THE DARK LEGACY OF THE LINCOLN ASSASSINATION

- April 13, 2013

The death of national leaders have consequences. Serbian nationalists assassinated Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie, which led to WW1 and ultimately the rise of Hitler. If Franklin Roosevelt, who was anti-colonialist, had been able to finish his time in office, he might have been able to prevent France from reclaiming Indo- China. This most likely would have prevented our war in Vietnam and the needless deaths of 58,000 American's. The assassination of Kennedy resurrected the political career of one of the most corrupt and ruthless politicians of all time, Lyndon Johnson. If not for the death of Kennedy Johnson's name would be a mere footnote in American history. His War in Vietnam and his War on poverty damaged the American family and this country in countless ways. Kennedy's death led to the rise of the radical political anti- American left that we are dealing with today. In fairness, however; Johnson deserves much credit for advancing the cause of civil rights. Then there was the dark legacy Lincoln's death.

Abraham Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth at Fords Theater in Washinton D.C on April 14, 1865. Ford's theater was one of the most interesting places that I have ever had the pleasure of visiting. I was a chaperone with my granddaughter Courtney Segroves Winfrey's 4th grade class on a field trip to Washington in 1996. This past Saturday, July 27, 2019 I returned for a second visit. There is a neat museum in the basement which displays Booth's derringer that was used to kill Lincoln. It also has the bloodstained pillow which rested under Lincoln's head at the Peterson House. This was the boarding house where Lincoln was carried to across the street and died there in a tiny room at 7:22 A.M. the next morning April 15th. The museum also has the original door to Lincoln's box and many other artifacts.

Much has been written about the Lincoln assassination and I don't know that I can add all that much. The only thing I wish to say is that Lincoln was the best friend that the South had. The South quickly realized this upon the news of his death. There was no general celebration in the South. Lincoln was a political genius, and would have, in my view, been able to pull off a successful reconstruction. His original plan was to allow Southern states to re-enter the Union if ten percent of the voters in the 1860 election would sign loyalty oaths which would be the basis for applying for readmission to the Union. Lincoln had many enemies among the radical Republicans, who wanted the South to suffer. They felt that Lincoln was going too easy on them. The death of Lincoln elevated Andrew Johnson into the presidency. This caused the Republicans to stiffen their resolve. Johnson was not trusted because he was a Democrat and a Southerner. Johnson was simply trying to fulfill Lincoln's plan for reconstruction but he got off to a bad start. He granted amnesty to former Confederates and allowed the ex Confederate states to elect new governments. Many of these states enacted Black codes designed to force the former slaves to return the plantations in order to harvest the crops of Southern planters. The ones who refused were arrested and basically re-enslaved. When the new Congress convened in December 1865 it refused to seat the newly elected Southern congressmen.

In 1866 Johnson vetoed the Freedman Bureau bill and the Civil Rights bill. When congress passed the 14th Amendment Johnson urged the Southern states not to ratify it but it was passed in 1868 over Johnson's objections. Eventually five military districts were established and Union troops occupied most of the South until 1877. This occupation caused much resistance and also helped spur the growth of the Ku-Klux Klan and Southern reactionism. In my view Lincoln was the only man alive that could have avoided this because he was a political genius. He had the ability to influence congress which was evident during the fight to ratify the 13th Amendment that ended slavery. Johnson was simply trying to carry out what he thought were Lincoln's wishes but he lacked Lincoln's political skill. As a strict constitutionalist, Johnson did not look at the Southern states as ever having left the Union. Like Lincoln he believed that secession was illegal. This is why both men wanted to make it as easy as possible for the Southern states to resume business as soon as possible in their respective state governments. Additionally, Johnson was a strong believer in states rights. He believed on constitutional grounds that the Freedman Bureau Bill, and the Civil Rights Bill violated the concept of states rights. The radical Republicans on the other hand wanted the South to pay a price for secession and for the war. In addition they were rightfully enraged at the South's mistreatment of the former slaves. In their view the South was to be treated as a defeated nation that would have to go through a radical transformation before being allowed back in. The real tragedy of Lincoln's death is that he did not get the same chance to win the peace as he did for winning the war.