Abraham Lincoln And The Todds, A Family Divided By War

Abraham Lincoln is best known for his great speeches and his role in the civil war, but what most people do not know is how he and his wife met and what effect her family had on his presidency. In Stephen Berry’s book House of Abraham: Lincoln and the Todds, a Family Divided By War, Berry tells about the life of Abraham and his wife Mary Todd. In this book, he includes the influence that the Todd family had played on his personal life as well as his presidency. This book begins with Mary Todd’s grandfather and eventually he ends with Lincoln’s assassination. The main focus of the author is to give the reader a better understanding of the Todd clan, and also to understand what it was like to be apart of the family. The content of the book allows for people to go into the mind of the Todd family. After reading this book, it is easy to see why Abraham had such a difficult time with the Civil War not just because he was president, but also because his wife’s f amily was split by it. There are many theories that have come up over the years on how the Todd’s influenced Abraham Lincoln and the decisions he made during the civil war. In the book, he argues that the Todd clan, even though they all do not have the same mother, is closer than most families during the time because of the closeness they had. The author writes, â€Å"They loved and hated one another at the same time. They hugged or they throttled one another, depending on the emotional needs of the moment.†(p.12) Because ofShow MoreRelatedThe Life of Abraham Lincoln1452 Words   |  6 PagesAbraham Lincoln was born on February 12th , 1809. Lincoln was born in Hardin County, Kentucky in a single-room log cabin. Abraham Lincoln was named after his grandfather. His parents were Thomas and Nancy Hanks Lincoln. When Abraham Lincoln was young, they had to move to Perry County, Indiana where times were tough and they struggled to get by. 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