Just finished reading: The Impeachment of Abraham Lincoln
I just finished reading about Lincoln and had no intention of picking another book about him just yet. Once again, a spine jumped out at me. And then the cover typography … so you see I clearly had no choice. To that end, I just finished reading The Impeachment of Abraham Lincoln by Stephen L. Carter and will now be recommending this book henceforth.
It’s a novel (obviously) and the description on the book jacket brought to mind Stephen King’s 11/22/63. But less creepy.
This book imagines that President Lincoln survives John Wilkes Booth’s assassination attempt. Instead of Andrew Johnson’s would-be killer chickening out and going to the bar, George Atzerodt is the only successful assassin of the bunch.
I tried to avoid pulling together a post for this because of all the other stuff I should be doing.
It really couldn’t be helped though.
IRL Artzerodt backed out of the plan, which initially only involved abducting President Lincoln. Doodle inspired by Lincoln, by David Herbert Donald.
As always, here’s a random collection of things that jumped out at me (in no particular order, with no spoilers, et cetera, et cetera). Unlike always, this time it’s just a few things!
General Oliver O. Howard
General Oliver O. Howard, apparently “the Christian general”, made an appearance. I learned that he helped found Howard University while watching the mini series Manhunt. (Lest there be any confusion: I learned that while watching Manhunt. General Oliver Otis Howard never once watched a single TV mini series. Not one. And he certainly didn’t help found any universities while watching television.)
It took me forever to find my doodle of Howard because I assumed I drew him while reading about some president from the late 1800s. Nope. He came up when I read about President Lyndon Baines Johnson. Notes to LBJ sometimes had little “yes” and “no” check boxes. Both adorable and efficient. As in “Do you want to move ahead with Howard [University]?”
✔️ Yes
⬚ No
An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s, by Doris Kearns Goodwin
“Good men and evil men often have different motives for the same mischief.”
I flagged this because it recently came up elsewhere, but now I can’t recall where. In all likelihood, it was in Lincoln, but I will not swear to that.
I also flagged “the world is full of highly legal illegalities and highly illegal legalities” and yeah. That gave me some things to ponder for a bit.
Dr. Charles Purvis
I was delighted when Dr. Charles Purvis (“the most prominent black physician in the nation”) was mentioned. In real life, he was Surgeon in Chief at the Freeman’s Hospital and the first Black doctor to treat a president — President James Garfield. Unfortunately, Secretary Robert Todd Lincoln (Abe’s son) called Dr. Doctor Willard Bliss who (like most American doctors) was not into the medical advancement that was sterilization. (Shout-out to Joseph Lister.)
In any case, the dirty fingers of Bliss and his team killed President Garfield.
I recently picked up Mrs. Lincoln’s Sisters by Jennifer Chiaverini, a historical novel about Mary Lincoln, which I was drawn to after reading Alexis Coe’s explanation about why we should not add “Todd” to her name.
Guess I’m not quite ready to take a brief break from the Lincolns.
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