Jason EmersonReviews

I liked this book, but mainly because of my Lincoln obsession. The writing is a bit dry, and I felt that there wasn't a lot of insight into who Lincoln was as a person. This may be due to his own reticence and desire for privacy, so I cut Emerson some slack; still, 640 pages is a lot to read about someone who never really comes alive.

I liked this book, but mainly because of my Lincoln obsession. The writing is a bit dry, and I felt that there wasn't a lot of insight into who Lincoln was as a person. This may be due to his own reticence and desire for privacy, so I cut Emerson some slack; still, 640 pages is a lot to read about someone who never really comes alive.

What a stirring and heart-wrenching book of a well-known woman's life. To think that she was holding her husband's hand and talking with him shortly before he was assassinated in the theater - how that must have stayed with her for all those years.

The tragedies and deaths in her life are certainly many and would drive anyone into madness, even if temporarily: Willie in the White House, Abraham, Tad when a young man. Emerson brings these details into light especially from a Victorian context. It's hard to remember sometimes that this was the era in which the Lincoln's lived. Much of his research comes from missing letters from a family trunk, heretofore guessed at but only recently found.

Granted, the reading can be a bit dry but this book is definitely worth going through till the end. It does bring up the quandry of the mentally ill and the quality that their lives should have.

I must admit to knowing almost nothing about Robert Todd Lincoln. In fact, I probably would have had trouble coming up with his name if asked. I saw a book review for this book and decided I needed to know more about the only surviving son of our 16th President. Boy, am I glad I did.

Robert T. Lincoln lived through some of the most amazing periods of history of the United States. He was about 21 when his father was elected President and close to 25 when he was killed by John Wilkes Boothe. He had to juggle the problems with his mother, the death of his younger brother Tad and somehow create an amazing career for himself while not trading on his fathers name and reputation.

While he tended to stay out of the limelight he did serve his country three times. Once as a member of Gen. Grant's staff who was at Appomattox when the surrender papers where signed and again when he was tapped to Secretary of War. The third time he was Ambassador to England. However he was an amazing attorney who amazed a fortune in his own right. He also served as President of the Pullman Company after the death of George Pullman.

His life was difficult, full of many things that he had to overcome but nothing brought him as low as the death of his only son while in England. That was the blow that brought him the lowest and led to him turning away from the law and to the world of business.

Amazing book, so many things I didn't know (he was the last person alive who was at Appomattox), it was a fascinating look at a forgot figure in history who lived his life in his fathers shadow and yet still succeeded at almost everything he did.

This is highly recommended for anyone who is a Lincoln fan, or just for anyone who appreciates a very well written biography.

Giant in the Shadows is a very comprehensive and fascinating biography. It is more of a scholarly work than the more popular narrative histories of, say, David McCullough. The author carefully observes where he is making assumptions based on sources and where he just has to make an educated guess; this style of writing might deter some folks who are looking for something less "heavy", but the book is still very readable. He thankfully confines the reference notes (well over 100 pages) to the back of the book, along with a massive bibliography. That Emerson is an admirer of Robert Lincoln is very apparent, but he deals fairly with some of the controversies of his life, for instance his actions regarding the black porters of the Pullman Company, of which Lincoln was the president for a number of years. You might not agree with some of his conclusions, but Emerson does successfully attempt to present all the details on which he bases his assumptions. Overall this is a very well done effort and highly recommended.

The biography of the only child of Abraham and Mary Lincoln to grow to adulthood, this book uncovers perhaps the one person most affected by the tragedies of the Lincoln clan. Granted, we know much of Mary's mental problems after the deaths of her three sons and husband, but Robert was the one to take care of Mary after the White House years and control the legacy of his father. He was so concerned with the public perception of his father that he collected all his letters and papers and stored them in a bank vault, not allowing their use by historians and authors. This led to many unauthorized biographies that caused Robert problems in trying to squelch misinformation. This familial legacy was the overriding issue of Robert's life because he sought to control all aspects of it.
Emerson refered to Mary's family issues, assuming that we knew what they were. I had to read [House of Abraham : Lincoln and the Todds, a family divided by war] by Berry to understand why Mary had issues and the depth of the family's contribution to those issues.
Very little information is provided about his wife who appears not to have spent much time with him. She often visited with her parents in Iowa, taking the children when young, and later isn't mentioned much at all. He appears to have attended many of the events in his life alone. Although Robert is the dutiful son, we are left to wonder what kind of husband he was.
This biography is entirely readable despite its length and you understand the author's admiration for Lincoln, father and son. This causes concern when attempting to explain Robert's involvement in the Pullman strike by the African American porters. The public expected the son of the Great Emancipator to be on the side of the porters when in fact he upheld the company line and went against them. The author, who quotes letters throughout the book, doesn't illuminate Robert's feelings on this issue through his written word. In fact Robert had his secretary sign a letter about this issue which shows even more disregard for the cause. But that is the only issue with which I quibble. It's about time we had a biography on this son and his influence in the business, technological and historical world. Highly recommended.

Mary, the wife/widow of Abraham Lincoln, is a fascinating figure in history. In 1875, she was found insane by a jury and sent to a mental hospital. The controversy over this forced institutionalization echoes through the years. Was Mary the vicitm of a money-hungry son who wanted to put her away for his own reasons? Or was Robert T. Lincoln a concerned son genuinely seeking the well-being of his mentally-ill mother? It's pretty clear where author Jason Emerson stands on the issue.

This book draws upon recently-discovered copies of some of Mary's long-lost correspondence, as well as other documentation regarding Mary's state of mind and the actions taken by her son to have her committed. The long-lost correspondence was actually tracked down by the author himself during the research of this book.

Emerson tells Mary's story, glossing briefly over her early years, with increasing focus during her time in the White House and the aftermath of her husband's assasination. The greatest depth is reserved for the time period leading up to and following her 1875 trial.

The appendices include the text of the newly-discovered letters and an analysis by a modern psychiatrist of Mary's symptoms as evidenced in the sources available. There are also extensive notes and a bibliography and an index.

The book is well-researched and adequately written. There were a few places where the notes seemed a little murky. For instance, in one place Mary was quoted as saying something with no footnote for a source given; then statements by others suggesting she did NOT say it were mentioned, with citations. Also, Emerson has a habit of dropping little bombshells at the ends of many chapters -- sort of like the "cliff hangers" in movie serials of old -- that do tend to make one want to keep reading. Example: ". . . they seemed relatively unconcerned by her behavior. That is, until they found her gun." (End of chapter 7.) A little tacky, but effective.½

During her lifetime, Mary Todd Lincoln was often considered odd (and difficult!). Over the years of her marriage, she went through cycles of what appears now to be depression and mania. Until Abraham was assassinated, Mary's oddities were relatively well controlled. After his death, she became more manic about money and possessions, somewhat paranoid, and more obsessive about her youngest son Tad and the deaths of her husband and two other sons. On the 10th anniversary of the assassination, Mary suffered what appears to be a psychotic episode. Her remaining son, Robert, on the advice of the family doctors and after dealing with Mary for years, brought suit to have her declared insane and confined to a private sanitarium for treatment. With the help of a few friends in the Chicago and some newspaper coverage, Mary was able to make enough of a scene that she was sent to live with her sister and, after a year, was able to take over her own financial affairs. After spending some time in Europe, Mary grew sick and died back at her sister's house.

Of course, life is never simple. There was at the time, and still are, a number of people who thought that Mary was not insane, and even if she was an odd person, should never have been confined. Many of these people thought that Robert Lincoln was motivated by greed or the desire to put his mother away to avoid having to deal with her, or both. It's not even clear what Mary's actual condition was. Compounding the problem is Robert's intense desire for privacy, so many of the primary sources historians could use to understand events were destroyed. This has fueled much of the ongoing debate.

In The Madness of Mary Lincoln, Jason Emerson uses letters written by Mary Todd Lincoln mainly to the friends who led the effort to get her out of the sanitarium to sort out some of the doubt about what happened. It seems that Robert's lawyer made copies of a set of Mary's letters before turning them over to be burned. The Madness of Mary Lincoln is an excellent telling of Mary's story in light of these letters.

Recommended, especially for Civil War era history buffs.½

Jason Emerson's work uses recently discovered letters written by and to Mary Lincoln during her "insanity episode" in 1875 and the years afterword to provide new insight into her admission into an insane asylum and the reasons for it.

He describes the episodes that led Robert Todd Lincoln, upon the advice of multiple medical professionals, to place his mother in Bellevue Place, but also shows evidence that Mrs. Lincoln's son was not a cold calculating man intent on taking advantage of his mother and stealing her money, but that he truly agonized over the decision and did what he honestly believed was the best thing for her health and safety.

He also shows how Mary and her friends fought for her freedom and how Mary held a grudge against her son for most of the remaining years of her life, even while she traveled in Europe.

The book concludes with a psychiatrists' evaluation of the historical record in an attempt to diagnose Mary Lincoln as well as it is possible to do more than a century after her death.

Mr. Emerson's work provides valuable insight into the troubles Mary Lincoln suffered, how she and the people around her dealt with them and explains the actions her son took to care for her. It is a very insightful, readable look into the mental state of the former First Lady.