The Afternoon Before Lincoln Was Shot

Here's a great article in Smithsonan Magazine that gives a really good depiction of Washington D.C. the day Lincoln was shot. It surprising how normal a day it was, given the extraordinary circumstances of the times (i.e. the Southern Army had surrendered only a month agao and the Confederacy wouldn't officially end for another month). Little things show the human side, like Lincoln wearing size 14 shoes and people not getting along with his wife give a depth to the story that keeps it facisnating.

April 14,1865, was Good Friday, not a big night to go out, traditionally. It’s hard to imagine today, when an invitation from the president of the United States is tantamount to a subpoena, but the Lincolns had a hard time finding anyone to join them at the theater that night. His own secretary of war, Edwin Stanton, declined. (Mrs. Stanton couldn’t stand Mrs. Lincoln.) General Grant also begged off. (Mrs. Grant couldn’t stand Mrs. Lincoln.)

Lincoln was subsequently turned down by a governor, another general, the Detroit postmaster, another governor and chief at the War Department (an Army major named Thomas Eckert). Finally Abe turned to another Army major, Henry Rathbone, who said to the president, in so many words, OK, OK, whatever. The image of the president pleading with an Army major to sit in the president’s box is the final tragicomic vignette we have of Lincoln. It’s of a piece with his humanity and humility.

Wow, isn't Lincoln a cool name for a little boy?!?