Sign-In
Cart
Exploding the Official Myths of the Lincoln Assassination
Paperback
ISBN13: 9780966816068
Publisher: Refuge Books
Published: Jul 8 2024
Pages: 158
Weight: 0.42
Height: 0.34 Width: 5.50 Depth: 8.50
Language: English
Like many major historical events, Abraham Lincoln's assassination had an official story and a back story.
On April 14, 1865, the President was shot by actor John Wilkes Booth, a Southern Sympathizer, at Ford's Theatre in Washington. Simultaneously, a Booth accomplice, Lewis Powell, attempted to stab to death William Seward, the Secretary of State, at his home. Though not expected to live, Seward survived his wounds. Booth and another accomplice, David Herold, rode south. On April 26, Union cavalry tracked the pair to a Virginia barn. Herold surrendered; Booth refused. Despite orders to bring him back alive, Booth was mortally wounded by a soldier who fired through an opening in the barn. Afterwards, a military court tried eight alleged Booth accomplices. Four were hanged-including Mary Surratt, the first woman executed by the United States-and four sentenced to prison at hard labor.
Among the book's questions-some answering, some just asking:
● Why, on a dishonest pretext, did Secretary of War Edwin Stanton deny Lincoln the protection he requested at Ford's Theatre?
● Why was Lincoln assigned a disreputable bodyguard who deserted his post before the assassination, yet was never punished?
● How did John Wilkes Booth know he only needed a one-shot derringer to kill the President?
● Why were the only actual assassination attempts, by Booth and accomplices, against the only 2 prominent men in the administration-Lincoln and Seward-who opposed the brutal Reconstruction plan devised for the South?
● How was the Ford's Theatre Presidential box modified to facilitate the murder?
● Why did Washington telegraph wires shut down after the assassination?
● Why did War Secretary Stanton take charge of the investigation instead of the Attorney General?
● Why was Booth's escape road the only road left unpatrolled?
● What did Booth tell Southerners was his real reason for leaving a card at Vice President Johnson's residence on the day of the assassination?
● Secretary Seward's attempted assassin, Lewis Powell, gained access to the home by pretending to deliver medicine-how did he know the doctor's name and the house's exact layout?
● Why were soldiers closest to capturing Booth replaced by a select Washington detachment, including 2 commanders who were trusted associates of Stanton right-hand man Lafayette Baker?
● Why was the court-martial of the sergeant-who, against orders, allegedly shot Booth-cancelled?
● Why was Booth's diary, recovered from his body, never entered in evidence at the conspiracy trial, kept secret for two years-and when finally exposed, were 43 sheets (86 pages) missing?
● Why were Booth's alleged accomplices denied a jury trial and prompt defense counsel?
● Why were they continuously shackled, heads hooded, before being either hanged or sent to a remote island prison west of Key West?
● What close friend of Booth was also old friends with Stanton's intelligence chief William Wood?
● Why (more questions)?
Also from
Perloff, James
Thirteen Pieces of the Jigsaw: Solving Political, Cultural and Spiritual Riddles, Past and Present
Perloff, James
Paperback
The Shadows of Power: The Council on Foreign Relations And The American Decline
Perloff, James
Paperback
Also in
Mystery & Thriller
The Underworld U.S.A. Trilogy, Volume I: American Tabloid, the Cold Six Thousand; Introduction by Thomas Mallon
Ellroy, James
Hardcover
Coffin Road: An Utterly Gripping Crime Thriller from the Author of the China Thrillers
May, Peter
Paperback
Sabine's Notebook: In Which the Extraordinary Correspondence of Griffin & Sabine Continues
Bantock, Nick
Hardcover
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Movie Tie-In Edition): Book 1 of the Millennium Trilogy
Larsson, Stieg
Paperback
The Golden Mean: In Which the Extraordinary Correspondence of Griffin & Sabine Concludes
Bantock, Nick
Hardcover
Big Little Truths: Reese's Book Club: A Novel: The Sequel to Big Little Lies
Moriarty, Liane
Hardcover
The Pirate Queen: A Novel from the New York Times Bestselling Author of the Frozen River
Lawhon, Ariel
Hardcover