The Reason Lincoln Had to Die

[Thomas Thorne]

I too welcome Ian Wesley's entering the lists on the Lincoln assassination. I fully intend to re-read Pittman but my prior readings on the subject always told me that eyewitnesses stated that LTP used a pistol that nite as well as a knife.

I am bothered by the idea that it would be necessary to plant a pistol at the crime scene instead of telling Powell to bring one on the grounds that no one would believe the Confederate government was behind the attacks unless a pistol was involved. People would link the attacks on Lincoln and Seward because of their similarity in time and not because the same weapons were employed. Why would Stanton risk exposure by instructing the doctors and the Seward family to lie about it? Elaborate conspiracy theories often violate the well known Army acronym of KISS-Keep it simple stupid. Any conspirator would want as few people involved as possible lest the conspiracy be betrayed. Remember the very act of recruitment increases that risk.

I also take issue with the idea that JWB was not fleeing after the assassination. Why was his abode various rural hiding places especially when he was in constant pain from his broken leg. I have seen no evidence that Booth believed Andrew Johnson who said "Treason is a crime and must be made odious" would be different than the hated
Lincoln.

There is a very puzzling aspect about the idea of Lincoln being killed by a Radical Republican conspiracy. Candidates for political office were chosen by their parties at political conventions or in the case of US Senators by state legislatures. Both Lincoln and Radical Republican politicians owed their election to the same type of people and very often by the same people.

If Lincoln were so detested by the Radicals that they would plot to kill him, it is strange that the Republicans renominated him in 1864. Renomination of a sitting President, Governor, Representative or US Senator was by no means as frequent at this time compared to today. In successive presidential elections sitting presidents Millard Fillmore and Franklin Pierce were repudiated by their parties. Lafayette Foster and Benjamin Wade failed to secure re-election to the US Senate by state legislatures controlled by their own parties. You would be astonished at the number of elected officials whose party selected someone else to run for their office at the next election. I include Congressman Lincoln in 1848. Theodore Roosevelt, the fifth VP to become president on the death of his predecessor, was the first person to be nominated for president by his party at the next election and was elected.
Tom