Did Mary Lincoln need committal?

[irshgrl500]

(06-19-2013 12:58 AM)My Name Is Kate Wrote:  [quote='LincolnMan' pid='20292' dateline='1371381722']

Did Robert feel that his siblings, especially Tad, were favored over him? I can't imagine him not having some resentment over that, conscious or not.

Absolutely! When Lincoln was elected President, Robert was away at Harvard, and Willie and Tad were 10 and 7, and the move into the White House, had an enormous impact on them, and their father was able to spend time with them, at the end of a day. Both Willie and Tad had incredibly strong bonds, with their father but Robert's was very distant, and viewed by his father, as something like a rival or competitor. Robert's most vivid image of his father, during his childhood, was of his packing his saddlebags to prepare for his travels through Illinois.
I think that Robert longed for the bond with his father, that his brothers had but also, his experience, in childhood, with his father was very different than the experience, Willie and Tad had, with their father. I did not mention Eddie because Eddie died the same year, Willie was born.