By Kenneth J. Winkle
In the Springfield, Illinois parlor of Ninian W. &
Elizabeth (Todd) Edwards, Abraham Lincoln and Mary Ann Todd were married on
Friday evening, November 4, 1842 in a ceremony officiated by the Reverend
Charles N. Dresser. A week later Lincoln
wrote to a friend, Samuel D. Marshall, “Nothing new here, except my marrying,
which to me, is a matter of profound wonder."
The relationship between Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln has
been the subject of rumor, speculation and conjecture since they met, and it
continues even into the present. As part
of the Concise Lincoln Library author
Kenneth J. Winkle adds his name to the ever growing list of those who have
written about their relationship with his tiny tome Abraham and Mary Lincoln.
There is no doubt that the Lincoln’s relationship had its stormy
and tempestuous times. What relationship
doesn’t? Mr. Winkle takes a step back
from the traditional interpretation of the relationship between Abraham and
Mary, and slightly softens it. Though
the “hellcat,” as John Hay frequently referred to Mary Lincoln, does appear
from time to time.
The Lincoln’s symbiotic relationship was that of opposites;
he the unrefined man from the backwoods and she the genteel aristocrat. Their backgrounds and personalities
complimented the other. They both saw a
future in politics, and both worked in their own way to secure that future. Together they slowly worked their way up the
political ladder from the Illinois Legislature, to the United States House of
Representatives, and finally to the Presidency of the United States. They each played their roles perfectly.
Mr. Winkle’s linear narrative covers the early lives of both
Lincolns, their courtship and marriage, and through their years at the White
House. The final chapter of Abraham and Mary Lincoln covers Mary’s
life after the assassination of her husband until her death on July 16, 1882.
Abraham and Mary
Lincoln doesn’t contain anything new as per the historical record of their
relationship, but Mr. Winkle does reinterpret the remaining evidence to draw a
new conclusion: the Lincoln home was a house united, though it may have at times
trembled in conflict, it was with love and mutual ambition.
ISBN 978-0809330492, Southern Illinois University Press, ©
2011, Hardcover, 160 pages, Photographs, Essay on Sources, Bibliography &
Index. $19.95
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