Our American Cousin...

[Captain_Kirk]

... was the play Abraham Lincoln was attending at Ford's Theatre 150 years ago today when he was shot by John Wilkes Booth.

Really would have liked him to be able to see the country be brought back together in the years ahead after spending his previous 4 years trying to prevent it from being ripped apart.

 

[LongTimeListener]

They should have shot the editor who let this AP lede through, amirite?

WASHINGTON, APRIL 14 — President Lincoln and wife visited Ford's Theatre this evening for the purpose of witnessing the performance of 'The American Cousin.' It was announced in the papers that Gen. Grant would also be present, but that gentleman took the late train of cars for New Jersey.

The theatre was densely crowded, and everybody seemed delighted with the scene before them. During the third act and while there was a temporary pause for one of the actors to enter, a sharp report of a pistol was heard, which merely attracted attention, but suggested nothing serious until a man rushed to the front of the President's box, waving a long dagger in his right hand, exclaiming, 'Sic semper tyrannis,' and immediately leaped from the box, which was in the second tier, to the stage beneath, and ran across to the opposite side, made his escape amid the bewilderment of the audience from the rear of the theatre, and mounted a horse and fled.

The groans of Mrs. Lincoln first disclosed the fact that the President had been shot, when all present rose to their feet rushing towards the stage, many exclaiming, 'Hang him, hang him!' The excitement was of the wildest possible description...

There was a rush towards the President's box, when cries were heard — 'Stand back and give him air!' 'Has anyone stimulants?' On a hasty examination it was found that the President had been shot through the head above and back of the temporal bone, and that some of his brain was oozing out. He was removed to a private house opposite the theatre, and the Surgeon General of the Army and other surgeons were sent for to attend to his condition.

AP Was There: Original AP report of Lincoln's assassination

 

[Guy_Incognito]

 

[da man]

They should have shot the editor who let this AP lede through, amirite?

WASHINGTON, APRIL 14 — President Lincoln and wife visited Ford's Theatre this evening for the purpose of witnessing the performance of 'The American Cousin.' It was announced in the papers that Gen. Grant would also be present, but that gentleman took the late train of cars for New Jersey.

The theatre was densely crowded, and everybody seemed delighted with the scene before them. During the third act and while there was a temporary pause for one of the actors to enter, a sharp report of a pistol was heard, which merely attracted attention, but suggested nothing serious until a man rushed to the front of the President's box, waving a long dagger in his right hand, exclaiming, 'Sic semper tyrannis,' and immediately leaped from the box, which was in the second tier, to the stage beneath, and ran across to the opposite side, made his escape amid the bewilderment of the audience from the rear of the theatre, and mounted a horse and fled.

The groans of Mrs. Lincoln first disclosed the fact that the President had been shot, when all present rose to their feet rushing towards the stage, many exclaiming, 'Hang him, hang him!' The excitement was of the wildest possible description...

There was a rush towards the President's box, when cries were heard — 'Stand back and give him air!' 'Has anyone stimulants?' On a hasty examination it was found that the President had been shot through the head above and back of the temporal bone, and that some of his brain was oozing out. He was removed to a private house opposite the theatre, and the Surgeon General of the Army and other surgeons were sent for to attend to his condition.

AP Was There: Original AP report of Lincoln's assassination

The lede was as buried as the president.

 

[BTExpress]

That's inexcusable. AP got the name of the play wrong.

 

[Batman]

... was the play Abraham Lincoln was attending at Ford's Theatre 150 years ago today when he was shot by John Wilkes Booth.

Really would have liked him to be able to see the country be brought back together in the years ahead after spending his previous 4 years trying to prevent it from being ripped apart.

Books have been written about this, but I believe the consensus is that the country would have been much better off if he'd survived. Andrew Johnson was a more vindictive man than Lincoln, with a lot of political enemies and not a lot of willingness to work with them. Lincoln wasn't the most popular president at the time, but he had more of a willingness to forgive and forget, to an extent.
Interesting to speculate whether a lot of the same problems would have existed during Reconstruction and beyond, whether the lingering local issues were too much for any one factor to mitigate, or whether things might have gone a bit smoother and been better today.

 

[zagoshe]

Dear Abe,

Just wanted to let you know I went out and saw Our American Cousin.

Don't worry, you didn't miss much. It was a very disappointing ending.

Sincerely,

An American Citizen

(courtesy of Madd Magazine, letters to dead people)

 

[Baron Scicluna]

They should have shot the editor who let this AP lede through, amirite?

WASHINGTON, APRIL 14 — President Lincoln and wife visited Ford's Theatre this evening for the purpose of witnessing the performance of 'The American Cousin.' It was announced in the papers that Gen. Grant would also be present, but that gentleman took the late train of cars for New Jersey.

The theatre was densely crowded, and everybody seemed delighted with the scene before them. During the third act and while there was a temporary pause for one of the actors to enter, a sharp report of a pistol was heard, which merely attracted attention, but suggested nothing serious until a man rushed to the front of the President's box, waving a long dagger in his right hand, exclaiming, 'Sic semper tyrannis,' and immediately leaped from the box, which was in the second tier, to the stage beneath, and ran across to the opposite side, made his escape amid the bewilderment of the audience from the rear of the theatre, and mounted a horse and fled.

The groans of Mrs. Lincoln first disclosed the fact that the President had been shot, when all present rose to their feet rushing towards the stage, many exclaiming, 'Hang him, hang him!' The excitement was of the wildest possible description...

There was a rush towards the President's box, when cries were heard — 'Stand back and give him air!' 'Has anyone stimulants?' On a hasty examination it was found that the President had been shot through the head above and back of the temporal bone, and that some of his brain was oozing out. He was removed to a private house opposite the theatre, and the Surgeon General of the Army and other surgeons were sent for to attend to his condition.

AP Was There: Original AP report of Lincoln's assassination

He probably got his information from meeting with his source in the horse stable.

 

[LongTimeListener]

It was the birth of Longform.

 

[BitterYoungMatador2]

Don't be ridiculous.