Killing Lincoln- Book

Killing Lincoln by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard

I will start by explaining what studying the Civil War was like in high school for me.  I moved from Oregon to Louisiana just before high school.  To most of the smaller town Louisiana folks the whole time I was there I was the "damn Yankee".  Did not matter that Oregon was not even a state during the Civil War.  I heard it all the time.  Mostly it was good natured.  Sometimes not.  So being the only "Yankee" in the room when the Civil War was being discussed was not really much fun.  I glossed over it as much as I could and still make a B.  I say that because most of what was discussed in this fantastic book by Bill O'Reilly was new to me.

The book begins a couple weeks before the end of the Civil War as the North has cut off the supplies to the South and General Lee.  General Grant cuts off the South's attempt to retreat to North Carolina where supplies and reinforcements are thus ending the war.  O'Reilly and his fact finder Martin Dugard go into amazing detail describing the battles and the amazing amount of death and destruction there was.  More Americans died in one day than in whole wars now.  The surrender meeting between Lee and Grant is so detailed you wonder if O'Reilly was there.

Once the War was over Lincoln faced the huge uphill battle of mending the sides.  Many on the North were set upon punishing the South and many on the South were not willing to admit defeat and move on. Lincoln seemed to foresee  his death but pushed forward with the country's business.

It was amazing the difference between then and now.  Back then the front door to the White House was left unlocked where most anyone could walk in.  It was common for lobbyist to sleep on the floor in the hallways near the Presidents bedroom in hopes of talking with him when he walked down the halls to use the bathroom.

The book goes into detail on how Booth thought of himself as a patriot and felt the South would look upon him as a hero.  He felt if he could just get out of town and to the South he would be treated like a king and planned to retire to Mexico.  There were plans to kill General Grant the same night, but Grants wife did not like Mrs. Lincoln and took an earlier train to avoid spending the evening with them.

Amazing to me there was only one soldier guarding the President when he and his wife went to the Theater.  That soldier left his post as the play started.  He proceeded to get drunk and never came back yet he was never punished in any way.

In the manhunt for Booth after the killing there were 80+ soldiers that drown while searching the swamps.   It was many days later before they caught Booth.  Had he not broke his ankle he very well may have got away.

O'Reilly keeps the pace going and tells the story in a way that is interesting and does not come across as a history lesson.  I liked the way he wrapped up the book with a "where are they now" with all the main characters telling what happened to the rest of their lives after the killing.

I enjoyed this book greatly and highly recommend it.