Mary's friends

[Gene C]

IMO, Robert saw much of the criticism of his fathers political life when his father was president. After his fathers death, he was very protective of his fathers image. Considering Mary's public image and health problems, I can understand Robert burning many of the family letters, as they were private and no ones business. No purpose would be served by causing undue attention to Tad. He also had some conflicts with Herndon. I can understand him wanting to destroy any letters or correspondence that Herndon or future biographers might want to use that could hurt the family image.