Mary Lincoln had an additional reason for wanting her husband to be reelected in 1863. Unbeknownst to him, she owed about $27,000 for dress materials and other shopping trophies.

She worried that, if he were not reelected, they would go bankrupt paying down her debt.

She had a generous clothing budget, but, convinced Washington’s society mavens looked down on her because she was from the frontier state of Illinois, she paid high prices for clothes she thought were fashionable.

She once bought 300 pairs of gloves in a four-month period.

Source: Presidential Courage: Brave Leaders and How They Changed America 1789-1989 by Michael Beschloss