I agree that we should have a separate Lincoln and Washington birthday.
From what I remember, Booth was in and out all day at Ford’s theater - one of his ne’er do well conspirators, Ned Spangler, was there that day. He would eventually hold Booth’s horse after the assassination. I do remember, though, that the guard at Lincoln’s box had slipped away. I think Booth had fooled with the lock of the box that afternoon - or created a peephole. He was very well-known in the theater community, lived in a hotel in Washington and would get his Dutch courage from the bar next door to Ford’s.
Lincoln also had a terrible dream that he had died and was lying in state.
I recommend to anyone who loves Lincoln to read Gore Vidal’s wonderful novel “Lincoln.”
The author said that Wilkes was the head of the conspiracy, but there was someone they captured who was in on it. He alluded that they had more nefarious plans for President Lincoln, that might have included kidnapping and torture.
“I think Booth had fooled with the lock of the box that afternoon - or created a peephole. “
Booth had drilled a peephole in the door to Lincoln’s box.
In the dim dark past of my childhood they had the door on display at Ford’s as I recall- Ford’s wasn’t restored at the time, just a sort of empty warehouse. Sic Semper Tyrannis.
And didn’t Booth once save Lincoln’s son from being killed by a train?