Killing Lincoln

Booth practices shooting with his Deringer while “Dixie” is being played near the White House. With Lee’s surrender, the secessionist community is in disarray as they have no guidance from the South. There are currently four plots afoot: two involve kidnapping Lincoln, one involves smuggling shirts infected with Yellow Fever into the White House, and the other involves blowing up the White House. Booth is a part of one of the kidnapping plots. Although he and other secret agents can conspire against Lincoln and the Union, they aren’t allowed to engage in “black flag warfare” (92), which means they can’t murder anyone. Booth, however, wonders if the rule about killing still applies now that the South has fallen. If it no longer applies, he wonders what should be done about it.

Booth is described as a petty man who is vain due to his celebrity as an actor and the fact that he was born to privilege. Also, he’s a white supremacist. He gave up his acting career temporarily to fight for the pro-slavery movement. Booth believes that Blacks being slaves is part of the natural order and that Blacks actually welcome punishment when they step out of line. Booth was angered even further when Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. For Booth, the only way for Blacks not to rise up and kill their white masters is to reinstate slavery. And to do this, the Civil War must be won. The fact that Lee lost hits him hard. There are still Confederate soldiers—some 146,000—who are refusing to surrender, and Booth wants to give these men a reason to fight. Booth wants to kidnap Lincoln and deliver him to Southern forces who will allow him to rot in jail until slavery is reinstated. Booth tried twice to kidnap the president at his out-of-town residence called Soldiers’ Home. Now, his plan is to kidnap Lincoln while the president is attending a stage performance. The plan is so crazy, however, that Booth cannot find support among other conspirators. Booth realizes that Lincoln is the enemy, but the with war over is unsure of what this means. The people who give him orders are scattered, so he eventually decides to take matters into his own hand by initiating black flag warfare.

Booth stays at the National Hotel next to Pumphrey’s stable. Booth, though drunk, walks to procure a horse so that he can ride through town to ensure he can get away after killing Lincoln. Booth knows that killing someone is immoral, yet he reasons that he is at war and so his action is sanctioned. He realizes that no American president has ever been assassinated, a thought that appeals to his own vanity and elevates his plan in his eyes.

The author explains how the US will be 89 years old in three months. There are also thirty-six states that are a part of the Union now. Lincoln is the 16th president. For a nation founded on bloodshed and rebellion, the United States makes its unhappiness known at the ballot box, not by plotting against individual politicians. The only time an issue like this happened was when Andrew Jackson was fired upon by a mentally unstable person. Congressman Davy Crockett tackled the man. The author suggests that this is perhaps the reason that Lincoln is so prone to riding alone despite the danger. And yet Lincoln secretly thinks that he will die in office. He realizes that he is one of the most despised men in America, a fact underscored by the countless death threats he receives via letters. Lincoln tells the writer Harriet Beecher Stowe that he has “the impression that [he] shall not last long after [the war] is over” (100).

Booth ruminates on his plan, going over the fact that he not only has to kill Lincoln but make sure he can escape to safety. He keeps a map in his pocket that shows the whereabout of the Confederate holdouts. It is a map he has memorized, but he carries it because it gives him hope. Lincoln now has only five days to live.

Booth arrives at Pumphrey’s, who is also a Confederate sympathizer. Pumphrey knows John Surratt, another Confederate sympathizer who is responsible for connecting Booth to the South. Surratt is also upset over the South’s loss. When Booth needs to reach the man, who is always traveling, he just goes to the boardinghouse of John’s mother, Mary Surratt. Mary is a widow and Confederate sympathizer who is also active in spying and smuggling weapons. Mary also is in charge of a pro-Confederate tavern in Maryland. Washington, DC itself isn’t safe for people like Booth and the Surratts, so Mary’s tavern and her boardinghouse, as well as Pumphrey’s stable, are safe houses.

Booth decides that he will use the Navy Yard Bridge exit from the city so that he can make use of Mary’s tavern and Dr. Samuel Mudd’s residence in Maryland if need be. The only issue is that traffic isn’t allowed in or out after 10 P.M. Booth doesn’t tell anyone yet about his plan, but he wants a horse to spy on the sentries that are posted at the Navy Yard Bridge. Seeing his favorite horse already rented, Booth heads instead to Ford’s Theatre, the new state-of-the-art venue that was once a Baptist church. Ford’s is a landmark for Booth, a man born in the theatre life. He finds Ned Spangler, a worker at the theatre, and asks Spangler to clean his buggy and prepare it for him to sell. Booth has his mail sent to Ford’s and parks his buggy there as well. He tells Spangler he will soon be leaving town, but he doesn’t say where to.

The author notes how the word “assassin” come from “Hashshashin” (105), which is the name of a group of men who worked for Persian kings back between the 8th and 14th centuries. These men killed for the kings and were rewarded with hash and women. Booth will receive none of these rewards, only infamy, which he will gladly accept.

Lee’s surrender is only two days old for the people of Washington, D.C. Though hungover, the partying begins all over again and people march back to the White House with the purpose of hearing a speech. Given the loss of life, people want to hear divine retribution in Lincoln’s words. Booth is in attendance with two co-conspirators. The first is David Herold, a former pharmacy clerk. The second is Lewis Powell, who also goes by Lewis Payne. Payne was a Confederate soldier before lending his skills to espionage. Booth has brought them to hear Lincoln’s speech as a way to incite them to action. He hasn’t yet told either of them his true plan.

Lincoln knows what the crowd wants to hear, and the author notes that Lincoln is perhaps the greatest orator in the world, meaning that he can easily sway the crowd in the direction he wants. Instead of grand words or false promises or retribution, however, Lincoln delivers a speech about unification, the freeing of slaves, and leniency for the South. When the people don’t hear what they want, some leave. Booth is enraged at the thought of Blacks receiving citizenship and tells Powell to shoot Lincoln on the spot. Powell has a gun that would get the job done, but the young man is afraid of the mob. Booth does this on purpose to make Powell think that he has let Booth down. In this way, when Powell wants to make it up, the plan of murder won’t seem so farfetched. Booth eventually leaves in anger, with a plan to kill Lincoln on April 13, also known as “the ides.”

After Lincoln’s speech, he has dinner with guests and Mary Lincoln. He talks about dreams, including biblical dreams, alarming his wife who notices his somber mood. In attendance is the U.S. Marshal for the District of Columbia, who has warned Lincoln for over a year that his life is in danger. Lincoln has been the target of threats for a long time. One such threat was in 1861 and known as the Baltimore Plot. It involved an attempted shooting, but the plan was uncovered beforehand by Pinkertons. Interestingly, the papers and the public portrayed Lincoln as soft for traveling in disguise, which hurt Lincoln. Since then, he’s never traveled in disguise and travels openly to show that he is not afraid. He did however receive police protection beginning in 1864.

The White House is also open to the public, with people sleeping on the floors, stealing curtains, and petitioning for Lincoln’s time. Lincoln’s staff constantly worry about his safety. Death, however, is something that Lincoln has known for some time. The Lincolns’ 3-year-old son Willie previously died of tuberculosis, while their 11-year old died of fever. Mary herself is prone to mood swings due to being mentally unstable. Because of all this, he hardly ever talks about morbid things, yet this night he tells them all about a recent dream he had. He relates the dream he had on the River Queen during the opening scene of the narrative. In the dream, he witnesses a funeral taking place in the White House and comes to find that the president has been killed. His dinner guests are horrified. Lincoln tries to make out as if he were telling a joke, but no one believes he is joking.

Booth decides to shoot Lincoln at the theatre, which the president is known to frequent. Lincoln actually saw Booth perform once, though Booth was so angry that he gave a mediocre show. Booth knows the city is filled with soldiers returned from the war. He also reasons that the theatre too will be filled with hardened soldiers. This doesn’t deter him, however. After the assassination, he plans to deliver a line onstage: “sic semper tyrannis” (116), which means “death always to tyrants.” He will then flee to Mexico.

Booth walks the city to think about his plans. He has decided to kill Lincoln on the ides, a notion he got from Julius Caesar. He now needs to find out what theatre Lincoln might be attending and what play he will see so that he can determine the perfect time to kill Lincoln. He’s also heard that Grant will be in town, meaning that Grant might also be with Lincoln at the theatre. If so, he can kill the two most senior men responsible for the South’s demise. Booth, however, wants to get away with even more. He also wants to target Vice President Andrew Johnson, as well as Secretary of State William H. Seward. He’s tasked Lewis Powell with killing Secretary Seward, who is bedridden due to a carriage accident. Booth chooses a drifter/carriage painter named George Atzerodt to kill Andrew Johnson, who is never guarded. Atzerodt has been brought in because of his knowledge of the smuggling routes that the killers will need to take out of Washington, D.C. As yet, Atzerodt still doesn’t know that the plan has changed to murder, but Booth has a plan to blackmail Atzerodt if necessary.

Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton should be another logical target, and yet Booth spares Stanton, the second-most powerful man in Washington, D.C., from his assassination plot. The author then asks why Stanton is spared and provides possible motives. One motive may be in Stanton’s connection to Lafayette Baker. Baker was once a Union spy but changed sides as the occasion called. Stanton thus came to distrust Baker, and he was sent to New York City. Booth and Baker were paid money for unknown reasons by a Canadian company. The money was credited to the Bank of Montreal, where Jefferson Davis’s money for espionage was held. There is a mailing address that also connects Booth and Baker. No one has ever been able to determine what Baker and Booth were paid for. Moreover, Baker later admitted that he tapped Stanton’s phone lines though he didn’t say why. Baker also would have known that Stanton stood to benefit from Lincoln’s assassination as he was in succession line for the office. The author suggests that these clues point to Stanton’s involvement, yet no one has been able to prove this connection.

Booth determines to visit Grover’s Theatre and Ford’s Theatre to check the layouts in case he gets to shoot Lincoln there. Otherwise, they will be at the Grand Illumination, and he can assassinate Lincoln in public.

The chapter opens with Mary Lincoln holding a new copy of Julian Caesar, which she will present to Lincoln to try and lighten his mood. Lincoln is fond of the Bible and the works of Shakespeare, and if Lincoln’s mood is lifted, Mary’s will be as well; the two rely on one another for support. Not too far away from the White House is a sullen John Wilkes Booth. In addition to Booth being linked to the Lincolns’ oldest son Robert Todd via Robert’s infatuation with Booth’s fiancée, Lucy Hale, there is a military connection. Robert Todd was actually saved from possible death (from a train) by John Wilkes Booth’s older brother Edwin. Ulysses S. Grant, who was Robert’s commanding officer, thanked Edwin for this. Edwin also acted in all the Shakespeare plays that Lincoln saw one season. Both Grant and Robert Todd are due back in Washington within days, which will also boost Lincoln’s morale.

Lincoln has a meeting with Secretary of War Edwin Stanton at the War Department. Lincoln has asked the Virginia legislature to convene in Richmond with temporary power, as a show of good faith, but Stanton is against the idea. He tells Lincoln that the South will use these meetings to enact rules that will undermine Lincoln, such as limit the freedom of slaves. Lincoln eventually relents and sends a telegram informing the legislature not to meet, which appeases Stanton. The book’s author reminds the reader that Stanton’s role is crucial to a prosperous North, and yet Stanton is not on Booth’s hitlist. Although the two are different and were rivals at one point, Lincoln appointed him Secretary of War and trusts his counsel. Another interesting fact revealed is that Lincoln was the first world leader to use telegrams to convey messages directly to his generals.

On the ides, while Booth takes a train to Baltimore to try and get the help of a former conspirator, Grant and his wife, Julia, finally arrive in Washington, D.C. Grant is an introvert and wants nothing more than to conclude his business in Washington and head home. The two are exhausted after countless delays from City Point, but the Grand Illumination—when the entire city will be lit up with every light available—has been planned so that Grant can be a part of the festivities. Grant makes a mistake, however, in forgetting to book rooms. He’s so used to having his men do things for him. Even though the Willard Hotel is overbooked, rooms are procured for him and some of his staff, and congratulations begin pouring in. Grant and Colonel Porter freshen up, and then start off to meet Lincoln at the War Department. The two are soon overcome by the crowds who wish to offer congratulations and touch Grant. The police soon arrive and transport the two in a carriage. Grant later meets with Lincoln, and after Lincoln congratulates him, the two have an open carriage ride around the city. They make plans to meet later that night, while Booth and his fellow conspirators prepare for their revenge against the people on their list.

Booth and the other conspirators—David Herold, Lewis Powell, and George Atzerodt—meet at Herndon House Hotel in room 6. Booth goes over the plan with them. The youngest, Powell, has done reconnaissance work for the person he’s supposed to kill: Secretary of State Seward. He’s staked out the house and even asked a male nurse about the Secretary to ensure he would be home. Booth is glad for this but is sullen because Lincoln will not be at the theatre that night. This means that Booth will have to kill him in public at the Grand Illumination, which isn’t a spectacular setting for Booth.

Atzerodt finally realizes that the plan is not kidnapping but murder and wants out. He was fine with being a smuggler and kidnapper but wants no part with murder. Booth blackmails him to ensure he helps. Atzerodt knows the backgrounds and smuggler roads into Maryland and into Mexico, so he is instrumental in their plan. Also, Booth has been sharing his horse with Atzerodt, which is a sure-fire way to link Atzerodt to Booth and the assassination plot. If Atzerodt leaves now and things go bad, he will be identified by many eyewitnesses based on him being seen riding Booth’s horse. Realizing he has no choice, Atzerodt reluctantly agrees to help. The four plan to remain in Washington until their task is complete.

There was a fifth conspirator that was once part of the plot against Lincoln. His name is Mike O’Laughlen, and Booth traveled to Baltimore to try and recruit him again for his plan to kidnap Lincoln and lower him onto the stage of the theatre. O’Laughlen had earlier been on the road with Booth when the two had laid in wait in the bushes near Soldiers’ Home. Although he refused Booth’s request, O’Laughlen traveled to Washington the same day he refused Booth and began drinking in bars and exhibiting erratic behavior, trying to decide if he should help or not.

General Grant, who would far prefer to be at home without all the fanfare, listens to his wife, who also wants to get away from the city as soon as possible but who hasn’t been out for some time and wants to go to at least one party. The Grants go to a party held by Secretary of War Stanton. O’Laughlen follows the couple there, but he is unsure of what to do. He leaves and gets drunk, then returns and demands to speak to Stanton. He later goes up and stands behind both Grant and Stanton but does nothing. While people will later say that he had ill intentions when they remember him at the party, O’Laughlen was actually there to warn Stanton and Grant about Booth. But he backed out because Booth could incriminate him in the earlier kidnapping attempt at Soldiers’ Home. O’Laughlen leaves and continues drinking.

Booth and the others have been unsuccessful in finding their targets for the night. They hope to change things the next night. Lincoln is at home at the White House with a migraine, but he plans to attend the theatre the next night.