Mary Todd Lincoln and Varina Davis: Power and Gender

Introduction: Two First Ladies, One Patriarchal Society

As first ladies take a back seat to their husbands, historians have usually depicted figures like Mary Todd Lincoln and Varina Davis gingerly. A considerable amount has been written on Mary Todd Lincoln, and somewhat less on Varina Davis. Both women have often been vilified, portrayed as overbearing, interfering, and problematic. However, both women exemplified the ways in which white women in positions of power negotiated their subordinate status and the gender norms of their era.

While neither leveraged her husband's power in overtly aggressive ways, both Lincoln and Davis did capitalize on their role as first lady and their status in their respective communities. As wives, mothers, and de facto social leaders, Lincoln and Davis juggled numerous roles and contended with significant role conflict. Both were relatively outspoken and socially assertive women whose inability to participate directly in the political process did not undermine their willingness to subvert patriarchal norms — influencing not just their husbands, but their societies at large.

The historical record also reveals that both Davis and Lincoln were demonized until relatively recently. Although it might seem that Davis and Lincoln were worlds apart socially and politically, they were in many respects quite similar. Their attitudes toward race, class, gender, and power were remarkably alike, owing mainly to the fact that both were highly educated and wealthy members of American society. There was, however, a much greater age and cultural difference between Davis and her husband than between the Lincolns; Jefferson Davis was nearly eighteen years older than Varina and had been married before (Ross). Although both Mary Todd and Varina Howell had been privileged white women, Mary Todd's family had lost their fortune, and her husband's rise in status helped her regain access to wealth and social standing. Generally, these were women who enjoyed a fair degree of status and privilege relative to their counterparts throughout the nation — white or otherwise.

Education, Ambition, and the Choice of a Powerful Husband

Both Mary Todd Lincoln and Varina Howell Davis were far more educated than even many of their white female contemporaries. Davis has been described as "supremely literate" and was known for making oblique, erudite allusions that were met with "blank stares of incomprehension" in social settings (Cashin 5). Her intellectual reputation would have inspired the same kinds of unease that Lincoln's did, though Lincoln's more outspoken personality may have raised additional eyebrows. Before she met her husband, Mary Todd had attended universities; her father had helped found one of the first universities west of the Mississippi (Pederson). Their level of education prepared both Lincoln and Davis well for society life and for the rigorous political pressures that came with being a first lady.

Their respective biographies illustrate how white women in America negotiated new roles in order to wield power within a patriarchal society. Using whatever social tools were available to them, both women managed to subvert patriarchal gender norms in strategic and meaningful ways. Both were highly educated and politically ambitious, and both married their respective husbands partly because they wanted to partner with someone in a position of power. While it cannot be said definitively that access to power was the primary motivating factor in their choice of husband, it has been noted that Mary Todd Lincoln "goaded" her husband politically (Pederson 215), and Davis likewise attempted — albeit largely unsuccessfully — to sway her husband as well (Ross).

Political Influence, Public Dissent, and Subverting Gender Norms

Being unafraid to disagree with their husbands, both in public and in private, is one of the most striking points of similarity between these two politically minded women. It took tremendous courage to defy a man, and to do so in public required even more. Women in the nineteenth century had virtually no political agency and were unable to make a meaningful direct impact on political culture. Yet they could foreseeably influence their husbands in private. While the Lincolns were broadly aligned in their political inclinations, Varina Howell Davis did not necessarily believe that secession was a politically sensible solution to the North-South conflict. Davis unfortunately failed to persuade her husband; after his death she became increasingly outspoken about her disagreements with him and with the mainstream Southern gentry. Both Lincoln and Davis supported their husbands' political ambitions, but Davis did not believe in secession (Cashin). Davis had what she described as a "half-breed" or bicultural life, with friends on both sides of the North-South political divide (Cashin 2). Spencer notes the "remarkably contentious relationship" Davis had with her white Southern compatriots after her husband's death in 1889, which prompted her to move North and shift her political attitudes somewhat during the later years of her life (iii).

Even though she disagreed with her husband on secession, Varina Howell Davis supported slavery and benefited directly from the institution — unlike Lincoln. Mary Todd Lincoln may not have been a leading abolitionist, but compared with Varina Howell Davis, she could at least be considered a moderate on the question. Although their political positions might seem like opposite poles, Lincoln and Davis would likely have agreed that Southern secession was foolish. Davis had left in the middle of her husband's inauguration ceremony and promptly departed the South once Jefferson had died (Cashin 5). This bold expression of discontent was one of the few means by which women could voice their political opinions publicly.

Lincoln was raised differently than Davis, having been encouraged from childhood to be more vocal when expressing her political opinions. As a girl, Mary Todd was raised to speak up for herself in the company of men. Naturally, she later pushed for her husband's participation in federal politics because she herself had "learned the art of politics," engaging men of status and power as their equals since childhood (Ellison 3). Ultimately, both women mastered the art of subverting patriarchal power through clever political maneuvering.