Mary Lincoln was looking forward to life in the White House as she began the journey to Washington, D.C., from Springfield, Illinois. The Lincoln family—Abraham and Mary and their three sons—set off for the capital in February. The inaugural (formal swearing-in ceremony) of recently elected President Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865; see entry in volume 2) was scheduled for March 4, 1861. Lively and impulsive, witty and sarcastic, Mary Lincoln imagined herself serving as hostess to lively parties, moving within the capital's social circles, and sharing her husband's importance.

Events turned out quite different. She could not seem to please politicians or the press. Her first few parties were considered too extravagant. Her later parties were too few in number, it was said. When she attempted to celebrate the progress of Union forces during the Civil War (1861-65), she was branded as a traitor to her...