Lois Romano
three glass negatives of Mary Lincoln wearing a dark dress; the cover of 'An Inconvenient Widow' shows the back of a woman's head meant to suggest Mary lincoln, with fark curly hair and a violet dress with elaborate black beading and embroidery
Brady-Handy Collection/Library of Congress

Journalist Lois Romano says Mary Lincoln was ‘An Inconvenient Widow’

Many of us were taught Mary Lincoln was a spendthrift, a little crazy, and a drag on her husband’s greatness. We’ll challenge all that with journalist Lois Romano, who’s written a new biography of Abraham Lincoln's wife.

“I think once a narrative is formed, it’s really hard to shake it,” Romano told The 21st Show. “And her narrative was written 150 years ago, and it was written by men who just couldn’t stand her. And they projected onto her things that just weren’t there.”

The book is called “An Inconvenient Widow: The Torment, Trial, and Triumph of Mary Todd Lincoln.”
 

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