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Hello, hello, hello, everyone, and
thank you for coming! I’m Mary Todd Lincoln, the 16th First Lady of the United States. Who was my husband? Of
course: Abraham Lincoln. What year he was first elected
president? 1860. No one had any idea then how famous Abraham would become. Why,
I learned in the early 1900s that his picture was put on a coin and a bill. What are they? The penny and the $5 bill. And then, in 1922, the government
built that wonderful memorial to Abraham in Washington. How many of you have
been there?
None of my family or friends could see
his potential then, but I knew that beneath that awkward exterior was a man who
had the strength, the courage, and the spirit to someday be president. And I
had wanted to be president my entire life. Have any of you ever wanted to be
president?
Who are your primary political parties? In our time, they were the Whigs and the Democrats,
although we had lots of smaller parties, just like you do. Like the Know
Nothings, for instance. They were called that because when someone asked them
what their party believed in, they would say, “I know nothing.” Are there any
Know Nothings in here?
Oh, Abraham could tell some great stories. I used to so
enjoy hearing the one about the woman he met while riding horseback in the
woods. When he stopped to let the woman pass, she looked at him intently and
said, “I do believe you’re the ugliest man I ever saw.” Abraham replied, “Madam, you’re probably right, but I can’t help it.” “No,” said the woman, “you can’t help it, but you could stay at home.”
Well, not
long after that, we won the election, beard and all. Most people were really
happy that we won, but many weren’t. Terrible things were being said about us
in some newspapers. They called Abraham white trash, and an uneducated,
third-rate country lawyer who used poor grammar and told bad jokes. They
referred to me as foolish and vain. They called our boys rambunctious,
undisciplined brats with no manners. Those remarks cut Abraham to the heart.
He adored his children, even though they really weren’t very well behaved.
Mine is not a very happy story, is it? But, in
hindsight, it was all worth it to see the freedom and equality you share today
and to know that Abraham and I played some part in it. Promise me you’ll
never take your freedom for granted. As Abraham said, “I hope the lamp of
liberty will burn in your hearts so brightly that there shall never be a doubt
that all people are created free and equal.”
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