The Trials of Mrs. Lincoln [Hardcover]

Jr. Samuel A. Schreiner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 3, 1987

Mary Todd Lincoln (1818–82) was a politically ambitious, volatile, and sharp-tongued woman, a shopaholic, and an embarrassment to her son and to the powerful men who sought to control the Lincoln legacy for their own political supremacy. Slandered by former Lincoln cronies and Republican operatives, such as William Herndon, Ward Hill Lamon, and Thurlow Weed; disliked by her son’s wife, the former Mary Harlan; plagued by debts, her pension grant having been denied by Congress; conspired against by her son, Robert, along with Supreme Court justice David Davis, Leonard Swett, John Todd Stuart, Isaac N. Arnold, and others, she had literally no one to turn to. This account of her final years, based on documentary evidence, sets the record straight and restores the reputation of one of the most maligned women in American political history.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In 1875, Mary Todd Lincoln, the president's widow, was declared insane by a jury and committed to an asylum. Her son Robert brought the action. Based largely on a trove of her descendants' papers, this lively popular account of Mrs. Lincoln's travails (a "parable of man's inhumanity to woman," Schreiner calls it) covers the trial, her subsequent release from confinement and her final years of obscurity in Europe. The author sees Mrs. Lincoln as a much-maligned woman whose eccentric and reclusive behavior rendered her a burden to her spoiled son and an embarrassment to those preserving Lincoln's memory. A historical novelist (Angelica, etc.), Schreiner recounts the widow's frame-up at a hastily called "trial" with considerable drama. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

In the debate on Mrs. Lincoln's mental state after her husband's assassination, and her own failing economic fortunes, Schreiner weighs in on her behalf, arguing that Mrs. Lincoln was wrongfully committed to an institution, largely because her son, Robert, wanted to escape further personal and financial embarrassment. He offers a vivid, if also rather inventive (e.g., there are imagined conversations) account of the court proceedings, Lincoln's stay in an asylum, and her release and travels. Those in search of the real person will find her in Jean Baker's biography (Norton, 1987) and Mark E. Neely, Jr. and Gerald McMurtry's The Insanity File (Southern Illinois Univ. Pr., 1986). Still, this is a sprightly, enjoyable narrative. For public libraries. Randall M. Miller, History Dept., St. Joseph's Univ., Philadelphia
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 333 pages
• Publisher: Dutton Adult; 1st edition (June 3, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 155611009X
• ISBN-13: 978-1556110092
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,762,308 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Riveting Account of Mary Lincoln's Post-Assassination Years, October 3, 2011

By 

Nancy Gregg - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Trials of Mrs. Lincoln (Paperback)

Through personal letters and newspaper accounts, Schreiner casts a fresh light on Mary Todd Lincoln -- her "insanity" trial (and the subsequent one that vindicates her), her relationship with her husband, and perhaps most tragic her contentious post-assassination relationship with her eldest son, Robert Todd Lincoln, and the eventual non-relationship with his wife and children. Schreiner allows the reader to render the final verdict. But who can read his book without a new appreciation for this most misunderstood and maligned first lady.