Extra Credit Questions

[RJNorton]

Gene, it took me awhile to understand what you were initially asking about. Now I get it. In her biography of Mary Lincoln, author Dr. Jean Baker writes (regarding unpaid bills), "Meanwhile Mary Lincoln was looking for her own ways to pay off the overexpenditure and to prevent her husband from using any of his salary. First, she initiated a sale of secondhand White House furniture, though the broken rosewood and walnut antiques brought little cash. Typically she had overestimated the value of used presidential goods. Then she ordered the gardener to sell manure from the stables at ten cents a wagonload, though this inflated price led to more jokes than sales."