Booth's Mental health

[Thomas Thorne]

"After the failed raids, Lincoln knew they were coming for him." To quote Rick Smith

Was anyone as insouciant about his own safety as Abraham Lincoln? I don't believe Lincoln believed the Confederate government was seeking his death.

The "Come Retribution" thesis is fascinating but has yet to convince me. One key factor is the failure of the US government after the assassination when it was seeking evidence of the involvement of the Confederate government to latch on to the elements of the "Come Retribution' conspiracy if it existed would be in its possession.

The idea that Charles Dunham and friends were an elaborate ruse to discredit the idea of a general conspiracy is too clever by half. Such an idea ran the risk that in its eagerness to believe Jefferson Davis et al were conspirators, The US government might hang them based on the bogus evidence or discover the real evidence of conspiracy.

One of the most fascinating questions in all this is how quickly Republican elites rejected the idea of Confederate participation as Mrs Clement Clay discovered when seeking her husband's release.

Tom