I Saw John Wilkes Booth Shoot Abraham Lincoln.

[Tomconroy]

The show is I've Got A Secret, and boy does this guy have one!

[thucythucy]

1. Lincoln's assassination

and that of RFK were two events that hugely damaged this nation.

Had Lincoln lived reconstruction would have gone very differently. He supported seizing the huge estates of the major rebel/slave owners--as was allowed under the law--and dividing the land and awarding it to newly freed Blacks and poor whites. The first thing Johnson did after taking the oath of office was to remove juresdiction of all traitor lands from the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands and essentially giving it back to the traitors.

This land reform Lincoln (which was also supported by Progressive Republicans) would have given poor whites an investment in the new South, which might have gone a long way to breaking the back of the white supremacist oligarchy.

And I think RFK would have beat Nixon in 1968, which would have been another pivot for the best. The continuation of Great Society programs and a much earlier end to the American occupation of Vietnam would have followed.

We're still suffering from the acts of those two murderers. In Booth's case his act was one of white supremacist terrorism, pure and simple.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

2. It's not certain that RFK would have gotten the nomination in 1968.

The hard reality is this: Bobby Kennedy would most likely not have won the presidency, because he was already on track to lose his party’s nomination. In 1968 only 15 states chose their delegates by primary. Almost three-fifths of conventional delegates were selected by county committeemen, state party officers and elected officials, and those officials were squarely behind Humphrey.

Here's the article I got that from: https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/06/05/rfk-bobby-kennedy-myth-legend-history-218593/

[Tomconroy]

3. I lived through it and think it would have been tough for Bobby to win.

I read somewhere Bobby said after being declared the winner
in California that "Dailey is the whole ballgame now". Meaning Mayor Richard Dailey of Chicago who controlled the Illinois delegation and had great influence in the party. Just hard to know.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

8. I was around then also.

Not quite old enough to vote in 1968.

The first hurdle was actually getting the nomination, and again, he didn't have the delegates even after his California win, and those controlling the rest of the delegate selection were not fans of RFK.

[thucythucy]

4. It's impossible to know now, of course.

And yes it would have been a struggle. But the Kennedys did have support even among traditional Democrats (that is to say, not Peacenik McCarthy supporters) and they also had access to an incredible ground game apparatus, both outside and inside the convention. RFK was that rare candidate who had support among white working class Dems, antiwar Dems, and people of color.

But Chicago would have been a mess, no matter what the outcome. I often wonder though if there might not have been a Humphrey/Kennedy ticket. Humphrey was after all secretly conflicted about the war, and certainly after Tet but even before only publicly supported it out of loyalty to LBJ (who went out of his way to screw him anyway). Aside from his red baiting past in the 50s, Humphrey was to the left of LBJ, which is generally forgotten now because of his association with that disastrous war.

But it's all now a game of what-if.

[Tomconroy]

5. Bobby and Hubert were friends. Either might have accepted the VP

With the other at the top of the ticket. And you'd think either ticket would have beaten Nixon.

[thucythucy]

7. So much of history that now seems inevitable

was up for grabs while it was happening.

I went to the Democratic Convention in Miami Beach in '72 (which rather betrays my age).

People forget that coming out of the convention Nixon and McGovern were tied in the polls. Then came the Eagleton disaster, and the whole campaign went into free fall.

But it was a nice giddy moment while it lasted.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

9. The likelihood of RFK actually getting the nomination was pretty slim.

I'll repost:

Almost three-fifths of conventional delegates were selected by county committeemen, state party officers and elected officials, and those officials were squarely behind Humphrey.

Essentially, Humphrey lost because he was clearly seen as just a continuation of LBJ and the very unpopular Vietnam War. Nixon promised he had some kind of secret plan to end the war, which was totally a lie, but so many Americans were tired of the war by 1968 that they were willing to hope he did have some kind of a plan.

The game of what-if can lead to some amazing alternate history scenarios. Alas, I don't think anyone has ever written one that involves RFK being elected President in 1968. Nor, to the best of my knowledge, has anyone written an alternate history in which JFK was not murdered in Dallas. If anyone who reads this knows of any such, please, please let me know. I do love alternate history novels.

[appalachiablue]

6. I've seen this great eye witness testimony, and recommend

people visiting DC take the time to tour Ford's Theatre and also Peterson House, the private home across the street where Lincoln was taken after being shot.

I attended a Civil War era music concert at Ford's and the site offers theatrical plays and events throughout the year. There are also excellent exhibits of related artifacts and personal belongings of Lincoln.

The property is administered by the National Park Service which does a great job interpreting the site and conveying an authentic historic atmosphere reflective of the period and tragedy.

(I'm a museum specialist in history & art with most of my career work at institutions in the DC area).



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford%27s_Theatre

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

10. Perhaps 25 years ago, on a trip to DC, I went to Ford's theater.

I of course knew most of the story of the assassination, but to see the theater itself was amazing.

Have you ever read Henry and Clara by Thomas Mallon? For those who don't know it, look at this engraving.



The couple there with the President and Mrs. Lincoln are Henry Rathbone and Clara Harris, who actually were at the theater, seated with the First Couple that night. The novel tells the story of Henry and Clara, who grew up as step-brother and step-sister when his father and her mother died, and the surviving parents married each other. Eventually they fell in love, and were determined to marry, despite a lot of opposition from all sides. Their life together was turbulent, to say the least. I'd never heard of either of them, although I've always been familiar with the above engraving, just never thought about who those two other people were.

I read the last twenty pages with my mouth dropped open, as Mallon tells you what eventually happened to the two of them. This is an incredible book, clearly well-researched, and I'd recommend it to one and all. Heck, I have more than once been in a bookstore, fallen into conversation with another customer, and wound up selling that book.

Actually, everything of Mallon's that I've read is excellent.

[appalachiablue]

11. Sounds like a very intriguing story, it rings a bell, thanks for the

suggestion. Many interesting and strange things happened related to that tragedy including Robert Todd Lincoln, the eldest son encountering Booth's older brother, Edwin twice- once on a train trip when young Robt. was travelling from college to Washington, almost fell from the platform in N.J. and Edwin Booth rescued him. They met again later in life but I can't recall the occasion.

https://www.historynet.com/edwin-booth-saved-robert-todd-lincolns-life-2.htm