Analysis Of Chasing Lincoln's Killer By James Swanson

History has a tendency to be biased. Always told from the apparent side of the ‘good’. From the British being the bad guys in the Revolutionary War, to the idea, that terrorism raised because of the War in Iraq, the media, as well as other sources, tends to be biased towards the side that we, as humans, are more likely to be able to relate with. However, the untold side of the story is always the one with more facts, and it is the one that is truly the key to figure out motive. The book, Chasing Lincoln’s Killer, written by James Swanson is one, such text that reports how the man who assassinated Abraham Lincoln, John Wilkes Booth, created his plan and the manhunt that followed. What may seem like a heinous crime to us was a glorious crime

A little know fact: Lincoln did not die until the next morning, thanks to the immediate response of a doctor nearby. Dr. Charles Leale, a U.S Army surgeon went up into the President’s box, and attempted to revive Lincoln, while the rest of the crowd in the theatre became an unruly mob. Thanks to Dr. Leale’s quick thinking, Lincoln was saved from immediate death. “Quick action had saved the president from immediate death, on the floor of Ford’s Theatre,”(Swanson 69). Dr. Leale has been forever forgotten, and he provided Martha Lincoln as well as other close friends of Lincoln a final chance to see their hero, before he passed away. The history books ought to cover him too. The other unknown heroes of that terrible night were the family and servants at the Seward’s house. Little do people know, that Secretary of State WIlliam H. Seward was also attacked that night, by an accomplice of Booth. However, the quick thinking, skilled fighting, and good luck managed to prevent Powell(the accomplish), from assassinating another member of the white house staff. “Robinson ignored the wounds and kept fighting.”( Swanson 57). Each action taken that night by so many made a big difference, and it saved the lives of some, and alerted the nation of the next threat it was to face. So many facts of that night have since been forgotten… this book provides readers with a chance to discover the real facts of

Throughout Booth’s manhunt, the reader encounters many different Confederate supporters, and they discover how many people were actually loyal. As the book reads on pg. 23, “...Booth came into contact with sympathetic secret agents in Canada, New York City, Washington, D.C, Maryland, and Virginia.” Across the United States, so many people felt sympathetic towards the Confederates. It is a common misconception that the North and South were quite split on slavery, and that almost all of the North wanted slavery abolished while the South didn’t. Through reading this book, I, as well as anyone else who reads it, will discover the truth on how split the country was, and how major of a political and moral divide the issue of slavery was. In addition to the unknown support, another interesting fact not very well known, until this book is read, is the greater plot that was meant to happen. Booth had not only planned to assassinate the president, but through co-conspirators, he also planned to assassinate the vice president(Andrew Johnson), as well as Secretary of State Seward. Luckily, none of the other attacks were able to follow through, which were to be made happen by Lewis Powell, George Atzerodt, and David Herold. However, because their plot failed, not many people know of the attack. “This news seemed to prove to Booth the faithful Powell had carried out his mission.” (Swanson 75). Just like