no first lady ever gets it, right and so mary todd lincoln had her supporters. she's certainly had a lot of detractors and even among his stories today who study here. there are first lady. i guess i would say first lady scholars of different backgrounds who would find mary todd lincoln a figure of tremendous pathos. yes. yes, definitely with a terror just a terrible terrible life and who didn't deserve nearly the criticism she got but she was sort of tone deaf about the parties and the dresses and the money she spent and even her own husband had to say, you know, mary you have to dial back some of this grief because remember the rest of the country's grieving as well. so she's again. i'm not going to be an apologist, but no first lady has ever had a hundred percent thumbs up from the country. well and the thing with mary lincoln too was that she did a lot of very good things she did but she didn't understand public relations as she probably should have she was savaged both in the northern press and the southern press because she was a kentuckyian some of her sh

and the taunting was -- mary todd, mary todd lincoln, dolley todd madison -- okay. and so she tied to emulate dolley. and when i said dolley set the tone for first ladies for you know two centuries, but she was kind of tone-deaf, right? like, she threw parties in a war, which dolley had done, but f that war is 1812, that is all happening out there. the battlefield was like a mile away in virginia. it was just, it was bad news, wasn't it? >> far be it from me to be a mary todd lincoln apologist. but -- [laughter] -- >> i think it is worth noting this before diane jumps into this because she wants to. no first lady ever gets it right. some big portion of america says, you're doing it completely wrong and it should be this way. and the other half of america says, your perfect, darling, keep going. [laughter] no first lady ever gets it right. and so, mary todd lincoln had her supporters, she certainly had a lot of detractors. and even among historians today who study her, there are first lady, i guess i would say first lady scholars of different backgrounds who would fi

he actually delivered mary todd lincoln. he had the horse and was the owner for its first successful races. richard penbrooke who owned the race horse in new orleans and he was a flamboyant entrepreneur. a riverboat gambler and made a fortune. he was the one who promoted the races to the point that 30,000 people would show up in new orleansw. presidents came to watch the races and it was a huge huge celebration. he sold the horse back in kentucky to an owner who had interest in scottish estates as well as the finest livestock greeting and that is where they stood to such great success. he was very well cared for which was a good thing. >> winning for her price book march. please go ahead with your question or comment. >> i am just wondering, what really made you want to write this book in the first place? i am a very avid reader. >> thank you. we will leave it there get answer. most young girls become horse crazyat nap five or 15 which isa sensible age to do that. i became horse crazy at 50. that isnd what happened to me. i

he actually delivered mary todd lincoln. he had the horse and was the titular owner for its first successful races. then it was bought by a syndicate headed by an absolutely fascinating man named richard tim burke, who owned the metairie racehorse in new orleans. he had been kicked out of west point. he had gone down the river riverboat gambler and made a fortune. and he bought lexington, and he was the one who promoted the races to the point that 30,000 people would show up in the whole city of new orleans would shut down when lexington was racing. presidents came to watch the races and it was a huge celebration. then he sold the horse to -- back into kentucky, to an owner who had interests in scottish estates, as well as the finest livestock breeding establishment. and that was where lexington stood stud, to such great success. he had a long life and was very well cared for, which was a good thing. host: geraldine brooks won the pulitzer prize in 2006. cooper, bridgeton, new jersey. please go ahead with your question or co

assassination and the grant almost went that mary todd lincoln -- julia grant was not a big fan of mary todd lincoln and mrs. grant says they have got to go see their children in new jersey, which they did and president lincoln was assassinated that night. grant is bereft with guilt and he thinks if i had been there married would have been able to save president lincoln. he was also a target, grant was of john wilkes-booth. >> after he was assassinated grant stands at the time of the most popular figure. >> by far. johnson despise that. he despised the grant had that power and grew to really hate him. johnson did to the point where he was just trying to figure out how to get them out of the way want to send them to mexico and do all these things in grant stood up to him and said no. he said if it's a military worker i will go but i'm not going if this is just you sending me. >> grant us known as the northern union general but you write in your book that because the approach that he took to southern soldiers to the confederates i don't want to see the people in the south admired him as m

assassination and the grant almost went that mary todd lincoln -- julia grant was not a big fan of mary todd lincoln and mrs. grant says they have got to go see their children in new jersey, which they did and president lincoln was assassinated that night. grant is bereft with guilt and he thinks if i had been there married would have been able to save president lincoln. he was also a target, grant was of john wilkes-booth. >> after he was assassinated grant stands at the time of the most popular figure. >> by far. johnson despise that. he despised the grant had that power and grew to really hate him. johnson did to the point where he was just trying to figure out how to get them out of the way want to send them to mexico and do all these things in grant stood up to him and said no. he said if it's a military worker i will go but i'm not going if this is just you sending me. >> grant us known as the northern union general but you write in your book that because the approach that he took to southern soldiers to the confederates i don't want to see the people in the south admired him as m

mary todd lincoln, wife, insists however that i'm gonna be a senator and the president of the united states to. these last words fell to the roar of laughter around his knees and shaking all over with mirth at his wife's ambition. just think, he exclaimed, of such a sucker as me. >> it's one of those stories, bob, where you don't often think of abraham lincoln as a very funny man with a lot of humor. if you read deeply into any of the stories that are written about him, like you have just done, you'll see that he did have an incredible sense of humor and was quite a humble man. i'm not sure mary todd could force him into the presidency, but certainly her inspiration and her standing with him, and behind him, and in front of him, oftentimes, gotten him to where he ultimately landed. later on in this talk we're gonna talk about a couple other first ladies that played a similar role in the lives of their husbands, the presidents. one other thing, bob, could you talk a little bit about what it was like to travel on a train during lincoln's time? you know, we often think in contemporary t

she for example, love the lincoln bedroom suite which mary todd lincoln had purchased for the best guest. over during her time and so she insisted she was going to have it for her bedroom, which you see in that center slide the the famous lincoln bed and the accompanying dressers and table there all in use and so that of course called his bluff in terms of being able to get rid of it and she did that for for a number of things. she was also the first first lady to really install any sort of true museum type installation in the white house you see that in she had cabinets commissioned in the ground floor quarter and historic china services displayed there. and possibly most importantly she also decided that the auctions that it happened all throughout the 19th century of white house furnishings needed to stop and that was a real turning point in terms of how you know, what remained in the house and what did get slide, please. and then i wanted to give a shout out to namie eisenhower who is usually not always considered in discussions of historic preservation, but she like mrs. kennedy was

she for example, love the lincoln bedroom suite which mary todd lincoln had purchased for the best guest. over during her time and so she insisted she was going to have it for her bedroom, which you see in that center slide the the famous lincoln bed and the accompanying dressers and table there all in use and so that of course called his bluff in terms of being able to get rid of it and she did that for for a number of things. she was also the first first lady to really install any sort of true museum type installation in the white house you see that in she had cabinets commissioned in the ground floor quarter and historic china services displayed there. and possibly most importantly she also decided that the auctions that it happened all throughout the 19th century of white house furnishings needed to stop and that was a real turning point in terms of how you know, what remained in the house and what did get slide, please. and then i wanted to give a shout out to namie eisenhower who is usually not always considered in discussions of historic preservation, but she like mrs. kennedy was