[NC]A fairy tale, retold endlessly, is a fairy tale.
Odd that the Booth quote receives full faith and credit from someone who insists a twice documented meeting between Butler and Lincoln 'never happened.'
There is no doubt that Booth promised to kill Lincoln based on the 4/11/65 spech when Lincoln publicly advocated voting rights for blacks.
"Lincoln's address on April 11 triggered Booth's shift from thought to action. In the crowd outside the White House that evening, he heard the President recommend suffrage for blacks who were educated or had served in the Union armies. "That means nigger citizenship," the actor muttered, and he vowed, "That is the last speech he will ever make." He urged Paine to shoot the President on the spot. When Paine refused, Booth turned in disgust to his other companion, David Herold, and exclaimed, "By God, I'll put him through."
-- "Lincoln" p. 588, by David Donald
This account is well supported. What Butler wrote cannot be. It cannot be considered as part of any reasonable interpretation.
Walt