After the gruesome civil war was over Lincoln wanted to celebrate. So he went to Ford's Theater to see a play. The theater had a special balcony for the president which was decorated with flags and banners and such. While he was there he had his so called "secret service" with him where he was sitting. Sometime in the middle of the play someone asked "the secret service" guy guarding the entrance to the balcony, if he had wanted a drink. Incredibly he said sure and went to the bar, leaving the president wide open for danger. Then the inevitable happened and someone entered the balcony with a pistol which wasn't really all that powerful to begin with. That someone just happened to be John Wilkes Booth.
John let stupidity get the best of him for he was aiming at the hardest part of the body, generally the back of the head. All of a sudden a shot echoed through the theater and the president's head leaned forward. John, being the actor that he was, took out a knife a jumped from the balcony on to the stage and broke his leg in the process. Then he screamed at the top of his lungs "Sic Semper Tyrranis" and limped off the stage. Everyone in the theater clapped thinking it was all a part of the act. Then they noticed that president Lincoln wasn't putting his head back. All of a sudden it had clicked that the president has been shot. Someone had screamed asking if there was a doctor in the house and as it turns out there was one fresh out of med school.
They dragged Lincoln to the house, directly across from the road, bringing him through the kitchen to the room in the back. Then Lincoln, still being alive, started having trouble breathing because there was a blood clot putting pressure on the part of the brain that controls all the things we don't have to think about. The young doctor reacted quickly and put his finger in the gun shot hole in the back of his head and cleared away the blood clot! Lincoln started to breath easier. To top it all off this big shot army surgeon with years of experience came in and basically said to back off, let me do it because I'm more experienced. Keep in mind that an army surgeon's method is that if you get shot in the arm, the arm comes off, if you get shot in the leg, the leg comes off, if you get shot in the torso, they're going in with a pair of pliers and looking for it. So he takes a probe and does a "search and rescue" on a bullet that's only 2 inches in. He goes in so far that you could see it through the back of his eye and the guys says, generally put, "oh, well it's not on this side" and does another "search and rescue" and does the same thing again except now you can see it in the other eye. Hmmmmm I wonder how he died? NOT.
In short, Lincoln celebrated, got shot by a guy who is real into drama, and died in the hands of an "experienced" and "all knowing" army surgeon. During the ridiculous probing, the army guy couldn't tell if he was hitting the bullet or the brain, so the bullet was getting pushed and twisted into places where it shouldn't have been. Lincoln probably would have lived. So in my opinion Lincoln had the crappiest day I had ever heard of and that's probably why this was the most interesting lesson to me.
16 comments:
When we started discussing Lincoln's roles in class I learned so much about him that I did not know. I knew that he was assassinated in the fords theater; In fact I have been there and seen where he was shot. Yet I never knew about the second building that he was taken to and later died in. I was under the impression that when he was “assassinated" he died immediately. So I was shocked to find out that he'd had a chance to live but a doctors probing had killed him. It was really interesting to know that if they had just stitched him up he would’ve been fine, to hear that he was talking and everything while he was shot was all new information to me. It actually made learning about the civil war interesting.
It makes me wonder what other great things he could've done if he had not died that night. He wrote the Emancipation Proclamation, and was strongly against slavery. He basically lead the north in seeing how wrong it was to own other people, along with the other abolitionist's. By demanding that the south release slaves he caused the states to argue for states rights then eventually succeed. I respect Lincoln very much even though he did many things that he did not have the power to do, its one of those things where the end justify the means. I know that slavery would’ve eventually become non-existent but if someone else had been elected to be president instead of Lincoln I wonder if the war would’ve happened or if slavery would’ve been abolished as soon as it was.
I agree that learning about the circumstances surrounding Lincoln's death is pretty interesting. All I knew before this year's history was that he was shot by an actor and later on died. It's a shame that the army guy had to come in and mess everything up; everyone wanted President Lincoln to live! If he had lived, who knows what would've happened afterward? You really also got the possible spontaneous-ness of Booth's assassination, since he shot the part of the head that won't kill the person instantly. Pretty nice.
Oh God, so true, so true. Don't you love it when people who are right get pushed around by people who are "more experienced?" I mean, really, wasn't the probe just a bit of an overkill? Seriously? Lincoln had the official worst day ever.
I think it was really interesting what we learned about Lincoln in class. I always just assumed that he died instantly after the shot. It's a real shame that he had such a good chance to live, and the doctor basically killed him just because he thought he knew more than the younger doctor. He played a huge role in the development of our country, and it's sad that he died just trying to do something nice for his wife. I also think it's very dissapointing that even after the war was over the Mercenary group still carried out their plans and someone had not done something to prevent it. It seems like now a days something like that could never occur with all the security the president has, and I guess he has it for good reason. What happened to Lincoln is proof of that.
Learning about Licoln's assasination and total disreguard of the Constitution was actually kind of cool. Usually History is boring. I wish that the surgeon general hadn't of stuck the probe inside the presidents head. I would like to see how today would have been impacted if Lincoln had lived. Nice write!
Yeah, it was a very weird matter how the great president had died. I was shocked at the fact that a secret service guard would just be misled so easily by a random guy who would want to shoot the president! Anyway, it was something else how the man then jumps down the balcony, when he could easily run out the same way he came in. I also feel sorry that Lincoln had to die from his own military subordinate, where he could have lived another day. His luck as a president wasn’t the greatest from election to death.
I have to admit that learning about Abraham Lincoln's "assassination" was pretty interesting. Before class all i knew was that he got shot in the head by a wakadoodle. So i was pretty amazed by the real story. It's a miracle he didn't die, at first. I thought he was shot and died instantly. But not only was he alive but he could talk. He also could have lived if the Surgeon General didn't interfere. I can hardly imagine what America would be like if he hadn't died. Maybe everything would have turned out the same way. Well life is full of what if's so maybe we shouldn't dwell on them.
Nice retelling! I know I build up to it every year! I would be interested in knowing what you think about how the assassination affected the country or the chances for peaceful reconciliation with the South. Infuse your blog with some more of your own analysis and opinion on the greater questions of "how" or "why" or "what if?" We all would love to read what you really think about things!
I can't believe someone would shoot and kill Abraham Lincoln for the ways he was trying to revolutionize the United States. Then again, I guess I could believe it because people in the 1860s were so naive and ignorant of what it was like to be victims in society. African Americans made it possible for those greedy white colonists to live and flourish. Through farming and other laborious tasks, they developed life-threatening conditions and often death. My heart goes out to Lincoln for trying to change the American people during such a confusing time in history.
i dont think that lincoln day is the crappiest day ever. Lincoln did alot and should be celebrated.but i do agree that the probe guy did damage to Lincoln.Personally i think he killed lincoln.
its almost as if i was still listening to Mrs. G saying it.i like your blog. we did do more though then that story. i also found that story interseting. it was my first hearing it. i found it funny.
I'm so glad you did a blog about this, I was really interested in this story when Mrs. G told it. I never knew Lincoln died slowly like that. I had no idea that he actually had a chance before the army doctor stepped in thinking he knew everything. You did an awesome job telling the story, I didn't mind hearing about it again. After hearing about his assassination, I really wondered what would have happened if he were to live just a little bit longer. Cool blog. :)
Well for the parts of class i was awake in the conversation about lincoln was interesting. i learned a lot i did not know about his death. Although this is the story we are told i truely believe that there is more to the story. Although john wilks booth kiled Abraham lincoln, Who do you really think was behind it all?
I also dont agree with everybodies statements about Lincoln revolutionizing a lot, esp. slavery...Lincoln didnt care about slaves or their freedom!!
I really enjoyed learning about lincolns death. but as a secret service agent it is your duty to protect that persons life. To leave the PRESIDENT after the WAR just ended for a DRINK was very irresponsible and selfish of them, they may have had something to do with it
Your blog was really good. I liked how you told about lincoln's assassination. I didn't know that he died in the building across the street. I never knew that he could of lived but died becasue of the doctor. Great blog, i enjoyed reading it!!
I loved reading this because it really informed me of how he really died. I was absent for the class so this really helped in bringing me up to speed because it was explained so well. I didn't know he died across the street, I thought he was shot and BOOM thats the end of it. Clearly the man that tried to save him didn't seem to realize he was basically making it worse. It also makes me wonder, aswell, what would have happened if Lincoln was saved, for all we known things could be a lot different.
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