Killing Lincoln, by Bill O’Reilly & Martin Dugard, highlights the backstory behind one of America’s most famous assassinations: the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. Within the book’s pages, O’Reilly and Dugard delve into the details involving the ending of the Civil War and the meticulous planning done by John Wilkes Booth in order to assassinate the President. What makes this novel most compelling is the incredible attention to small details that O’Reilly and Dugard make sure are included in the book. The book fully validates O’Reilly in the beginning of the book where he writes “the story you are about to read is true and truly shocking” (O’Reilly 1). The book begins on Saturday, March 4, 1865, with Lincoln preparing for his inauguration. O’Reilly describes the exhaustion felt by Lincoln as the full weight of the Civil War is continued to be placed squarely on …show more content…
Although he could kill hundreds of them easily, “killing those husbands and fathers and sons will impede the nation’s healing” (O’Reilly 20). At this point, the war is less about beating the Confederates as it is urging them to surrender in order to rebuild the country. Lincoln rides into Petersburg in order to hold a meeting with General Grant. As they leave, they seem to realize their destinies: “Grant is off the finish an epic war and subsequently to become president himself. Lincoln is off the heal a nation, a noble goal he will not live to see realized” (O’Reilly 24-25). At the time, in Rhode Island, John Wilkes Booth is having a romantic dinner with his fiancée. Booth’s hatred for the President began when Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. Booth began to recruit for his assassination attempt when he became sick. This led him to a new circle of friends, who all shared the same hatred of Lincoln. Booth plans at first to kidnap Lincoln, then decides to kill the President