Kennedy and Lincoln - Medical & Ballistic Comparissons

[Gene C]

Complete title is "Kennedy and Lincoln - Medical & Ballistic Comparisons of Their Assassinations"
interesting book written by Dr John Lattimer in 1980. Has about 360 pages, with 1/3 of the book about the Lincoln assassination. Lots of photographs and illustrations. Primary focus of the book is the medical aspect of the assassination and the resulting injuries. A bit technical with the medical language. Discusses and describes Seward's injury and treatment (poor guy) as well as Booth's. Addresses the issue of whether Booth shot himself or not, and the graphic account of the conspirator's hanging by Capt. Rath (the hangman). 33 years after the hanging, Capt. Rath recalls "They were killed instantly"

Dr. Lattimer also debunks some of the Kennedy assassination conspiracy theories. The section dealing with the Kennedy assassination is very graphic.

I recommend it, but it's not for the casual reader. Used copies are available on Amazon at a reasonable price.

http://www.amazon.com/Lincoln-Kennedy-Ba...n+lattimer

[RJNorton]

Gene, I am a big fan of Dr. Lattimer's book. One of my favorite quotes in the book is on p. 38. Dr. Curtis, after assisting with Lincoln's autopsy, wrote a letter to his mother. Of Lincoln's physique he wrote, "I was simply astonished at the showing of the nude remains, where well-rounded muscles built upon strong bones told the powerful athlete. Now did I understand the deeds of prowess recorded of the President's early days." To me, anyway, this is a good reply to those who have speculated Lincoln had some sort of genetic disease and would die soon.

I can see from the inside cover I paid $34.95 for the book back in the 1990's. It was purchased at the Florida Antiquarian Book Fair in St. Petersburg.

[LincolnToddFan]

There was quite a contrast between poor Lincoln's face and his body at the end of his life. The famous Alexander Gardiner photos taken a few weeks before his death show a man who looks at least 15-20 years older than what he was in April 1865...only 56 years old.

Yet, his physique was that of a young Hercules, with apparently no body fat whatsoever. Mary Lincoln was a lucky woman indeed, I think.

JFK was just the opposite. On the outside his bronzed and youthful appearance was a marvel, but he was physically a wreck with conspicuous scars on his back from repeated surgeries and a diseased adrenal system.(BTW...his younger brother RFK who was murdered at age 42 was said by pathologists to have had the cardiovascular system of a man in his 20's...exceptionally physically fit.)

I've wanted to read the Lattimer book for awhile. Thanks for the recap, gentlemen!

[RJNorton]

Hi Toia. He may have lost some weight and looked tired and much older, but if this story be true, he was still very strong.

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"Historians figure Abraham Lincoln was showing off on April 8, 1865, when, at the end of a long day, he spotted an ax at a Union Army field hospital in Virginia. He'd spent hours shaking hands with thousands of wounded soldiers. A doctor told him his arm was surely tired.

Holding his arm straight out, Lincoln picked up the ax by the butt, with the handle parallel to the ground, and held the 7-pound tool motionless. He was 56 years old and one week away from assassination.

Strong men who looked on, men accustomed to manual labor, could not hold the same ax in that position for a moment," wrote Francis Fisher Browne, a Union soldier who authored a biography called "The Every-Day Life of Abraham Lincoln."

***********************************

Although the veracity of this story has been questioned by some, the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum has issued the following statement:

"The state of Illinois, it turns out, has owned the ax since 1955, when it was donated to the Lincoln Home, then the state's responsibility. It was accompanied by an affidavit from the director of the field hospital, plus a second statement signed in 1914, verifying the tool's authenticity."

[LincolnMan]

The research is very well done. Laurie didn't you know Dr. Lattimer?

[Eva Elisabeth]

Roger, do you know if Francis Fisher Browne was present at the event? Since the story is also in F. Carpenter's "Six month in the White House", I wonder if Browne was also Carpenter's source - or if there was another one.

[L Verge]

The research is very well done. Laurie didn't you know Dr. Lattimer?

Yes, Bill, both Betty and I were friends with him through the years. He came with very impressive credentials from Nuremberg trials, firsts in the field of medicine, Kennedy connections, famous patients, collections ranging from coats of armor to swords to a Lincoln assassination fan that I would die for (given to him by another good friend, Fr. Robert Keesler). Dr. Lattimer was always friendly and willing to share. At one of our first conferences, he brought a sizable sampling of his Lincoln-related items.

Rick Smith and Wild Bill can tell you that they had to work hard to convince me to change my allegiance from Dr. Lattimer's work on the wound to Booth's neck to theirs.

[RJNorton]

(04-03-2014 04:55 PM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote:  Roger, do you know if Francis Fisher Browne was present at the event? Since the story is also in F. Carpenter's "Six month in the White House", I wonder if Browne was also Carpenter's source - or if there was another one.

Hi Eva. I don't know if Browne was present. I did mention there are some doubters regarding this story. One of these is Dr. John Sotos. He is the doctor who feels Lincoln was dying of a rare disease called multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2B (MEN2B). Dr. Sotos writes:

"I have looked mighty hard for the first-hand account of the axe story and cannot find it.

Francis Carpenter is often cited as the primary source, but he is not. He cites a newspaper called "The NY Independent," but I think he is making it up. First, the days of the week he writes in his story don't fit the calendar. Second, I looked at all the issues of the Independent between Lincoln's Virginia visit and the publication of Carpenter's book, and the story is not there. The only substantial Lincoln material in The Independent is the long series of articles that Carpenter himself wrote. Carpenter was known to make stuff up.

I looked at every other eyewitness recollection of the hospital visits. It is pretty disjointed material. But there are at least three eyewitnesses who mention nothing about it: Sen. Sumner, Marquis de Chambrun, and a young soldier named Wilbur Fisk who wrote an effusive, detailed letter home on April 20 that did not mention axe work. It is likely that Sen. Harlan and William Crook were with him, too. Their reminiscences of that trip mention no axe work. By contrast, Keckley says that Lincoln returned to the River Queen that night so weary that he wanted to go to bed immediately."



On the other hand there is this.