What if....

[MaddieM]

(03-16-2013 07:40 PM)LincolnMan Wrote:  I don't think the misfire would have stopped Booth's "mission." He was determined to carry his deed through. If he had another gun, I think he would have used it. His camp bowie knife was also still available to him.

I agree. If someone really wants to kill another, they'll do it. I think he'd have stabbed Lincoln in the neck or back, if the gun misfired and would most likely have then been wrestled to the ground, therefore depriving him of his Sic Semper Tyrannis moment of glory. I've always thought that Lewis Powell had serious doubts when he was attacking Seward and this somehow, at some deep psychological level, stopped him from killing his target.