The Short, Happy Life of Abraham Lincoln: His Final Days

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Grant they discussed they discussed affairs of state and things ended with Lincoln sharing a dream he'd had the night before in it he was at the head of a mysterious vessel moving towards a distant shore he was alone Lincoln added that whenever he had that dream and he'd had it many times before during the war something of critical importance transpired I'm convinced something of major significance is about to happen Lincoln told his men when the meeting ended he and his bride Mary took a carriage ride to enjoy the open air and talk about matters of the heart here again is James Swanson during that ride Lincoln told her he knew they'd been very unhappy ever since the death of their 11-year-old son Willie in the white house in 1862 the death count in the civil war over 600,000 had taken its toll on Lincoln too it had been a crushing burden on him and the two of them had grown apart during the war for so many reasons he told Mary we must be happy again Mary even wrote a note later that day about her husband's rejuvenated spirit you alarm me she said because I have never seen you this happy since just before the death of our child just two days before Easter the day Christians around the world celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ Lincoln had experienced a resurrection of his own that night he and Mary attended our American cousin a popular comedy of the day by British playwright Tom Taylor the couple arrived at Ford's theater 30 minutes late and the play was stopped immediately as the band rose and played hail to the chief the crowd went wild they were celebrating their great leader they were also celebrating the end of a terrible war they too had borne the heavy burden of the greatest conflict on American soil they too had the feeling of being reborn that moment may well have been the happiest of Lincoln's life on the day that marked a new and happy beginning to Lincoln's life and the nation's John Wilkes Booth was plotting to make it the president's last here's James Swanson on booth the 26-year-old was one of the most popular actors in America exceedingly handsome and athletic women and men would stop in the street to watch him as he passed generous vain funny egomaniacal politically motivated to be a lover of the south and a supporter of slavery who once said slavery is the best thing that ever happened to the black man on the day Lincoln gave his last speech from the white house grounds booth was present seated not far from him when Lincoln spoke to the adoring crowd about giving blacks the right to vote booth turned to a confederate sympathizer he knew well and said that's the last speech he'll ever give it turns out booth had considered killing Lincoln before at the president's second inaugural address he sat a mere 50 feet from the man he hated here's James Swanson getting drunk at a bar shortly after that booth pounded his fist on the table and said to a friend what an excellent chance i had to kill the president on inauguration day he was almost as close to me as you are now then came the catalyst that drove booth into action while visiting Ford's theater mid-day to pick up his mail a woman told the actor that Lincoln was attending the play that night that according to James Swanson set off the imaginary clock counting down in booth's head what motivated one of the leading actors of his day to do such a thing again James Swanson Lincoln was an American Caesar to booth he wanted to punish Lincoln the tyrant he hoped to change history and of course he wanted eternal fame he had it in his lifetime but booth wanted to be immortalized as a southerner and ultimately an American patriot the rest of the story what Herman Melville called that bloody awful night is embedded in the American memory the details of the assassination notwithstanding what booth did that night was what James Swanson called a new art form performance assassination booth wasn't on a suicide mission he had an actual escape plan what he really wanted Swanson noted was to be seen and celebrated again here's James Swanson when he crept to the president's box and shot Lincoln and jumped to the stage of Ford's theater booth wasn't wearing a disguise he hadn't shaved his mustache he did nothing to conceal himself when he turned to the audience and faced them and cried out the state motto of Virginia that motto six semper tyrannis is a Latin phrase meaning thus always to tyrants those words were followed by the last words booth ever uttered on an American stage the south is avenged as he left the stage he exulted to himself and only few people heard it I have done it booth then escaped to the back of the theater jumped on his waiting horse and rode off into the night the largest manhunt in American history ensued booth was found 12 days later outside of Port Royal Virginia trapped in a tobacco barn the cavalry set the building on fire to force him out when he reached for his rifle or the door when he reached for his rifle and headed for the door sergeant Boston Corbett pulled his pistol and fired only once striking booth in the neck and severing his spine he would die within hours a slow miserable death back at Ford's theater on Good Friday America's beloved president lay dying in his box he was attended by three doctors who had concluded quickly that the wound and that the theater was simply not an appropriate place for a man like him to die so those men carried him from his box down the stairs and into the street looking for a place to make the president of the United States as comfortable as he possibly could be in the few hours of life he had left to live a person staying at the Peterson house just across the street from Ford's theater was quick to help the doctors rushed Lincoln in and took him directly to the back of the bedroom where he died the next morning on April 15th as he died that night a light cold rain began to fall over Washington it was as if the very heavens wept at the loss of our beloved president thus ended the short happy life of the great emancipator Abraham Lincoln the opening stanza of Walt Whitman's epic poem when lilacs last in the door yard bloomed captured the nation's grief in ways mere prose could not when lilacs last in the door yard bloomed and the great star early drooped in the western sky in the night I mourned and yet shall mourn with ever returning spring ever returning spring trinity sure to me you bring lilac blooming perennial and drooping star in the west and thought of him I love the short happy life of president Abraham Lincoln his final days here on Our American Stories have you ever wondered what it would be like to have supervision enhanced hearing extraordinary reflexes to be dare we say superhuman well Roku's new pro series tv can't do any of that for you but with a 4k screen side firing speakers and a blazing fast refresh rate it'll sure feel like it elevate your entertainment using all your favorite apps like iHeart and play all 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