The Backstory: Mary Todd Lincoln: Hellcat or Victim?
Elvis Duran and the Morning Show ON DEMAND
Elvis Duran Podcast Network and iHeartPodcasts
4.7 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 31 March 2026
⏱️ 10 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
It’s Been 161 Years Since the Assassination of Abraham Lincoln. He’s Considered Our Greatest President. His Wife Mary Todd Lincoln However, Hasn’t Fared So Well in the Historical Narrative. But There’s a Deeper, More Complex Reason for That.
Feel Free to DM Me if You Have a Story You’d Like Me to Cover . . On Facebook It’s Patty Steele and on Instagram Real Patty Steele.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Well, in case you didn't know this about me, I am a major fan girl of Abraham Lincoln. And as we close |
| 0:07.0 | in on the 161st anniversary of his assassination, it seems fitting that we take a look at the person |
| 0:14.1 | seated next to him at Ford's Theater that Good Friday evening in 1865, his somewhat wacky wife, Mary Todd Lincoln. But she was way more |
| 0:24.0 | complex than the term wacky would imply. I'm Patty Steele. Mary Todd Lincoln was smart, driven, |
| 0:31.2 | ambitious, and passionate. She was also pretty clearly mentally ill. That's next on the |
| 0:37.2 | backstory. |
| 0:39.5 | This is an I-Heart podcast. |
| 0:42.3 | Guaranteed human. |
| 0:44.4 | No gloss, no filter. |
| 0:47.4 | Just stories. |
| 0:49.1 | Spoken without fear. |
| 0:50.9 | A person who is not generous can not be an artist. |
| 0:53.7 | The world will be at peace only when it is ruled by poets and philosophers. |
| 0:58.6 | Listen to my weekly podcast, the Pooja Abhaw show and the IHeart Radio app, |
| 1:02.8 | Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. |
| 1:07.5 | Come for the honesty. |
| 1:09.2 | Stay for the fire. |
| 1:13.9 | The backstory is back. History loves to simplify huge events. It's a way to tell the story without getting into the weeds. |
| 1:22.6 | But sometimes digging into the weeds is where you find the most fascinating stuff. |
| 1:29.0 | Mary Todd Lincoln was sitting next to Abe Lincoln at Ford's Theater on April 14, 1865. His assassination that night |
| 1:36.2 | and his death early the next morning left her an emotional wreck for the rest of her life. |
| 1:41.7 | But the disintegration of her emotional state started decades earlier. |
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