Booth's Mental health

[Jenny]

(07-16-2015 07:05 PM)L Verge Wrote:  I have a very difficult time accepting assumptions that Booth was an alcoholic - even a functioning alcoholic. A frequent drinker, yes, but not an alcoholic.

While we are busy trying to blame the assassination on Booth's mental problems, have we ever stopped to consider that Lincoln and what Booth saw happening to the country that he loved (the whole U.S., not just the South) were what brought on his "insane" behavior (if you want to call it that) and drinking? I see things happening in my country today that make me very angry and upset -- and you are doing good to see me drink more than 5-6 wines or highballs in a year.

One of the best descriptions of Booth's motive appeared in a review of American Brutus in a Catholic publication. "Though vain and manipulative, John Wilkes Booth was an idealist whose deep-seated belief in the righteousness of the Confederate cause and the guilt of Abraham Lincoln led him to commit what has indeed gone down as one of the most spectacular dramatic acts in American history." If Booth drank heavily, which I don't believe he did in our modern interpretation, it was caused by the fury and grief that he was feeling against Lincoln and over the collapse of Southern culture.

I agree with all of those points for sure. Great post.