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Lincoln Assassination Conspiracy Theories 89






             The Weirdest Lincoln

          Assassination Conspiracy

                        Theories



                    by Mike Rothschild



        On  April 14, 1865, John  Wilkes Booth shot
        President Abraham Lincoln at Ford’s Theater in
        Washington, D.C.  The president perished the
        next day.  Almost immediately, conspiracy
        theories arose as to what happened, who ordered
        it, and who knew about it. Some of these
        theories revolved around a grand conspiracy put
        into action by high-ranking Confederate leaders.
        Others posited that Lincoln was felled by
        members of his staff - or even his vice president.

        Soon enough, a conspiracy was discovered.
        Booth and others conspired to slay Lincoln, Vice
        President  Andrew Johnson, and others, all to
        avenge the South's defeat in the Civil War. Still,
        in the decades that followed, Lincoln
        assassination conspiracies grew to encompass
        the Catholic Church, Jewish bankers, the
        Confederate Secret Service, various disgruntled
        Republicans, and a cabal of cotton traders. Even
        Mary  Todd Lincoln hasn't been immune from
        accusations.


        Here are some of the wildest and most            husband's demise:                                capture and ransom Lincoln for Confederate
        compelling conspiracies about what happened             “That, that miserable inebriate Johnson, prisoners.  In fact, Booth and his comrades did
        that day in 1865 - and what really happened.     had cognizance of my husband's [passing] - attempt to nab Lincoln - on March 17, 1865.

                                                         Why, was that card of Booth's, found in his box, Booth learned that the president would be
        The Shot Through The Hat                         some acquaintance certainly existed - I have attending a play at a rural military hospital. He
                                                         been deeply impressed, with the harrowing led a number of men to a position on the road
        President Lincoln sometimes worked late into     thought, that he, had an understanding with the outside the hospital to wait for Lincoln to leave,
        the night by himself at the Soldiers Home, three  conspirators & they knew their man.”            at which point they'd ambush his party. But they
        miles from the White House. One night, while            She added: "As sure, as you and I live, never left the hospital, since they were never
        riding to the Soldiers Home by himself, a lone   Johnson, had some hand, in all this..."          there at all.
        shot flew through his hat, sending his horse                                                             Instead, Lincoln changed his plans - or
        running. Lincoln eventually arrived at the Home  The Baltimore Plot                               was never actually planning on attending at all -
        unscathed and told his bodyguards what                                                            and so foiled Booth's scheme.
        happened.                                        Long before Lincoln perished in Ford's Theatre,
               They went back out and indeed found the   other plots emerged that threatened the A Member Of Lincoln's Cabinet
        hat with a hole in it. The shot missed Lincoln's  president's life. One took place before he was Wanted To Capture Him
        head by inches, and it's never been discovered   even in office - the so-called Baltimore Plot.
        who fired it, or why. Lincoln himself believed   With the nation on the verge of civil conflict in  In 1937, author Otto Eisenschiml began
        the shot had been discharged by a careless       February 1861, Allan Pinkerton, President-elect  speculating that Lincoln's passing came not at
        hunter and is alleged to have remarked: "I can't  Lincoln's   personal   bodyguard,     became    the hands of disgruntled Confederates, but his
        bring myself to believe that anyone has shot at  convinced there was a plot afoot to take Lincoln  own secretary of war, Edwin Stanton.  As the
        me or will deliberately shoot at me with the     out in Baltimore as he journeyed to his          theory goes, the fiercely abolitionist Stanton
        deliberate purpose of killing me."               inauguration.                                    opposed Lincoln's charitable attitude toward
                                                                After he was warned, Lincoln proceeded    former Confederates and wanted someone in
        His Vice President Took Him Out                  as planned during the day, but passed through    office who would treat them much more harshly.

                                                         Baltimore in disguise during the middle of the          When Lincoln perished, Stanton led the
        Fringe theorists have long speculated on a link  night. Meanwhile, the Lincoln family used a      manhunt for Booth - supposedly ensuring that
        between Lincoln's second-term vice president,    dummy train to throw off what Pinkerton          his patsy would be taken out. However,
        Andrew Johnson, and John  Wilkes Booth.  A       believed was a cadre of conspirators waiting for  historical scholars have downplayed these
        1997 book called Right or Wrong, God Judge       Lincoln with knives as he changed trains.        theories as based on flawed readings of the
        Me: The Writings  of  John Wilkes  Booth                Lincoln got through Baltimore with no     source material.
        purported to reveal that Johnson contracted the  attempts on his life, and the existence of the plot
        slaying out to Booth.                            was never proven. Lincoln was deeply                                    (Continued on Page 90)
               Most scholars dismiss any link between    embarrassed by the affair - but some believed he
        the two men, and an 1867 committee didn't find   made it all up to enhance the threat posed by the    TO ALL PARANORMAL GROUPS
        any evidence to substantiate it. But the theory  South.
        did have one high-profile proponent: Mary Todd                                                      If you have video that you have taken
        Lincoln.  The president's widow reportedly       Booth Only Meant To Capture Lincoln                during your investigations and would
        detested Johnson, seeing him as a repugnant                                                         like to have the world view your footage,
        drinker. She wrote to a friend in 1866 revealing  In the investigation of the slaying, it was       email us today for more info.
        that she believed Johnson was involved in his    revealed that Booth's original plan was to         Email - admin@rel-mar.com
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