mrs. greenfield, and is really there to deal with this guy she doesn't like, roscoe conkling, and negotiatingith members of the cabinet of who would be appointed and who wouldn't. host: the actual vote was very close. lucretia garfield after winning says this -- "it is a terrible responsibility to come to him and me." did she want to become first lady? guest: she did not want to become first lady for herself. she very strongly believed in her husband. they had really been through everything. they lost two children. they had marital problems. by the time he had run in 1880, they are very clear and very square on the same page in terms of their values. they both shared a lot of intellectual and literary pursuits. that was a mutual passion which during the tough times kept them together, but she was, at the time she got the news that he won the nomination, she was scrubbing the floor. she did not want to pose for photographs. she was very reluctant. she did, and of course, the first images we start to see in paraphernalia during the campaign. she wrote a private letter to some friends and said,