Killing Lincoln The Shocking Assassination That Changed America Forever Summary

Doris Kearns Goodwin paints a new face of Lincoln, and intertwines the separate lives of each cabinet member. She does not only talk about their struggles of working together in office, but also shares the personal lives and political careers of these men before that time. Each of them had previously been on separate paths, but

Killing Lincoln, written by Bill O’Reilly uncovers the mystery behind the killing of one of our most famous Presidents. As the Civil War begins to come to its final resolution, General Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant have one last showdown. As the Union begins to converge on the southern forces, not only are is Lee severally outgunned and out manned, but he is outwitted and out lasted. President Lincoln takes refuge on a boat during his “working vacation”, and diligently keeps track of his army via telegram. The president has come so far in his efforts to put down this secession, he has informed Grant to give a lenient surrender to the south.

Chapter 1 of Chasing Lincoln’s Killer by James L. Swanson is about the assassination plan of Abraham Lincoln by John Wilkes Booth. This assassination plan had strengths and weaknesses. John Wilkes Booth was a twenty-six year old actor who was a strong, loyal, and passionate confederate. Booth and his conspirators had a mission to take down some of the top leaders of the United States of America - the President Abraham Lincoln, Vice President Johnson, and U.S Secretary of State William Seward. In assessing this plan, which is similar to any other assassination plan, it includes good and bad situations with conspirators, location/time, and also weapons.

What facts did you learn from reading this nonfiction or biography? How does this nonfiction/biography compare to others that you have read? Explain. “Killing Lincoln” by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard is a fascinating and in depth read. It thoroughly explains the details leading up to the event of Lincoln’s assassination and the event itself that changed America forever.

The book is very fast paced and for people unfamiliar with the Lincoln assassination can seem very riveting. The pace is given praise by Brian Odom when he claims that Killing Lincoln is a “fast paced, enthralling narrative that unfolds more like a true-crime” (Odom). The pictures of those involved in these historical events help to clarify and to paint the scene. The maps also help people that are unfamiliar of the geography in and around Washington, understand the layout of the area around the capitol city. Killing Lincoln is quite fast paced and functions well to an audience that is looking to simply familiarize themselves with the events of Lincoln’s death.

Late on a April night in 1865, the unthinkable became true. America’s president had been assassinated. In 1865, a lot changed for Americans who were in love with their president after president Lincoln was shot. There are many conspiracy theories questioning who was involved, for what reasons, and the bigger reason the assassination was planed. The fate of those responsible will also be examined.

Lincoln had many people that tried to assassinate him. There was only one that succeeded in killing Lincoln. He was careful with his methods and process. John Wilkes Booth was the man that killed Abraham Lincoln at Ford 's Theater. Nine months before Lincoln was assassinated someone else tried to kill Lincoln in August of 1864.

There are many different books that tell the story of the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. One such book is Killing Lincoln, written by Bill O’Reilly. This book is not only about the assassination of President Lincoln, but it’s about the end of the Civil War too. O’Reilly’s Killing Lincoln has many strengths and weaknesses, overall, it’s a good book.

Five days after the Confederacy’s surrender, John Wilkes Booth had successfully killed one of the most influential presidents in American history to do what he believed would redeem power to the southern states. Booth’s main goal was to tear down the Union’s government by taking down their leader and his successors, but the original plan did not involve the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. Historian Christopher Hammer explained in his article "Booth's Reason for Assassination", the former actor had created a group of co conspirators and designed "a ploy on March 17 to capture Lincoln as he traveled in his carriage [and had] collapsed when the president changed his itinerary—and several of Booth’s conspirators ultimately left the group.” (Teaching History). Since the failed capture of the president, Booth hatred towards Lincoln grew after hearing the president’s goal to officially abolish slavery in his Second Presidential

“John” notes that Booth’s family was a renowned acting dynasty at the time of the Civil War. Booth himself was an ardent supporter of slavery with a burning hatred for Abraham Lincoln (Britannica.com). “Assassination,” suggests that Booth’s hatred of Lincoln may have been caused in part Lincoln’s undemocratic practices. The President deemed censorship of speeches and newspapers necessary during the Civil War. Additionally, the President was able to suspend any writ of habeas corpus, which prevented trials from taking place (2009).

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that,” Martin Luther Kink Jr. once said. This applies to the Civil War especially. The three works, Chasing Lincoln’s Killer by James L. Swanson, Killing Lincoln produced by National Geographic, and the excerpt from The Plot to Kill Lincoln by Karen Zeinhert all use the imagery of light and darkness when talking about Abraham Lincoln, John Wilkes Booth, and the Civil War in general, though they do not all elaborate on all of the conspirators involved.

Sarah Vowell embarks on a historical pilgrimage in which she explores nearly every historical site associated with the first three presidential assassinations. In this trip to Buffalo, Alaska, Washington, and the Dry Tortugas, she explores the deaths of Presidents Lincoln, Garfield, and Mckinley along with a few controversial topics regarding their assassinations. She makes various off-topic stops throughout the journey, such as conspiracy theories regarding John Wilkes Booth’s mummy, and Robert Todd Lincoln, referred to as “Jinxy McDeath” who was present at all three of the presidential murders.

James L. Swanson Chasing Lincoln’s Killer 2009 Chasing Lincoln’s Killer is a book about the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, a past United States of America president. The introduction of the book is how John Wilkes Booth, Lincoln’s killer, and his accomplices, made a plan to kidnap the American president, but their plan failed. So, John Wilkes Booth and his little gang decide to kill the President, the Vice President, and the Secretary of State in one night. John Wilkes Booth would kill the president at Ford’s theater, His accomplice George Atzerodt would kill the Vice President at the Vice President’s hotel room. Lewis Powell and David Herold would kill the Secretary of State.

I would recommend this book to someone who is into history and Abraham Lincoln. Growing up I used to think Abraham Lincoln was cool and inspiring. This book has helped me realize who Lincoln was. This book is really good at going into details from every aspect of Lincoln 's life. This book starts from the very beginning to the the very end of Lincoln.

In conclusion, Abrahams assassination was needless because he was the first to have sympathy for slaves and made sure it ended and he lead America better than most other presidents.one thing to take from this essay is to support the correct leaders and dont support the incorrect