Chasing Lincoln's Killer

“Twenty-six years old, impossibly vain, an extremely talented actor, and a star member of a celebrated theatrical family, John Wilkes Booth was willing to throw away fame, wealth, and a promising future for the cause of the Confederacy.” 

This quote throws Booth’s overweening hubris in stark relief and points to possible motives. While he may have legitimately cared more for the Confederacy than himself, his “star[dom]” inside and outside his family led him to strive for what he would consider heroism, however misguided.

“If he was serious about assassinating Lincoln, all he had to do was stroll over to the Executive Mansion, announce that the famous actor John Wilkes Booth wished to see the president, await his turn—which nearly always resulted in a private talk with Lincoln—and then shoot Lincoln at his desk.” 

Here Swanson implies that the successful assassination was just as victim to random happenstance as the rest of the events in the novel. Modern audiences assume orchestrated conspiracies, but the events depicted in Chasing Lincoln’s Killer remind readers that history-changing events occur in an everyday manner and aren’t necessarily under anyone’s control. In addition, this quote signifies that Booth’s motives weren’t necessarily pure, even by his own evil standards. He didn’t simply want Lincoln dead; he wanted to assassinate Lincoln in as public a way possible where he still had a chance of escape. 

“None of Booth’s conspirators knew it, but Booth had already implicated all of them! He entrusted a sealed envelope to a friend and fellow actor, who was to see that the letter it contained was published tomorrow in the newspaper. In the letter, not only did Booth justify the triple assassination, but he signed his henchmen’s names to the document as well, sealing their fates.” 

Here it is made clear that Booth’s motives were for fame and glory, and loyalty was not one of his attributes. He took it upon himself to take credit for the deeds and didn’t allow his compatriots the dignity of deciding whether to reveal themselves. This may help explain why he had the type of personality to follow through with the assassination and attempted escape while Powell failed and Atzerodt abdicated entirely

“At this supreme moment, the people cheered the man who, after a shaky start in office, learned how to command armies, brought down slavery, and became a most eloquent and moving speaker. And as he promised he would, he saved the Union. Lincoln stood in the box and bowed to the audience.” 

The nature of Chasing Lincoln’s Killer focuses more on Booth than on the President, but this quote reminds the reader of what good Lincoln did, and that despite his end his Presidency was heroic. While the book’s focus may seem salacious, this quote shows that the reason readers are so fascinated by the topic is because Lincoln was revered by so many people. 

“The comic line spoken by Harry Hawk, ‘You sockdologizing old mantrap,’ was followed by an explosion of laughter from the audience. The black powder charge exploded and spit the bullet toward Lincoln’s head.” 

This quote crystallizes the disjunct between what was happening in the theatre and what Booth was doing—a hallmark of tragicomedy. The careful description of the gun’s firing intensifies readers’ focus on the event and ironically highlights the natural human fascination with the macabre to the point of Barnumism. 

“Cox helped them decide on their next move. He told Booth there was only one man who could get them safely across the Potomac River. That man was Thomas Jones.” 

Tomas Jones here is portrayed as an honorable thief. Capable, level headed, and fair in his way, he is the only man responsible and knowledgeable enough to ferry his fellow Confederates to safety. If the entire assassination plot had been conducted by men like Tomas, it may have successfully reignited the war.

In these moments, Swanson might be mistaken for defending the Confederacy (and thereby the institution of slavery), because of the romantic way he describes the felons. The reader might be swept up in the drama of the narrative and accidentally start rooting for Booth and his accomplices, which is a morally indefensible position. 

“At the Executive Mansion, the soldiers carried the body in its temporary coffin to the second floor for an autopsy. Cutting open Abraham Lincoln’s brain and body served little scientific purpose. The surgeons already knew what had killed him—a single bullet through the brain. They hid their morbid curiosity behind the shield of scientific investigation.”

Here Swanson highlights that even those with ostensibly good intentions are apt to exploit opportunities as they present themselves. These doctors may have faded into history, but their egos delineate themselves as “the doctors who saw Lincoln inside and out.” Lincoln’s body was treated with no more reverence in those immediate moments after death than an average person, and no one intervened on his behalf. Not only were social structures (and the administrative red tape they entail) far less developed at the time to prevent exploiting the dead, but science was also a less exacting profession. Doctors had yet to be licensed, and while discouraged, bloodletting was still common practice. It is in part due to calamities like the way the Lincoln assassination was handled that created much of the state structures we work with today. 

“Mudd remained calm and did not betray the secret known, at this moment, to him alone: America’s most wanted man was hiding in a farmhouse, less than five miles away!” 

Mudd here is depicted as a man of vastly different character to Booth. While Booth craved fame and glory above compatriotism, Mudd remained loyal and steadfast to protect his partners. Again, the moral ambiguity Swanson elicits here of an honorable thief walks dangerously close to the line of sympathizing with the Confederacy and the assassins.