Was Stanton a murder target?

[RJNorton]

This is a great question, Kees, and it is wonderful to see you posting again.

I do not know the answer to your question, but I'll give a couple of examples where Stanton is not mentioned.

On the day of the assassination Booth had a noontime conversation with John F. Coyle, part-owner and editor of the Washington Daily National Intelligencer. In the conversation Booth quizzed Coyle on the line of secession:

Booth: “Suppose Lincoln was killed, what would be the result?"
Coyle: “Johnson would succeed.”
Booth: “But if he was killed?”
Coyle: “Then Seward.”
Booth: “But suppose he was killed, then what?”
Coyle: “Then anarchy or whatever the Constitution provides.”

Coyle went on to say, “What nonsense, they don’t make Brutuses nowadays.”
Booth replied, “No, they do not.”

The above conversation was published in the Washington Post and is also included in the article entitled "Why Seward?" by Michael Maione and James O. Hall in the Spring 1998 edition of the Lincoln Herald.

No specific mention of Stanton if Coyle's memory were correct.

Messrs Maione and Hall do not mention Stanton at all in their article.

Also, offhand, I cannot think of any mention of Stanton in any of George Atzerodt's statements. I know Johnson was mentioned as a target, but I do not think Stanton was.

In his book John cites some excellent arguments that indeed Stanton most likely was targeted.

Good question, Kees!