Summary Of Chasing Lincoln's Killer

580 Words3 Pages

Behind the Scenes with Lincoln’s Death
Chasing Lincoln’s Killer certainly changes the question; How was Lincoln killed? Who killed him? In Chasing Lincoln’s Killer the Civil War had come to a conclusion. Yes all were happy except for the federalists, especially John Wilkes Booth. Booth not being satisfied with the way the war ended, started to plot a plan to kill the president, A.K.A: President Lincoln. Booth couldn’t do it alone and he begins to grab partners who also do not feel happy about how the Civil War is going on. All together Booth, Powell, Herold, and Atzerodt will try to kill the Secretary of State, Vice President Johnson, and President Lincoln. In which some will succeed and some will not. Swanson’s purpose was clear as he wrote his book Chasing Lincoln’s Killer; He wished to …show more content…

When the war ended Booth began to plot to kill the president. So the story begins with a look into the mind of a killer. According to Swanson in Chasing Lincoln’s Killer he stated that Booth said after Inauguration Day (where presidency is handed over to the new president,) “What an excellent chance I had, if I wished, to kill the president on Inauguration Day! I was on the stand, as close to him nearly as I am to you.”pg.5. This is when Booth starts to plan to kill the President of The United States, and there was no better chance or place, than to do it inside the Ford’s theater. Booth’s weapons were choose carefully, first he wanted a gun as his primary weapon, one that wouldn’t arouse the crowd nor miss the president. His secondary weapon was a knife, just in case the gun had missed. Swanson stated that , “There were two types of preparation: practical and mental. First, the weapons. Booth chose as his primary weapon a .44