The Lincoln Assassination, Part 1

In 1861 Lincoln’s new Secretary of State William Seward had declared confidently, "Assassination is not an American habit or practice,." Lincoln, naturally, agreed. "What do they want to kill me for? If they kill me they will run the risk of getting a worse man."

Lincoln tried to get that message across to his good friend and self-appointed bodyguard Ward Hill Lamon. "This boy is monomaniac on the subject of my safety."  If Lamon had his way, said the President, Lincoln “would spend all day sitting in Lamon's lap.” For the rest, he said, "If they kill me I shall never die another death." "I determined when I first came here I should not be dying all the while."