Mary's Reputation

[Mike B.]

One thing I think is very much bad revisionism in what the UVA has to say about Mary:

"It was Mary who had fired Abraham Lincoln's political ambitions and in 1849, had pressured him not to accept the Oregon governorship. Her involvement was so integral that when Lincoln won in November, he exclaimed, "Mary, Mary, we are elected!""

I have heard versions of this before, but I think it is not true historically.

Mary was very ambitious for her husband's political advancement.

However, there is NO reason to think she "fired" his political ambitions. He had them from a very young age. He first ran for office in 1832 and politics was his goal from then to his death. As the famous quote from Herndon states, "His ambition was a little engine that knew no rest."

This is also offered as proof of a poltical partnership between them, but it is a very thin reed to hang anything on:

"Her involvement was so integral that when Lincoln won in November, he exclaimed, "Mary, Mary, we are elected!""

I have been involved personally in a few political campaigns myself, and every time my team won, the person would usually say, "We won!" or "We did it!" or something like that to us supporters. It is a meaningless expression. In the context of Lincoln saying it to his wife, isn't the more reasonable explanation is either that or "We won and are going to Washington together?" Not that she was so "integral" per se.