The Cavalcade of America, sponsored by DuPont, maker of better things for better living through
chemistry, presents Helen Hayes as Mr. Lincoln's wife.
Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.
This is The Cavalcade of America, sponsored by DuPont.
On this Memorial Day, with Helen Hayes as our star, we bring you the story of an American
woman, a plain woman, a simple woman, who lived to know the sting of slanderous gossip,
the emptiness of widowhood, the loneliness of age, Abraham Lincoln's wife.
Our play, Mr. Lincoln's Wife, by Victor Wolfson, is based on a new biography of the same name
by Anne Calver, for R. and Rinehart are the publishers.
Here's an interesting news item from the field of chemistry about the nylon that used to
make stockings.
Perhaps you already know that nylon monofilament is replacing silk in surgical sutures and
many other vital war needs.
Now, many life rafts for flyers forced down at sea are supplied with nylon fishing lines.
And now, DuPont Company presents Helen Hayes as Mr. Lincoln's wife.
My name is Mary Todd.
You know who I am, Mary Todd.
It's a simple name, a plain name.
It makes you think of apple cider and hay rides and square dances.
I married a man with a simple name, a plain name, Abe, Abe Lincoln.
On November the 5th, 1860, I was a housewife.
Mrs. Abe Lincoln, Jackson and 8th Street, Springfield, Illinois.
I worried about the bills I looked after the children.
I was busy with the thousand and one things a woman has to do about a house.
Mom, mom, look what Willie's doing.
Stop fighting me, you.
Mom!
Ted, Willie, stop that fighting and come in here.
Willie, push me, ma.
He bit me in the leg.
I'm ashamed of both of you.
Whatever will the neighbors think?
Now go upstairs and watch for supper.
Your father will be home any minute.
Yes, ma'am.
That's the way it was most days, just a small town housewife.
But suddenly, one day, everything changed.
Imagine my little cousin Mary Todd, the first lady of the land, as they say.
If Abe wins the election, that is.
My sister Mary, the wife of the president, if he wins.
You know what that'll make me, Lizzie?
The sister-in-law of the president of the United States.
Heavens to Betsy.
And I'll be the president's cousin by marriage.
Oh, why in the world am I talking to you when I should be down at the hotel watching the
election returns come in?
Look, look, they're posting some more figures in the Pennsylvania column.
420 more for honesty.
Oh, did you ever see such a crowd in this lobby?
All Springfield turned out.
Please stop pushing me.
Oh, good evening, Lizzie.
Where's Mary?
Oh, she's home to a worn out thing, trying to get the boys to sleep.
Ah, Willie's asleep at last, those Ted.
What a day you had, Mary.
I don't see how you can stand this waiting, waiting.
It'll all be over soon, Emily.
We'll know one way or another before long.
Come, let's go downstairs.
Careful not to step on that loose board.
Emily.
Mommy.
Shh, Taddy.
Go to sleep.
You'll wake Willie.
I can't sleep either, ma.
Is Pa president yet?
Mary!
It's Lizzie.
Lizzie, what is it?
I've run all the way from the hotel.
It's bad news.
I know it.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
Let me catch my breath.
For pity's sake, tell me.
What's that?
A parade.
They're bringing Abe home with a brass band.
Mary, he's the new president.
The new president?
Emily, I knew it would happen.
The minute I set eyes on him 18 years ago, I knew it.
People whispered about me behind my back when I said it.
But just you wait, I used to say.
And I was right, Emily.
I was right.
Mary, come and sit down.
You've worn out.
No, no, I'm all right.
Emily, don't stare at me like that.
Don't you see this makes up for all the long, bitter years?
Poor Mary Todd, people used to say.
Married to a sad-faced failure.
Why, he can't even provide a decent home for his family.
I was ashamed to ask for credit at the stores.
The clerk smirking, wondering when they'd get paid, if ever.
Don't you see?
This moment wipes it all out forever.
I'm Mr. Lincoln's wife, the president's wife.
I'll open the door.
I'll welcome the new president home.
Mr. Lincoln, my husband.
I'm proud, very proud.
Come, I have some hot cocoa on the stove for you.
You must be tired.
It had begun, the new life, the new adventure.
We were on our way to Washington.
I should have been excited and happy, but I wasn't.
I was afraid.
What will people say about me?
Will I know how to do things correctly?
Will I, will my clothes be right?
Will people laugh at me?
No, I don't know what made me so afraid.
Perhaps it was because Mr. Lincoln looked so sad.
Yes, even now in his triumph, walking down to the speaker stand in the capital to make
his inaugural address, he was the saddest man I ever saw.
Look, Mommy, there's Papa way down there.
Shh, Teddy.
Look, he's staring up here at us, Ma.
Just nod and smile.
That's right.
He smiled back at us, Mommy.
Shh, Ted, listen to him.
Last evening we attended the inaugural ball.
There was laughter, music, dancing, yes, but there was something else too.
It stood in the doorway as it moved beneath the great chandeliers.
It was present everywhere.
Suspicion.
I could feel it around me.
Before I looked, I saw enemies dancing together, laughing.
Oh, Mary, isn't it the most wonderful ball?
Did you ever see so many handsome uniforms and so much to eat and drink?
Yes, Emily, everyone seems happy.
I'm glad.
Everyone except your husband.
Look at him standing there in the corner.
Why, he looks as if he were attending his own funeral.
Now don't say that.
Why, Mary, I didn't mean anything.
Forgive me, Emily.
I don't know why I'm so nervous.
Who's that he's talking to?
That's the secretary of treasury's daughter, Kate Chase.
Isn't she beautiful?
Yes.
And she wags the most dangerous tongue in Washington.
Ben Helm told me all about her.
Your new beau knows a lot about Washington.
I'd like to meet him.
Would you, Mary?
He's here.
He's asked me to marry him, but he's a southerner, Mary.
What of it?
So are you and I, Emily.
So are our brothers.
For heaven's sake, don't let geography stop you if you love him, Emily.
Go on, bring him here.
I'll be back in a minute.
Mrs. Lincoln, I'm Kate Chase.
Oh, yes.
I was just thinking how well you stood it.
Stood what?
Having us all come here just to stare at you.
You seem to enjoy it.
Will you have some punch?
No, thank you.
One gets used to being stared at, I expect, Miss Chase.
Certainly you would know about that better than I.
You have wit, Mrs. Lincoln.
I can't believe you're from the Middle West.
Did you expect me to wear a poke bonnet and ride around Washington in a cupboard wagon,
Miss Chase?
Oh, no, not that.
But isn't it curious, a member of a southern family like yourself, married to a man who's
against slavery?
I should think your being southern might lead to family tension.
Our family tensions are, or lack of them, are of no public concern, Miss Chase.
Oh, please, don't take offense.
Will you excuse me?
There's a senator from Missouri.
He's a bitter enemy of your husband's, you know.
I'm sure he'll be a worse one when you're through talking with him, Miss Chase.
Oh, I simply adore your wit, Mrs. Lincoln.
That was excellent punch.
Oh, Mary, here you are.
We've been looking for you.
This is Mr. Ben Helm, Mary.
Well, I'm glad to meet you, Mr. Helm.
Mrs. Lincoln.
I hope you'll be in Washington a good long time.
Well, ma'am, that depends on two things, Emily and the war.
The war?
Yes, ma'am.
War that's coming.
Coming fast.
It was true.
The war did come.
They fired on Fort Sumter.
Civil war.
I sat in my room holding back the old unknown fears.
Yes?
Who is it?
It's me, Emily.
Emily!
Emily!
Ben!
When did you get back?
Come in.
I'm so glad to see you.
I came right from the station, Mary.
We cut the honeymoon short.
Ben, what are you going to do now?
You've had years at West Point.
You should apply for a commission.
We need men like you, Ben.
I was offered a commission, Mary, and I refused it.
I'm going back home, Mary.
I'm a southerner.
I couldn't fight my own war.
I'm going to the war.
I'm going to the war.
I'm going to the war.
I'm going to the war.
I'm going to the war.
I'm going to the war.
I'm going to the war.
I'm going to the war.
I shall miss you both very much.
It'll be lonely for me here in Washington.
Goodbye, Mary.
Goodbye, my dear.
Good luck, Ben.
My sister and her husband going over to the Confederate side.
What would Kate Chase say now?
What would the rumors be now?
I had to act quickly to head off the flood of talk that was let loose against me.
I sent for my husband's secretary.
I don't know if I can help you, Mrs. Lincoln.
You must, Mr. Studdard.
I must do something to stop these rumors, to show people I'm not pro-slavery.
You remember that letter I had from Mrs. Orville
about a Negro school she wants to organize?
Yes.
I'd like you to get me a list of people I might go and see about this school.
At a time like this with feelings running high,
there might be bad talk, Mrs. Lincoln.
Talk?
Do you think I don't know there's talk enough already?
They've accused me of being a Southerner and a spy.
Wouldn't my working for this Negro school prove that I'm against slavery?
I'm afraid that people who circulate such stories aren't likely to be convinced by any sort of proof.
Then what am I to do, pray? Just sit by and do nothing at all?
For the present, that might be best. In these times, one can't be too cautious.
Mr. Studdard, I will not hear that word cautious again.
Every fool in the city talks of nothing but being cautious.
Mrs. Lincoln.
I've tried your precious caution, Mr. Studdard, and what has it got me?
Nothing but hatred and lies, spiteful, vicious lies about me.
Mrs. Lincoln, I realize that it's been most trying, but we can only be patient and try to understand.
Mr. Studdard, will you please, for mercy's sake, stop trying to soothe me?
You talk as if I were ill or out of my mind.
I can't read the letters from my own brothers because they happen to live in the South
and I'll be called a traitor.
I'm spied on and talked about in my own house, but I can't discharge a servant who's insolent to me
for fear of having more vile stories spread about me.
And then you tell me I must be patient and try to understand.
I'll go mad if it goes on this way. Mad, do you hear me?
Well, don't stand there staring at me like that, Mr. Studdard.
There's no reason to be alarmed.
I'm quite myself. Quite.
Good day, Mr. Studdard.
You are listening to Helen Hayes as Mr. Lincoln's wife on the cavalcade of America, sponsored by DuPont.
As our play continues, Mary Todd Lincoln finds herself in the White House alone, without friends.
The Civil War is reaching its climax.
Yes, the band stopped playing. There were no more cheers.
The war was being fought desperately.
I rarely saw Mr. Lincoln now.
He was in constant session with his cabinet, with his generals.
I was alone.
I turned to my children, little Tad and Willie, for companionship.
Then suddenly one day, Willie came down with a fever.
I sent for the doctor.
I'm afraid it's quite serious, Mrs. Lincoln.
But, doctor, it can't be. He's never been sick a day in his life.
I advise you to have a nurse in. You'll have a chance to rest, then.
I don't need a rest, and I won't have a nurse.
I won't have some stranger coming in. No one understands Willie as I do.
Mrs. Lincoln, I feel that in the present crisis, your nerves...
Oh, no. What are you trying to tell me about my nerves, doctor?
My dear Mrs. Lincoln, I assure you I mean no criticism.
I understand the strain you must be under here in the White House.
It's natural that your nerves...
For pity's sake, will you stop talking about my nerves? Perhaps you think...
Perhaps I think what, Mrs. Lincoln?
Nothing. Leave me alone.
Send a nurse in if you want to, but do what you like.
Only leave me alone.
There'll be one here in the morning. Good day, Mrs. Lincoln.
Mrs. Lincoln, if you don't stop pacing up and down, I'm afraid you'll have to leave the room.
Nurse, are you ordering me out of my own son's room?
You know the doctor's instructions. Your son must have quiet.
And do you think that will save him?
I don't know. We can only wait.
You tell me to wait when my son is dying. Mrs. Lincoln, please.
Mom.
No, you mustn't go near him, Mrs. Lincoln.
Let go of my arm, you hear?
Mrs. Lincoln, are you mad?
Mom, it's so hot in here.
It's the fever, my darling. Try to lie still. Don't toss about so.
Mom, will I get well soon?
Yes, of course. Very soon.
Mom.
Yes, dear?
I don't think I will get well.
Don't say that, darling. You must get well. You will get well.
Please get well. Will you please?
My little son did not get well. He died.
The war dragged on.
My two brothers in the Confederate Army were killed by my husband's armies.
And people talked again.
I heard all their whispers.
Then one day I received a letter from my sister, Emily.
Young, handsome Ben Helm, general Helm of the Confederate Army, decorated and brave, was killed in action.
Emily was alone. She had no place to go.
I persuaded Mr. Lincoln to allow her to stay with me.
Oh, I knew there would be more talk.
The wife of a southern general living in the White House.
But she was my sister.
I sat in my room waiting for her to arrive.
Who is it?
It's me, Emily.
Yes, it's me. You can open the door wider, Mary.
Emily.
Oh, Emily.
Mary, how you've changed. Are you ill? You look so strange.
No, no. But, Emily, I've been dying to tell someone.
Wait, I'll lock the door.
You did lock the door when I came in, Mary.
Oh, yes, yes. I began to forget things.
Emily, I want to tell you a secret. You're the only person I dare tell it to.
Yes, tell me, Mary.
Come, move your chair closer.
What is it, Mary?
Emily. Sometimes at night.
Yes, go on.
Sometimes at night, I hear voices.
Mary, what are you talking about?
Yes, I hear them calling to me at night.
Willie and Ben Hill.
Mary.
They're speaking just like they were in this room with me.
That's why I locked the door, Emily. I don't want anyone else to know they're here.
No, you mustn't look so afraid, Emily. I was afraid at first.
But after a while, it's pleasant sitting here in the rocker talking to them.
You mustn't let anyone know my secret, Emily.
You won't tell anyone, Emily, will you?
No. No, Mary, I won't.
Oh, Mary.
And one day the bells began to ring.
Peace.
Peace came at last.
I was almost too weary with the strain of these years to realize it had come.
But I was happy. Abe was happy.
We had both grown so old in these few years.
But it was over now. Peace. Peace.
On the Friday before Easter, good Friday, I persuaded Abe to go to the theater.
I was getting dressed.
Will you be wearing this black dress, Mrs. Lincoln?
Oh, no, no. Bring the blue lace one, Mrs. Keckley.
This is a real celebration. Mr. Lincoln and I haven't been out together for so long.
Where are you going, Mrs. Lincoln?
To the theater, Mrs. Keckley. To Ford's Theater.
Mr. Lincoln died that night.
Died in my arms.
And his voice was added to all the other voices I listened to in the dark safety of night.
Mary Todd.
Widow of the President of the United States.
Mary Todd. Widow.
Alone with the voices I heard in the night.
Ma.
They're bringing him home, Mary. He's the new president.
You're a southerner, aren't you? You're a spy.
You're a southerner. You're a traitor. We can't trust you.
Ma.
Then one day I was taken to a courtroom.
We have heard the testimony of Dr. Isham and the other witnesses.
The verdict of this court is that the defendant is of unsound mind,
incapable of handling her property and conducting her affairs.
You're mad, Mary Todd. You're mad.
The defendant is remitted to Bellevue Sanitarium at Batavia in the state of Illinois
in accordance with arrangements to be made by her family.
Case dismissed.
Dismissed. Dismissed out of this life.
Dismissed into an asylum.
Widow of the great president.
After a while they let me out of the sanitarium.
I hurried away. I wanted to forget, forget.
I fled to London.
There I lived in a quiet boarding house.
The widow of the great president.
I was an old lady by now. I rarely went out.
But one day I had to mail a letter.
I went down the street to the letter box.
Excuse me, miss. I'd like to post this letter. You're standing in front of the box.
Oh, wait. Wait. Don't hurry away.
Don't you remember me?
Yes. Yes, I do.
Miss Kate Chase. And you're still beautiful.
Are you here alone, Mrs. Lincoln?
Yes.
Mrs. Lincoln, if there's anything I can do,
I'm afraid we were all quite cruel to you in Washington.
Oh, it's such a long time ago. It doesn't matter.
Good day, Miss Chase.
No, even meeting Kate Chase didn't matter now.
I really must be getting quite, quite old.
There was a cable gram for me on the bureau.
From Emily.
She begged me to come back to America.
I cried with joy. I was wanted.
Emily wanted me.
I was going home. I was going home at last.
No longer afraid of my memories.
No longer afraid.
Here, Robert. Don't go so near the railing.
No, Mama.
Oh, Madame, will you watch them for a moment, please?
I'll watch them. I'll stay home until I sweat there.
Yes, of course.
Come here, Pierre Robert.
I had little boys like you once.
Do you know what my name is?
No.
My name is Mrs. Abraham Lincoln.
You know who Abraham Lincoln was, don't you?
No, Madame.
Tell you about President Lincoln and school.
We don't go to school. We live in Paris.
Our papa has a tutor for us.
He teaches us in French.
When you get to America, I expect you'll go back to school.
And then you'll learn all about Abraham Lincoln.
And you can tell your teacher, Abraham Lincoln's wife, talked to you.
And told you that he was very fond of little boys.
Abraham Lincoln's wife. You won't forget that now, will you?
Abraham Lincoln's wife.
Thank you, Helen Hayes.
And now before telling you about next week's cavalcade,
we want to tell you how DuPont engineers and chemists have saved the government of the United States
since this war began, more than $600 million in the process of manufacturing explosives.
In a war that will cost the nation $100 billion during this year alone,
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$100 million during this year alone, $600 million may be a small item.
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This has made unnecessary the construction of additional units originally regarded as essential to meet military requirements.
The additional plants, which now don't have to be built, would have cost some $380 million.
These figures represent only the money saving, what we are individually and collectively in pocket
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Of even greater importance is the saving in critical materials, man hours, and time,
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We think you will be interested to learn of this $600 million saving
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for DuPont's better things for better living through chemistry.
Pinky was a good soldier, eager to be going overseas at last,
and the two women on the train were friendly, interested, sincerely patriotic.
None of them intended to do the thing they did, but information is like a chain and the walls have ears.
Listen next week when DuPont presents Everett Sloan in an exciting spy story
by the noted mystery writer Mignon Eberhard.
Be with us next week when Cavalcade presents Everett Sloan in The Enemy is Listening,
especially written for this program by Mignon Eberhard.
The special musical score was by Arden Cornwall.
Cavalcade is pleased to inform its audience that Helen Hayes will soon be seen
in the star-studded motion picture, Stage Door Canteen.
This is Clayton Collier sending best wishes from Cavalcade sponsor,
the DuPont Company of Wilmington, Delaware.
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This program came to you from New York.
This is the National Broadcasting Company.