Historical question

What is known about both of the body guards? Why was the regular guard away?

Smells like a new conspiracy to me :)

First of all, remember that John Wilkes Booth was one of those creative/artistic sorts. Imagine if George Clooney was in charge of a serious effort to overthrow the government. It would be planned about as well.

AFAIK, also, it was the custom of the time that people could actually approach and speak to the President, so perhaps Booth was planning on shaking hands and shooting?

We'll never know.

And about the last thing we need is YAFC.

Booth apparently had free run of the theater as a well-known actor who performed there.

As a stage technician it makes sense to me. A modern rock tour by a B-level band is better secured than Lincoln, but people without passes frequently walk into secure areas because they are familiar-looking, assumed to have legitimate business, or simply look like they know where they're going so they are not stopped.

Booth undoubtely figured that the odds were in his favor of getting through one way or another. It would be like Brad Pitt showing up at the back door of Sesame Street On Ice and expecting backstage access.

I love the INTARWEBZTUBESTHINGY...can find about anything you are interested in. Apparently at least Mrs. Lincoln took him to task, but unaccountably he had been assigned to guarrd duty in the Whitehouse even after Lincoln was dead.

http://home.att.net/~rjnorton/Lincoln61.html

One of Lincoln's other bodyguards, William H. Crook, said of Parker: "Had he done his duty, I believe President Lincoln would not have been murdered by Booth. Parker knew he had failed in duty. He looked like a convicted criminal the next day. He was never the same man afterward."

Mrs. Lincoln was reported to have orally taken Parker (who possibly was a relative of hers) to task one evening at the White House. According to Elizabeth Keckley Mrs. Lincoln was overheard blaming him for her husband's murder. Soon after the assassination Parker was the guard assigned to protect Mrs. Lincoln one night. She yelled at him, "So you are on guard tonight - on guard in the White House after helping to murder the president." Parker replied, "Pardon me, but I did not help to murder the president... I could never stoop to murder - much less to the murder of so good and great a man as the president." Mrs. Lincoln indicated she didn't believe him. Parker then continued, "I did wrong, I admit, and have bitterly repented... I did not believe any one would try to kill so good a man in such a public place, and the belief made me careless. I was attracted by the play, and did not see the assassin enter the box." Mrs. Lincoln told him she would always believe he was guilty and with a wave of her hand, she motioned for him to leave the room.

Question is, was any link found between any of the guards and those conspiring to kill Lincoln?

Kind of odd for his guard to just 'go drinking'.

The simplest answer to me is that Booth was an idiot. Even though planning to fire at point blank range how sure could anyone be that an 1860's black powder pistol is even going to go off? If you go to the trouble to plan an assassination, and then take a single shot pistol ... not very good contingency planning there.

It wasn't the first time Booth tried to approach Lincoln. He had tried about the time of the inauguration and my ggggfather, Capt. SS Blackford, later chief of the Capitol Police, had Booth or at least someone who looked a lot like Booth, removed from the area.

There are other discussions about the 2nd inauguration online.

Anything is possible.

Dominus providebit!

http://blindflaneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/lincoln_second_inaugural_address.jpg

STEVE:
The simplest answer to me is that Booth was an idiot. Even though planning to fire at point blank range how sure could anyone be that an 1860's black powder pistol is even going to go off? If you go to the trouble to plan an assassination, and then take a single shot pistol ... not very good contingency planning there.

A couple of points:

1. Booth seems to have had a bit of warped sportsmanship about him. He had access to at least one revolver, but chose not to use it.

2. Guns back then were pretty damned reliable. Part of the reason why they have a reputation for not being reliable today is that most people who try them don't have the accumulated wisdom to make them work consistently.

It's fairly simple to make sure a caplock pistol like the one Booth used is going to work reliably: Keep it clean, especially the nipple and drum that are the heart of the ignition system. Keep your powder dry. Use quality powder and caps.

You follow a few simple steps, and you can be 99% certain that your gun will go "BANG" when you ask it to.

Lincoln sent his regular bodyguard home for some time off. He wasn't derelict or in on any conspiracy, his employer simply wanted him to have some time off.

>Mrs. Lincoln was reported to have orally taken Parker (who possibly was a relative of hers) to task one evening at the White House.

Verbally would seem to be a better word to use in the intended context here than "orally".

At least in this day and age.

"AFAIK, also, it was the custom of the time that people could actually approach and speak to the President, so perhaps Booth was planning on shaking hands and shooting?"

I recall reading that prior to the Civil War, there was no security for the President. People would walk in off the street to visit the White House. There was even a vandalism problem, in that the visitors would snip pieces of cloth from the drapes to take home as souvenirs. It wasn't until the Civil War started that a guard was posted at the White House.

Such a different time.

CDR D, that was a quote from the cited link, not my words. Everything below the link was taken from the linked doc...

:-)

LCDR Doug in Colorado (RET)

>CDR D, that was a quote from the cited link, not my words. Everything below the link was taken from the linked doc...

:-)

LCDR Doug in Colorado (RET)

I know. I should have added a "smiley" to my post.

Best,

Dave