Did Lincoln Regret Marrying Mary?

[Liz Rosenthal]

Donna:

I'm sure you're right that they loved each other; however, I don't think the fact that they didn't divorce is evidence of that.

Even if divorces did occur, wasn't there a stigma surrounding divorce in those days?

And wouldn't a divorce have harmed Lincoln politically? In my opinion, Lincoln's reason for being was politics. Any way he could avoid a situation that would get in the way of his political advancement would have been paramount in his mind. So even if Lincoln might have preferred a divorce (I'm not saying he did), divorcing Mary was probably not an option.

As for Mary wearing mourning clothes for the last 17 years of her life.... While I'm sure her grief was genuine, I also get the feeling that she had a bit of an investment in suffering. Rather than trying to get better, she seemed intent on wallowing in her misery. This was certainly the case with Willie's death, and her husband's death was many times more traumatic than the loss of Willie. Mary may not have realized it, but she did seem to crave sympathy and court indulgence in her behavior for the remainder of her years.