Lincoln and Ann Rutledge

[LincolnToddFan]

Hi Roger, so good to have the voice of reason weigh in!

I think it depends on how we define the term "nervous breakdown". As a layman I have always understood it to be a period of acute emotional, psychological and physical incapacitation.

I went online and here is the official definition:

http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-condi...q-20057830

Many Lincoln scholars have attributed two nervous breakdowns to AL, in 1835 and in 1841. But if we go by the strict medical definition of the term, he suffered only one and that is the 1841 crisis after the breaking of his engagement to Mary Todd.

I concur with your opinion.The "breakdown" of 1835 was in reality a period of deep, intense grief that did not affect his ability to function normally. What happened in 1841 was so severe as to not only interrupt his life significantly, it required medical attention and a period of prolonged recuperation out of state.

ETA: I have never read about a breakdown of any kind happening in 1836. The idea that he ever had a nervous breakdown at all after Ann's death is the result of an oral and written tradition that began with the Herndon lectures of 1866...how Lincoln's mind "wandered from it's throne" for example, and it has been embellished ever since by Lincoln scholars and students who want to believe in the romantic myth that this great, resourceful leader was somehow undone by the tragic loss of his first love.