What people tend to forget is the conspirators weren’t just after Lincoln; they wanted to decapitate the US government. Besides Lincoln, they went after VP Johnson, the Sec’y of War, and General Grant (who was supposed to be at Ford’s that night). It’s hard to imagine the outcome if they had been successful. I have to imagine that Reconstruction would have been much harsher for one thing.
John Wilkes Booth thought he’d become a National Hero to the South. As it was, most Southerners were horrified at what he did.
JW Booth frightened Mrs. Grant that afternoon by driving by her carriage and peering into it.
Thanks. That’s why I posted this today. We are living through the same situation right now. Plotters, seditionists, a huge cabal of treasonists have been working to essentially decapitate our government. The difference how they were handled in 1865 vs today could not Ben more stark. The U.S. was a serious country back then.