Extra Credit Questions

[David Lockmiller]

It seems a bit strange to me for an adult to complain about the wife of his boss.

It was Nicolay, not Hay, that tried to speak with Lincoln about Mary.

Doris Kearns Goodwin wrote in "Team of Rivals" at page 705 one paragraph on this subject:

By the spring of 1865, Nicolay, soon to marry Therena Bates, was contemplating the purchase of a newspaper in Washington or Baltimore, while Hay wanted time for his studies and his active social life, too long constrained by fourteen-hour workdays. While they would both miss Lincoln, they were glad to escape the constant struggles with Mary -- the "Hellcat," as they irreverently called her -- who still resented their claims on her husband's attention. Indeed, soon after Lincoln's reelection, Mary had enlisted the help of Dr. Anson Henry in an effort to replace Nicolay with the journalist Noah Brooks. Nicolay had apparently tried to talk with Lincoln about his problems with Mary, but the president had refused any such discussion.