The Lincoln Conspiracy

by David W. Balsiger, Charles E. Sellier

On April 14, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated while attending a play at Ford's Theater. Historical accounts tell us the murder was committed by a crazed actor named John Wilkes Booth, and no one else. Now, after more than a century, startling new answers are uncovered.

Genres: History, True Crime, Nonfiction, American History, Presidents

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1977

Reviews

[Theo Logos · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this as a 14 year old, but even then I knew enough history to not take it seriously. A quick glance at the sensationalized cover should put most people on warning that a skeptical eye is necessary. Or perhaps the blurb here claiming that historical accounts claim Lincoln was killed by a lone, crazed gunman, and this book will give you the real dope is what will set off your warning bells. (A basic knowledge of the historical record reveals that there was a conspiracy trial, four people were hung, and several more imprisoned.) So from the get go, this book is aimed at history ignoramuses.

History does tell us that there was a conspiracy to behead the government, with assassins assigned to Vice President Johnson (got drunk and chickened out) and Secretary of State Seward (attempt made but Seward survived). What wasn’t certain was how far the conspiracy reached, with many believing that President of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis, was behind it (never proved and doubtful at best). But this book implies that the person behind the conspiracy was Lincoln’s Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton! It suggests that he allowed John Wilkes Booth to escape Washington and covered up the fact that a Booth look-alike was killed instead of Booth, and that Booth lived on long after the event.

To give a context to the scholarly bona fides of this book’s author, two of his other books are In Search of Noah’s Ark and The Evidence For Heaven. In short, this book is ridiculous as history, but it is entertaining as sensationalist schlock.

[Matthew Kresal · Rating 2 out of 5]

The father of modern Lincoln assassination conspiracy theories, the book by David W. Balsiger and Charles E. Sellier Jr. is an odd one. Nominally a non-fiction work, at times it reads like a bad novel as it creates scenes with strained dialogue and exposition. I suspect the latter is in part due to the book being a novelization of sorts of "the major motion picture" mentioned on the front cover.

As for the theory it espouses, it's a convoluted one. It involves the historical accepted figures plus not one but THREE separate plots to kidnap or assassinate Lincoln, with actor and assassin John Wilkes Booth managing to straddle most if not all of them. Things get even murkier when James Williams Boyd, a spy with a striking resemblance to the actor, gets involved. Many of the names involved are familiar ones to those aware of the assassination from Booth and Boyd to George Nicholas Sanders.

In short, I'm not sure I can honestly recommend the book. The writing isn't great with its mix of semi-fictionalization with scenes of strained dialogue to a convoluted series of plots that comes across as stretching plausibility that history uncovered. It may be the book that helped give birth to more recent speculation about the Lincoln assassination, but I'm not sure it's worth a read.

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was a little confused looking at some of the other reviews of this book. They kept talking about a fictional narrative that intertwined actual historical figures, and mentioned characters that I did not remember being in this book. A little searching revealed that they were actually reviewing another book titled The Lincoln Conspiracy written by Timothy OBrien, which is a suspense/thriller novel. While a lot of historians will say that there is some fiction in David Balsinger's book, it was written as non-fiction. And even if does make some leaps, it was still a useful read to me. I was never taught in school that people were hanged by the federal government for conspiracy in the murder of Lincoln. Yet I was able to verify this through other sources. I have often wondered if all the hooplah around the Kennedy assassination made people so wary of conspiracy theories that it made them gloss over this aspect of the Kennedy assassination. And now there are people who insist that Lincoln was killed by a "lone nut assassin", completely unaware that the United States government stated there was a conspiracy, and executed people, including a woman, for being involved. Are they so caught up in the idea there has never been a conspiracy ever that they overlook this, or do they believe that their government lied in order to execute these people for some undisclosed reason. It almost feels like people think if they admit to a conspiracy here, they will be admitting to every conspiracy theory ever, which is ridiculous. Anyway, interesting book, don't buy into the conspiracy theory that the Secretary of War was behind the assassination, but glad I read the book because it did give me some verifiable facts about the assassination that I otherwise would never have learned.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

While this is a fascinating book that exposes much history I never knew, it is also distressing to learn that our government officials were so corrupt, even back that far. There were four - FOUR - plots to kidnap Lincoln, his V.P. and one or more cabinet members to get them out of power. Booth was involved in several of those plots hoping to exchange the kidnapped officials for the confederate prisoners held in the north. After multiple failed attempts at kidnapping and the end of the war, Booth opted for assassination. All my life Lincoln has been idolized in everything I read and it was very hard to learn how many people hated him.

The government officials involved in the various plots were terrified of being discovered so they did everything they could to hide the facts and kill off anyone who might expose them. The most startling revelation for me was that the dead man they claimed was Booth, was NOT Booth. It was James William Boyd who had also been tangled in some of the plots. Among several startling similarities between the two, Boyd and Booth bore a striking resemblance and both had their initials "JWB" tattooed on their hands. There is a large photo section and the picture of these two men side by side shows how easily the confusion could be made. Booth escaped!

This book was written in 1977 so there is no way these authors could draw comparisons to our current political world in Washington but I sure saw the similarities. Makes me realize that things have not changed at all. The corruption is just more sophisticated. This book brought into focus for me just how corrupt our government is and that what we glorify as democracy is a mere sham controlled by the wealthy and the power hungry.

[Samantha Gilbert · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a difficult read (for me, anyway lol). There are lots of “players” in this story. Some with similar names, some with the same names. I had to really pay close attention and had to go back at times to see where I missed something. So I really worked hard to finish this book haha!

That being said, I love a good conspiracy and this definitely measures up. Pay very close attention to the game that is played and those who are responsible for this horrific murder of our president. I was in shock to see everyone in the government who had a part in this. And what happened to John Wilkes Booth? We may never really know.

[Kathryn Sheets · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had not known totally what to expect. Of course everyone knows Lincoln was assassinated, but the plots that were in play before this happened were not known by me. Also all the cover ups involving people who were involved in corruption in the government and their inhumane behavior toward those they thought were involved with helping Booth shocked me. For anyone interested in Lincoln and the aftermath of his assassination this book is a must read. It contains a revelation that is not expected.

[Joe Nicholl · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Lincoln Conspiracy by David Balsinger & Charles E. Sellier (1974)...This is by the guys who write Big-Foot & UFO books, having said that it's kick-ass & a highly entertaining read! I thought it was Great! Takes the pov that Secretary of War Stanton pulled the strings that had John Wilkes Booth shoot Lincoln and had Secretary of State Seward attacked the same night (they take the view that the Seward attack was bullshit & a distraction allowing Booth more time to escape)...Recommended! 4.5 outta 5.0.

[Daniel Hutchins · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought it was really good when they tied it in with John Wilkes Booth and his plan to assassinate Lincoln!

[Mark · Rating 2 out of 5]

What a fantasy. Booth wasn't a cog in either a conspiracy of radicals or cotton speculators(which didn't exist) who wanted to get rid of Lincoln. And there weren't 2 pairs of lookalikes who escaped Washington after the murder of Lincoln. There are too many inconsistencies to list. Let's just say that it's hard to digest this book.

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting story

[Preeti Arunapuram · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll admit it... I'm a history nerd. I love reading books about wars and presidents and such. My friends often see me in class with my nose stuck in a history novel, encyclopedia, dictionary, and such. And about 80% of the time, it's about Lincoln and the Civil War.
This one was very different though. After I finished reading this book, I wondered how the world would have turned out if everything in that book actually happened. Of course, one should not analyze what could have happened too much; much of the material in the book is considered fictional and unlikely to have happened.
Some critics loathe this book, but I delighted in reading it just because it was a fantastical mixture of fiction and history combined in the perfect increments to create a sort of thriller story. For those that love history, read this book and see what you think.

[Trish · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story.. loved how real life people were interwoven with the fictional characters in this book. I loved the relationship between Temple and his wife Fiona. I think they are a great team and would love to read more books with them as the heros.

The one thing that kept me from rating this book higher was the ending. Temple spent so much of his time in this story trying to find out WHO Maestro was, and while we do get to meet him at the end of the story, we never really do find out for sure who it was. I sort of understand, given that the whole idea of the plot to assassinate Lincoln being larger than just Boothe and his immediate cronies is controversial, and the author may not have wanted to muddy the waters by attaching a real/historical name to his fictional mastermind.. but it felt a little unfinished to me, not having some sort of identity firmly revealed..

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not as interesting as I'd hoped. The author takes flimsy evidence and creates a grand conspiracy, including participation at the highest levels of government and a look-alike Booth, then presents it as fact or at the very least "we have no proof this didn't happen." Trust me, it didn't, any more than there was a grand conspiracy to kill Kennedy. While it's sad that one man can bring down such greatness, it's time to admit the fact that no conspiracy in history ever lasts more than 75 years or so. Someone always talks. Lincoln and Kennedy were both killed by lone idealists who wanted to make a statement and become famous. Sad but true. Book closed.

[Mary Follis · Rating 5 out of 5]

A nice follow up to the Mary Lincoln bio, this book details many high level politicians, quite a few in Lincoln's White House, who needed Lincoln removed in order to profit from Reconstruction and direct the rebuilding of the South so as to benefit greatly from it financially. Booth lived to a ripe old age and died of natural causes!

[Donald Kirch · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember going to the movies and seeing this film when I was a child. This was one of many documentries that were very popular in the 1970's. The world was so new to "young eyes" back then. Now, it's just fun to remember. ;-)

[Read1000books · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little hard to prove this far down the road but still an interesting yet complicated explanation of just who was ultimately behind Lincoln's assassination. The authors' conclusion: Secretary of War Edwin Stanton!