The Lincoln Assassination 1

The Lincoln Assassination, Part 1

We’re coming up to the 150^th anniversary of the Lincoln Assassination, April 14, 1865. Let’s recap a few of the facts of that tsunami event.

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,” he said.  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." And, "I determined when I first came here I should not be dying all the while."

The other side of Lincoln said, simply, “I cannot bring myself to believe that any human being lives who would do me harm.” And, “Die when I may I want it said by those who knew me best that I always plucked a thistle and planted a flower where I thought a flower would grow.”