Analysis Of Chasing Lincoln's Killer By James Swanson

Most people know the story of how President Lincoln was assassinated at Ford’s Theater. He was shot in the head by the now infamous, John Wilkes Booth, who then fled the theater, riding a horse south into the former confederate states. He was eventually found and shot, ending a long search. Most people, however, don’t realize how badly he wanted to commit the act. The most important theme in James Swanson’s Chasing Lincoln’s Killer, is that by having extremely strong feelings or very fond beliefs towards a cause, you may end up doing something risky or even insane just to support that cause; which he proves to have been relevant even in the mid-1800’s. Throughout the novel, James Swanson uses John Wilkes Booth’s characterization, especially

Immediately after John Wilkes Booth shoots Lincoln and jumps off of the balcony, a single person listens to the cries from the box to chase Booth. This man was extremely brave to chase Booth, considering that he was the only person in the theater to try to stop the assassin, and that Booth still had a knife. His determination and drive after hearing the cries in the presidential box were enough to make him commit to the crazy action of trying to stop a man with a knife, without having a weapon himself; and even almost succeeding at stopping the president’s assassin. Also, at the end of the search for Booth, the Union soldiers try to get Booth out of the barn he’s staying in by burning it. Their motivation to capture this man was so intense that they even risked killing him just so that they could get him out of the barn. The Union thought at the time that Booth was a confederate spy, so to them, they risked losing valuable information about their enemy, simply to complete their mission. That shows true commitment to their cause. During the manhunt for Lincoln’s assassin, many people did many crazy things just to try and capture Booth, proving that Swanson’s theme was relevant during the