matched by the lack of spousal congeniality occasioned by Lincoln’s melancholy and episodes of neurasthenia. It is to say that its bad moments have been vastly exaggerated.
 

Remember this marriage was bound together by three strong bonds—sex, parenting and politics, and keep in mind that story, corroborated by several observers, that when Lincoln learned he had won the Republican nomination and later the Presidency, he hurried home, saying as he turned the corner, “Mary, Mary we are elected.” It is as good a testament to the profound respect and affinity the Lincolns had for each other as any I can think of.⁴⁷

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