Presidential security

[Anita]

Thanks Laurie for the productive and informative rainy day research. And what a great video on Mary Surratt. So nice to see you! You are a star!!

I agree with Roger that the D.C. Police officers assigned to Lincoln were to act as bodyguards. I remember reading somewhere that Ford knew Lincoln would bring a bodyguard "...Finally, late in the war, in November 1864, four Washington policemen were detailed to the White House to act as personal bodyguards to the President. Lincoln tolerated them reluctantly and insisted they remain as inconspicuous as possible."...The President's bodyguard for the evening was Patrolman John F. Parker of the Washington Police, a man who proved himself unfit for protective duty. He was supposed to remain on guard in the corridor outside of the Presidential box during the entire performance of the play." Appendix 7 Warren Commission Report.

I don't believe Stanton had anything to do with the assassination. If Stanton did drop charges against Parker it's because he didn't want it to be covered by the press. If it ended up in the papers it could damage confidence in law enforcement. The government needed to appear strong in light of the chaos of the assassination and the mess left behind by the war. I think he wanted to make sure all the blame for the assassination pointed clearly to a Southern conspiracy.