu lewinski story broke he say can this guy take a punch or what? and he was talking about clinton, and in the mccain world that's a high compliment. i'd say the same th

lincoln loved him and mary todd lincoln hated him. he played some role, but nothing significant in the funeral. i found it curious myself, when i was doing this research, that he did not play a larger part. some of the other townsfolk played a much larger part in arranging for the funeral and making the decisions about what is to be done in planning the funeral. i don't know if people know about the controversy as to where in springfield he was to be buried. the local people all wanted him to be buried in the center of springfield on what is now the site of the illinois state capital. it was a private residence on a hill. these men in the city of springfield bought the property and had a vault built between the time of the death of lincoln and his arrival in springfield. mary lincoln did not want that to occur, and she threatened to remove him from spring field or not allow him be carried to spring field if that was done. a she insisted he be buried in oak ridge cemetery. her wishes one out. host: we will take a call from florida. ter

mary todd lincoln is sitting here, rathbone and clara harris and there's the rest of the stage down belowln immediately loses consciousness upon being hit by the gun, never knows what hit them. never regains consciousness. he slumps over, mary realizes what is happening and begin screaming hysterically. major rathbone jumps up and tries to stop booth, booth has a knife, slashes at rathbone. violently cutting his left forearm, into the bone, including cutting part of the bone and cutting part of the chest. rathbone then tries to grab it again, boost then false over -- remember he is this acrobatic actor. vaults over from here from the box, jumps down onto the stage. rathbone believes that he heard booth yell something like freedom. who feels -- booth runs out on the stage, he's the only one on the stage. there's a lot of question about what he said. people think you said six average around us -- sic semper tyrannus. some people thought he said revenge for the south of the south shall be free, some thought they said he yelled i have done it. in any case, pandemonium comes out. booth rushes

not sure about mary todd lincoln, what she used for her own reference point. that a few -- a week and a half later in 1865, where president lincoln's body was laying in state in new york city. we'll go to ken who is joining us from fremont, california. again, live scenes outside of ford's theatre here in washington, d.c., and good evening, ken. >> caller: good evening, ken. i just have a quick question for mr. reynolds. in his opinion what is the best thing that lincoln has ever done? in my opinion, it was -- [ inaudible ]. i would just like to know his opinion about that. thank you very much and thank you for c-span. >> thank you for your comment. our guest is not with us. this is just a chance for you to reflect on the events from 150 years ago and we'll watch the scene outside of ford's theatre. and this is what it looks like. live coverage here on c-span 2. >> it's very hard to believe that just a few days after being out there, playing out the surrender we would find ourselves here in washington city and then hearing the news about the shooting tonight, m

belongs to all of us, just as surely as the white house in which abigail adams did her laundry and mary todd lincoln indoor the hearts of these civil war. that's what this morning's program is all about. it's just the beginning. the next two months, the library will stage theatrical performances were calling eleanor roosevelt, edith wilson maybe eisenhower and beth truman. the time magazine spectrum correspondent will be here in august while helen thomas, dean of the white house press corps will share her reflections in september. also in keeping with my husband's desire for an institution as lively and dynamic as america herself fortunately we have a director who shares our vision of a library that is more than a library. his name is richard norton smith and he will be your moderator this morning. i would also like to express my own thanks to richard, for all that he has done in becoming director of the library. ronnie and i have never been happier with the library than we are today and it is all due to -- where are you, richard? you, richard. [laughter] [applause] nancy reagan: and the team you ha

about this time in the evening 150 years ago, abraham lincoln and his wife mary todd lincoln were preparing to go see the noted actress, laura kingeene in a play at ford's theater. it was well known that we can, a regular play goer would be at the play that evening because the story was in the headlines. washington was still in celebration of the surrender of robert e lee to grant at appomattox five days earlier. april 14 was off also the five-year anniversary of the start of civil the civil war. despite all the joy and excitement, lincoln had second thoughts about going out that night. not that he had any scruples about it being good friday, he did not share the strict christian problems that christians had of going to the theater on a holy day. however, he had a disturbing dream the night before. his bodyguard had left town warning him to not go out in public, due to the highly charged atmosphere. with disgruntled enemies s shirley lurking about. als -- sureley lurking about. he also had a hard time finding who to go with. mrs. lincoln had a hard time getting along with people though i th

mary lincoln loses three of her children. the only one to live to adulthood, robert todd lincoln. then with the assassination of her husband, quite tragic. tragically, tad lincoln would die of tuberculosis in 1871. mary lincoln loses three of her children. the only one to live to adulthood, robert todd lincoln. then with the assassination of her husband, quite tragic. mary lincoln is a complex, interesting topic. there has been interesting books written about her. "the madness of mary lincoln," written by jason emerson, is one of the best works ever done that does justice to her. here we have president lincoln "the mark of war," showing almost four years of carrying the country through conflict. this photo was taken on february of 1865. it was believed for many years that photo was taken around april 10 of 1856, just days before his assassination. you get an idea of how much lincoln has aged during these four years and his tribulation of all these challenges. john wilkes booth, shakespearean actor, was called a tragedian. he was part of a renowned acting family from maryland. maryl

about this time in the evening 150 years ago abraham lincoln and his wife mary todd lincoln were preparing to go see the noted actress laura king in the comic play "our american cousin" which was featured at ford's theater. it was well-known that lincoln a regular theater goer would be at the play that evening because the story was in the headlines. washington was still in celebration over the surrender of robert e. lee to ulysses s. grant five days earlier. april 14th was also the four-year anniversary of the beginning of the civil war at ft. sumpter in charleston harbor south carolina despite all the joy and excitement lincoln had second thoughts about going out that fight, not that he had any scruples about it being good friday. he didn't share the strict christian problems that christians had of going to the theater on a holy day. however, he had had a disturbing dream the night before his bodyguard ward hill layman had left town warning him not to go out in public due to the highly charged atmosphere with disgruntled enemies surely lurking about. also lincoln had a hard time getting p

the white house in which abigail adams hung her laundry and mary todd lincoln endured the horrors of the civil war and that is what this morning's program is all about. and it is just the beginning over the next over the next few months the library will stage theatrical performances recalling eleanor roosevelt, edith wilson, eisenhower and german. time magazine white house correspondent we will be here in august while helen thomas, dean of the white house press corps will share her own reflection on modern 1st ladies in september. all of this in keeping with my husband's desire for an institution that is lively and dynamic is america herself. fortunately, we have a director who shares our vision of a library that is more the library. his name his name is richard norton smith command he will be our moderators morning. i would also like to express my own thanks to richard for all that he has done since becoming director of the library. we have never been happier with the library than we are today command it is all due -- where are you richard? you, richard. [applause] and the team that

the white house in which abigail adams hung her laundry and mary todd lincoln endured the horrors of the civil war and that is what this morning's program is all about. and it is just the beginning over the next over the next few months the library will stage theatrical performances recalling eleanor roosevelt, edith wilson, eisenhower and german. time magazine white house correspondent we will be here in august while helen thomas, dean of the white house press corps will share her own reflection on modern 1st ladies in september. all of this in keeping with my husband's desire for an institution that is lively and dynamic is america herself. fortunately, we have a director who shares our vision of a library that is more the library. his name his name is richard norton smith command he will be our moderators morning. i would also like to express my own thanks to richard for all that he has done since becoming director of the library. we have never been happier with the library than we are today command it is all due -- where are you richard? you, richard. [applause] and the team that

after the assassination, robert todd lincoln, with mary starts to dispose of some of the lincoln's property. the carriage itself is sold to a doctor in upstate new york who uses it for his daily routes and then eventually, it's sold to the studebaker brothers building a collection of historic characters. they were carriage builders before they actually build an automobile company, and it becomes part of their collection and one of the treasured objects. when the studebaker company goes out of business their collection of carriages and automobiles is transferred to the studebaker museum in south bend, indiana where it now resides and who very generously lent this carriage to us and ford's theater for the 150th anniversary. >> there is a reality to our story. at the national museum it's the objects that tells the story, and they are real to people. we know so much about abraham lincoln. i mean, you can imagine books are written about him all the time, but to be able to see the carriage he rode in the hat he used to wear, and start to understand in the reality of him, he was about, what the co

. >> yes, i was wondering if dolley madison's first husband john todd was related to abraham lincoln's wife maryrine: 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 -- comes to town 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 -- she's tone deaf when it comes to that. susan: is it true dolley's son from her first marriage gambled away much of her money? edith: that and drinking. susan: that will do it. did he continue his relationship with his mother in later years? edith: no, she did not. susan: robert, your question about dolley madison? >> i'm questioning what's the relationship between ms. madison and mrs. polk and harrison. susan: and harrison. catherine: i think the polks became friends. people wanted to associate themselves with dolley after she came back to the capitol city and it was cachet by association so the polks often invited her to dine with them and tak

i was wondering if dolley madison's first husband, john todd, was related to abraham lincoln's wife, mary thank you. swain: thank you. mayo: good question. i have no idea. allgor: i'm going to go around the question and say what's important about that is that mary todd has certainly bruited that about. now, todd's a very common name and i don't know -- i'm sure there's a todd genealogist out there that's going to help us. but when mary todd comes to town decades later and dolley madison has still set the example, mary todd tried to kind of like ride on her coattails by saying she -- mayo: she plays on that. allgor: -- was a todd. right. but she does not have dolley's sense of tone. she's rather tone deaf when it comes to all of that, so -- swain: here is a more specific question about her son. is it true that dolley's son from her first marriage gambled away much of her money? allgor: yes. swain: was it gambling that was his problem? mayo: yes. allgor: and drinking. mayo: yes. allgor: that will do it. gambling and drinking will do it, yes. swain: and did he continue his relationship with