Well Hello Mr. Lincoln

I noticed that the museums and establishments in Washington D.C. do a lot to pay homage to President Lincoln. Maybe it's because he was the Great Emancipator, or maybe because he was assassinated right there. Or maybe because he was just a darned good President. One of the most interesting comments I heard from a docent (that's a person who helps out in the museum) was that Lincoln had the ability to get opposing sides to work together. His replacement, Andrew Johnson, didn't have that savvy so it made reconstruction very difficult.

What was really fascinating is that so many of Abe Lincoln's personal belongings were carefully retained after his death.

His top hat:



His watch:



His suit, and his wife Mary's dress:



Very macabre, but interesting as well; the hoods from the hang-man's platform. These were for all the men and one woman who were convicted in Lincoln's assassination.



Most people don't know that the assassination was something planned for several years (beginning as a kidnapping plan but escalating to murder once Lincoln made it clear that blacks would be treated as equals and have the right to vote)
Booth was as famous as Brad Pitt back then, but he had a secret society of bigots who wanted to take down the entire government. They failed at several attempts to kidnap Lincoln. They had planned to kill not only Lincoln in the Ford Theatre, but also several government officials simultaneously.

The night that Lincoln attended the play at Ford's Theatre, it was a last minute decision and Booth found out through the grapevine.
He contacted his group of conspirators, sent them out on their individual missions, then went to the bar near the theatre to get a few drinks.
The bartender knew Booth and knew Booth's father, as well. Apparently Booth's father was a famous actor, and the Bartender made the comment, "You'll never be as fine an actor as your father was." Booth replied, "I'll be the most famous man in the world after tonight."

Lincoln's security guard was absent from the door to his balcony seat, but Booth encountered someone who promptly let him in to see the President. He was, after all, as popular as Brad Pitt at the time.

He waited until the stage performer doing his lines said something humorous, which drew a huge laughter from the audience. With all the noisy laughter, no one heard the gun go off.

Everywhere you go in D.C., there's some kind of reminder that Lincoln was once there. Posters, advertisements, displays. They're everywhere!

Makes you wonder what happened to that kind of respect for a President. Maybe it's in the quality.