Lincoln's Future

[KateH.]

I believe Lincoln and Kennedy both benefited history in their own way. However, Lincoln might have a slight edge over Kennedy since he was the first President to be assassinated.

The Kennedy assassination enthralls people because there are so many missing pieces, like the theory of a second shooter and Jack Ruby killing Oswald. Lincoln's assassination might have unknown factors too but, for the most part, many of the main facts are known.

Lincoln's assassination made the government stronger and tougher when it came to cracking down on rebellions. Before Lincoln's death, little action was taken to guard him against threats of death. Lincoln still met with civilians and often went out alone. That's practically insanity by today's standards of security. After Lincoln's death, ways changed considerably. Photographs were taken of the execution to use as subliminal messaging. It was a silent warning to all those who dared act against the government.

Furthermore, if Lincoln survived and went forward with African American rights and reconstruction, would there have been a need for Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights movement? Or would that already have been solved? Something to think about.

As far as media attention, I'm pretty sure both had all the media attention they could get in their time. Even though television hadn't been invented when Lincoln was assassination, news still traveled very fast and everyone read the newspaper. Even if you couldn't read, somewhere there were pictures you could look at. I believe many modern opinions are formed due to what was written in the newspapers when Lincoln was killed, the same way opinions were formed in 1865. Words are just as powerful as television. In addition, reporters in 1865 knew how to wield their words because there was no such thing as writing a little blurb and letting television fill in the rest.