Hannibal Hamlin

[kerry]

I saw that reference and on abrahamlincolnswhitehouse they say "Hamlin didn't visit the White House often - maybe because Mary Lincoln didn't like him." Of course it is possible she disliked him, but I haven't seen a source. I certainly don't think Hamlin's lack of White House visits was determined by Mary. We have much evidence she hated Seward from day one, and he was there all the time. The VP role wasn't involved in the executive branch very much at the time - I don't find it surprising he wasn't there. It is really hilarious to me how often Mary's likes and dislikes are used to simply explain the very complicated political games that went on between the most powerful men in the country. That she had strong likes and dislikes is clear; that important decisions resulted from them is much less so. However much she disliked McClellan, Grant, Seward, Chase, and any other people, Lincoln didn't let them go easily. Lincoln also had other reasons for cultivating relationships with Sumner, Sickles, Newell, etc., but people make it sound like she drew them into the circle. This also happens with other women, but Mary is a particular target. It's especially funny when you read about how "catty" the men were with each other - it's not like they didn't have their own petty power struggles! I'm reading a Roman history book, and all the battles and power struggles were explained after the fact as having been sparked by a woman, usually by someone trying to "steal her virtue," necessitating a "defense." Until I got into history, I never realized how much women were used as a vague excuse for complex problems.

There are also a fair amount of accounts of Lincoln escorting other women without issue. It seems like this was something that flared up with Mary under unpredictable circumstances. I don't know if it had to do with the particular attractiveness of the women, but it wasn't consistent. I've been meaning to look into the story about Mary complaining about Lincoln's terrible speech, explained as due to him praising women. But on the date typically reported for that outburst, Lincoln doesn't seem to have made comments about women - he instead did the "it's hard to say sensible things" speech. A few months later, he made the comments about women, and seems to have repeated them at similar events that Mary attended. I can't find the original source for this, to figure out how the date was indicated. But if it was on February 22, 1864, then it seems to have been a made up rationale.