Was Stanton a murder target?

[John Fazio]

When she saw him again at the luncheon, she might just have thought that the White House messenger was having lunch with a few friends, even if one of them was behaving weirdly. She was not likely to conclude that he was part of a conspiracy to murder someone simply because he was first at her door and then in the dining room.

True...but then why would the "White House messenger's" friend harass their carriage as they were headed to the train station? I would think not one, not two, but now three weird incidents over a span of a few hours should have alerted her to trouble brewing.

Roger:

Well, as I said, she was probably made uncomfortable by her experiences with Booth that day, but they simply weren't enough for her to imagine that they were part of a gigantic plot to decapitate the U.S. government, with special attention to its Chief Executive. Her focus at the time was Burlington and a visit with her kids and she just wasn't thinking too seriously about anything else. I doubt that many in her circumstances would have done it differently, especially taking into consideration the fact that she had an intense dislike for Mary Lincoln. Another consideration was the fact that the war was over and everyone assumed, therefore, that the danger of assassination had passed. Everyone, that is, except Lincoln and those closest to him, like Lamon and Stanton, who tried to protect him, but failed.

John