Lois Romano, Author of "AN INCONVENIENT WIDOW: The Torment, Trial, and Triumph of Mary Todd Lincoln"
The Takeout with Major Garrett
CBS News
4.6 • 586 Ratings
🗓️ 29 May 2026
⏱️ 35 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Major sits down with veteran journalist Lois Romano to discuss her new biography "An Inconvenient Widow: The Torment, Trial, and Triumph of Mary Todd Lincoln". The rare and extensive profile of the former first lady looks at her life before and after her husband's assassination. Romano and Major break down Mary Todd Lincoln's mental health struggles, discussing how they'd be treated today and how misogyny has shaped the public's perception of her. Romano also details how Mary shaped the role of the first lady with her ground-breaking presence in Washington.
Transcript
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| 0:57.5 | at vanta.com slash calm. Lois, I'm going to start with a subtitle, not the title. The |
| 1:04.1 | torment, trial, and triumph of, here's the title, an inconvenient widow. There's a lot in there. There is a lot in there. There's a lot of emotion. That's the title an inconvenient widow there's a lot in there there is a lot in |
| 1:12.0 | there there's a lot of emotion that's the leading characteristic of the life of |
| 1:16.9 | Mary Todd Lincoln is it it's all volatile and emotional you're absolutely right |
| 1:20.7 | why well she was an emotional volatile woman and the reason I wanted to do the book is that I didn't think |
| 1:30.3 | there was a well-rounded portrait of her out there. When I started to do the book, I knew I was right, |
| 1:35.3 | because people would come up to me and say, wasn't she crazy? And yes, she had some mental illness, but so did her husband. But when we see her through history's eyes, it's very one-dimensional. |
| 1:47.0 | We see all the negative things about her and not the positive things. |
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