In 1875, ten years after she left the White House following President Lincoln’s assassination, Mary Todd Lincoln was found to be insane by a jury in Chicago. Her son, Robert Todd Lincoln, had signed a petition to have her involuntarily committed to an insane asylum. She was taken to Bellevue Sanitarium in Illinois where she stayed for several months before her release to live with her sister. 

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This week on "First Ladies: Image and Influence," we explore the life of Mary Lincoln, who remains a central figure in our country's history. A political partner of her husband, she endured the loss of 3 of her 4 sons, the assassination of President Lincoln, and the ignomy of being institutionalized by her lone remaining living son, Robert.

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This is a look back at the life of First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln with history professor Catherine Clinton.  She discusses the Lincoln courtship and marriage as well as Mary's introduction to Washington as a congressman's wife.  Clinton also talks about the press scrutiny of Mary's Confederate relatives, and the congressional criticism invited by her White House spending.  The U.S. Capitol Historical Society hosted this event.

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President Lincoln issued the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation on September 22nd, 1862. It ordered the emancipation of all slaves in any Confederate state that did not return to the Union by January 1st, 1863. No Confederate states returned, and Lincoln signed and issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. Professor George Forgie discusses the evolution of Lincoln’s thinking on slavery, and the political and legal factors Lincoln considered when issuing the Emancipation Proclamation. This class is from the University of Texas at Austin.

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On September 22nd, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln issued the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, ordering the freeing of slaves in any Confederate state that did not cease fighting and return to the Union within 100 days. No Confederate states returned by the deadline, and Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. Louis Masur, author of “Lincoln’s Hundred Days,” talks about his book as well as what led up to the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. He details why the document was issued as an executive order and discusses Lincoln’s changing opinions on slavery and the Union. President Lincoln’s Cottage hosted this event.

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President Reagan called on Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to "tear down this wall" in this address at the Brandenburg Gate in West Berlin on June 12, 1987.

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Fifty years ago on June 26, 1963, President John F. Kennedy spoke in Berlin on the differences between free and Communist systems, famously stating that as a free man he took pride in the words “Ich bin ein Berliner.”

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This June marks the 50th Anniversary of two of President John F. Kennedy’s most memorable speeches. On June 10th 1963, JFK delivered the commencement address at American University known as his “Peace Speech.” He called for high-level negotiations with the Soviet Union, a nuclear test ban treaty and an end to the Cold War.  On June 26th 1963, President Kennedy took a harder line in West Berlin, famously stating that as a free man he took pride in the words “Ich bin ein Berliner.” This is a discussion from the Kennedy Presidential Library about the significance and lasting influence of these two addresses.

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The Battle of Gettysburg took place July 1-3, 1863, in Pennsylvania, as Union forces turned back an invasion of the North by Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. The Union victory inspired President Abraham Lincoln to call for “a new birth of freedom” in his address a few months later dedicating the Soldiers’ National Cemetery at Gettysburg. C-SPAN's American History TV was LIVE on June 30 from Gettysburg National Military Park covering events commemorating the 150th anniversary of the battle, including remarks by scholars such as Harold Holzer, Allen Guelzo, and Doris Kearns Goodwin, as well as your calls and tweets for Civil War Institute Director Peter Carmichael and novelist Jeff Shaara.

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American History TV joined historian Carol Reardon and Col. Tom Vossler to learn the story of the three-day Battle of Gettysburg through a selection of their favorite monuments.

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