As first ladies take a back seat to their husbands, historians usually depict figures like Mary Todd Lincoln and Varina Davis gingerly. A considerable amount has been written on Mary Todd Lincoln, less so about Varina Davis. Both women have been often vilified, portrayed as overbearing, interfering, and problematic. However, both women exemplified the ways white women in positions of power negotiated their subordinate status and gender norms. While neither leveraged their husband’s power in overt 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 leaders, Lincoln and Davis also juggled numerous roles and dealt with role conflict too. Lincoln and Davis were both relatively outspoken and socially assertive women whose inability to directly participate in the political process did not undermine their willingness to subvert patriarchal norms to influence not just their husbands, but their societies.

The historical record reveals also that both Davis and Lincoln were demonized until relatively recently. Although it would seem Davis and Lincoln might have been worlds apart socially and politically, they were certainly not. Their attitudes towards race, class, gender, and power were remarkably similar, due mainly to their being similarly endowed as highly educated and wealthy members of American society.

There was a much greater age and cultural difference between Davis and her husband than between the Lincolns; Jefferson Davis was nearly 18 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 status helped her regain access to wealth and status. Generally, though, these were women who enjoyed a fair degree of status and privilege vis-a-vis their counterparts throughout the nation—white or not.

Their respective biographies showed how white women in America negotiated new roles for themselves to wield power in a patriarchal society. Using whatever social tools available to them, both Mary Todd Lincoln and Varina Howell Davis managed to subvert patriarchal gender norms in strategic and meaningful ways. Both women were highly educated and politically ambitious, both marrying their respective husbands partly because they wanted to partner with a person 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 mainly unsuccessfully—to...

It took a tremendous amount of courage to defy a man, and to do so in public doubly so. Women in the nineteenth century had zero political agency, and were unable to make a meaningful impact on political culture. Yet they could foreseeably influence their husbands privately. While the Lincolns were mainly alike 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 husband’s political ambitions, but Davis did not believe in secession (Cashin). Davis had what she called a “half breed” or bi-cultural life, with friends from both sides of the north/south political spectrum (Cashin 2). Spencer points out the “remarkably contentious relationship” Davis had with her southern white compatriots after her husband’s death in 1889, prompting her moving to the North and shifting her political attitudes somewhat during the later years of her life (iii).
Even though she disagreed with her husband regarding secession, Varina Howell Davis supported slavery. In fact, Davis benefitted directly from slavery and supported the perpetuation of the institution, unlike Lincoln. Mary Todd Lincoln might not have been a premier abolitionist, but compared with Varina Howell Davis, she could be considered one. Although it would seem their political positions were antipodes, Lincoln and Davis would have at least agreed with one another that southern secession was foolish. Davis had left in the middle of her husband’s inauguration ceremony, and promptly left the south once Jefferson had died (Cashin 5). This bold expression of discontent and political disagreement was one of the only means women could use to voice their opinions publically. Lincoln was raised differently than Davis, encouraged to be more vocal when expressing her political opinions. As a child, Mary Todd was raised to speak up for herself in a company of men. Naturally she then pushed for her husband’s participation in federal politics because she herself “learned the art of politics” and engaged men of status and power as their equals and had since she was a child (Ellison 3). Ultimately both women mastered the art of subverting patriarchal power via clever political maneuvering.

The public has vilified Varina…