On this day, 161 years ago, President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth. Just five days earlier, the Civil War officially ended when General Robert E. Lee formally surrendered to General Grant at Appomattox.
The nation went from euphoria to heartbreak in five days. it is difficult to picture being in those times. Just imagine if social media had been around at that time. The nuts who would have pushed loony-toon conspiracy theories and the even bigger nuts who would have taken to Facebook and X, etc. to celebrate the death of the greatest President in American history and heroify (there's a word) the traitor Booth.
Lincoln, a universally beloved figure now, was hardly so when he was alive. He was a deeply complex figure who was put in the right place at the right time by history, as often happens. He was excoriated and deeply hated by his enemies (Booth was merely a symbol of this hate). They really, really didn't like that he was taking their slaves away.
During the 1860 campaign and throughout his Presidency, the slave holders spread vicious lies about him, spewed unimaginable garbage about every aspect of his life, and vowed to do any and everything possible to stop him. Sort of reminds one of Politics 2026.
I'm going to the capitol city of Springfield tomorrow, and Lincoln will be heavily on my mind, as he is every time I walk the same earth Lincoln walked.
@The16thUSPrez
@the_allm @Springfield_Ill
#abrahamlincoln #LincolnLibrary #springfieldil
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John Wilkes Booth shoots Abraham Lincoln | April 14, 1865 | HISTORY