When was it to late to kidnap?

[Jim Garrett]

In my humble opinion, the Confederacy was doomed from the start. No abduction or assassination could have changed the outcome. The South was baited into the war by the radical elements on both sides of the slavery issue (politics haven't changed) The Abolishonists and the Fire Eaters whipped everything up so much, and with 4 do nothing presidents prior to AL, it was a recipe for a total mess. In his final state of the union address, James Buchannan essentially told the South they were entitled to rebel.

AL was elected with a minority of the vote. Throughout his Presidency, AL was controversial at best, and lacked the popularity to be a really viable hostage. If abducted of assassinated earlier, the Union would probably just have moved on, or used the event as a rallying point and just made matters worse for the South.