Elizabeth Keckley's "Behind the Scenes at the Lincoln White House

[Gene C]

I was thinking the same thing....I kind of got the impression Ms Keckley dropped everything to help Mrs Lincoln out, and afterwords may have felt used or taken advantage of. I can't imagine repeating some of the conversations or publishing some of the corespondence that Mrs Lincoln wrote. Ms. Keckley indicated it was to help clear Mrs Lincolns name in the press. (It didn't work)

At the very best, Ms Keckley showed poor judgement in that regard.
In my opinion, without Mr Lincoln or someone to give Mary the constant attention she needed, you can see her mental condition deteriorating.

Looking back we can understand somewhat. Having to deal with this in real time was certainly a challenge to her family and friends