Booth's Mental health

[Juan Marrero]

Interesting that this thread began with a suggestion that JWB may have labored under a mental condition that we might today identify and mark as one suitable for pharmaceutical or "talk" therapy. That would not mean that he was a de jure or de facto member of the Confederate intelligence service, a fine or mediocre actor, a romantic young man or just a serial womanizer. Trying to understand the character of major historical figures is a perfectly legitimate exercise that may be useful in understanding the kind of leadership we desire for the present and the future.

Booth believed in what he believed and acted in a manner consistent with those beliefs informed by the "content of his character." The thread merely sought to discuss his character, whether it was free from mental concerns that may help explain his tactical choices.

Again, as I mentioned in connection with St. Francis of Assisi (a comparison that not even the most ardent Boothies should mind too much), people can change direction but not their very nature. Booth's ardent, voluble, dynamic, inconstant nature took him in a certain direction that I loath.