[Non-Sequitur]

Just imagine the boldness of Booth’s plan and the consequences if it had succeeded. Grant cancelled, or he likely would have been in Lincoln’s box with him. Killing the President and General Grant at the theater with Johnson and Seward killed in their homes. Would the Confederacy used the ensuing chaos to continue the fight?

The question then becomes, with what? Lee had surrendered. Johnston was being chased by Sherman. Davis was on the run. Nobody was left to rally around.

Would resconstruction have been more brutal and unforgiving?

I think Southern intransigence would have led to some sort of sanctions. Now whether they would be as severe as Reconstruction was? I doubt it. Reconstruction was also fueled by the memory of a martyred former president and the actions of a weak current one. With Lincoln in office both of those would be missing.

Just amazing to think about how the entire world would have changed if Booth’s plan had worked.

How much for the better would it have been if it had failed entirely?

[Anitius Severinus Boethius]

I agree, I think that Lincoln was legally wrong but pragmatically right to try and hold the Union together. I think he understood this as well and would have been much more accommodating of the Southern political and military leadership.