Below is a primary source used in the post: Junius Brutus Booth & John Wilkes Booth – Genetically Predisposed to Assassinate?
It is a letter written from Junius Brutus Booth, the father of John Wilkes Booth, to President Andrew Jackson. In it he threatens the president’s life. For more on this, read the article linked above.
http://hankeringforhistory.com/2012/11/19/junius-brutus-booth-letter-threatening-president-jackson/
I call it “The Lincoln Movie” because some might confuse the title of this article if I just call it by its real name, “Lincoln.” I mean, it is very possible that my blog changed from one of history to automobiles, overnight, right? 
While I am sure that there are those that went to the Lincoln movie with hopes of claiming that the movie was conjured up by Hollywood executives, bastardizing the real events of Abraham Lincoln, I was not one of those. First off, I am no self-proclaimed expert on President Abraham Lincoln or the Civil War. Second, I understand that the cinema is intended for entertainment and may not be completely accurate. Lastly, I am sure that there are plenty of others attending with the sole purpose of nitpicking, or as historian Harold Holzer, one of the country’s leading authorities on Abraham Lincoln, classified them:
…scholars, nitpickers, trivial pursuit pursuers, and history buffs have all been crowding their local movie theaters this week, many armed with legal pads, in a massive competition to unearth and report every factual error that has crept into the film.
I am not one of those people, and I am sure that there were enough in attendance…they needed no support from me. Unfortunately, if you were hoping that I would call “Lincoln” a travesty, this is not the post you’re looking for.
As far as entertainment goes, I thought the Lincoln movie was an excellent film. Kicking curiosity to the curb, I attempted to abstain from reading reviews of the movie. I wanted to go into the movie knowing as little as possible. I didn’t want to go in with the mindset that Hollywood had ‘botched history.’
Now I did have some of the annoying aforementioned “nitpickers, trivial pursuit pursuers, and history buffs” sitting behind me. I intentionally left them out of the scholars classification, because they were idiots. Let me give you an example of one of their issues.
There is a scene where Abraham Lincoln is riding through a battlefield. You cannot see it in this picture (right), but in shots before and after this picture, there are bodies–everywhere. Hundreds of dead bodies that laid waste to previous day’s battle.
And what was the problem with this scene?
There is no way that they could have stood the stench of the dead bodies. There faces would have been covered with masks.
I kid you not, THAT was the issue that the woman behind me had with the scene. Now, there were some real historical discrepancies that she commented on, but most of them were ridiculous.
I have to say that having such a large interest in history not only made the experience more enjoyable, but I was able to fill in gaps on my own, and recall little tidbits during the movie. In the movie, it was January, 1865, and Robert Todd, son of Abraham Lincoln, was coming home to visit. Because of personal knowledge, I knew that Robert Todd Lincoln almost wasn’t in this part of the movie. It is true. Right before this time, the life of Robert Todd was almost lost. If you aren’t aware of this story, it is worth reading about how the brother of John Wilkes Booth saved the life of Robert Todd Lincoln.
As I was watching this scene, where father and son are reunited (because Robert Todd has been at Harvard), I sit and think. I ponder, “I wonder how the death of another son would have affected Lincoln? Would he have had the strength to carry on and push through the 13th Amendment?” Of course, if you read my blog…you might have thought the same way I was.
Was the movie worth seeing?…yes! The plot of the Lincoln movie flowed well, had an excellent cast, and everyone applauded at the end.
Was it historically accurate?…I am not qualified to make that assessment; however, I can point you in the right direction. Here are some sites that give reviews on the historical accuracy of the movie.
Mount Virtus - Despite Minor Flaws, Spielberg’s Lincoln Worthwhile Viewing for History Geeks
The Daily Beast - What’s True and False in “Lincoln” Movie
The Abraham Lincoln Blog - Film Review: Steven Spielberg’s “Lincoln”
http://hankeringforhistory.com/2012/11/26/the-lincoln-movie/It is not odd to hear about generations of a family working in the same line of business. Centuries ago, it was very common for a father to pass on his skill set to his son. If one’s father was a blacksmith by trade, there was a good chance that the child would also be a blacksmith. Even today, there are still many sons that take after their fathers.
One of the most prominent examples in recent years is the Bush family. In the last twenty-five years, there have been two members of the Bush family that served as President of the United States of America.
On January 20, 1989, George H.W. Bush was sworn in as president, and he served America for one term. Just twelve years later, another Bush would become the Commander and Chief. On January 20, 2001, George W. Bush, son of George H.W. Bush, took the Presidential Oath of Office and served two terms.
Another father and son duo that shared a similar profession was Junius Brutus Booth (father) and John Wilkes Booth (son). Both men were actors. What makes both members of the Booth family interesting is not only that they were passionate about acting, but another affinity they shared.
Junius Brutus Booth
This affinity was wanting to cause harm to the President of the United States. It is true; Junius and John Booth both had the desire to assassinate the acting president of their times, but only one of them carried out this deed. As we know, John Wilkes Booth was successful, and on April 15, 1865, he assassinated President Abraham Lincoln. What you may not know–and I just learned–was that when Andrew Jackson was president, Junius Brutus Booth wrote a letter to President Jackson. In this letter, one particular line stands out:
I will cut your throat whilst you are sleeping.
I don’t think that anyone can dispute the intentions of the letter. It was clearly written as a threat, a threat to assassinate the president. In the letter, Booth refers to Andrew Jackson as,
You damn’d old Scoundrel
and threatens that if he doesn’t comply with his wishes, that he will be
…burnt at the stake…
A picture of the letter is below. If you want to click on it, you can zoom in on it up and read the entire letter for yourself. It is short, simple, and to the point.
How crazy is it that both father and son were actors and wanted to bring untimely demise to a serving President of the United States? Even odder–and this may blow your mind–Edwin Booth, also an actor and son of Junius and brother of John, is credited for saving the life of Abraham Lincoln’s son, Robert Lincoln.
Yes, the son of the man John Wilkes Booth killed, was saved by John’s brother…
Edwin Booth saved Robert mere months before his brother carried out President Lincoln’s assassination, and at the time of the event, Edwin had no idea who it was he had saved.
In 1909, Robert Lincoln wrote a letter to the editor of The Century Magazine. The following account comes from that letter:
The incident occurred while a group of passengers were late at night purchasing their sleeping car places from the conductor who stood on the station platform at the entrance of the car. The platform was about the height of the car floor, and there was of course a narrow space between the platform and the car body. There was some crowding, and I happened to be pressed by it against the car body while waiting my turn. In this situation the train began to move, and by the motion I was twisted off my feet, and had dropped somewhat, with feet downward, into the open space, and was personally helpless, when my coat collar was vigorously seized and I was quickly pulled up and out to a secure footing on the platform. Upon turning to thank my rescuer I saw it was Edwin Booth, whose face was of course well known to me, and I expressed my gratitude to him, and in doing so, called him by name.
Junius Brutus Booth’s children: (L-R) John, Edwin and Junius Jr.
So the lesson is: if you have a crazy father and a crazy brother, there may be hope for you yet.
Is that Michael Cera?
Why, yes, yes it is. Michael Cera is portrayed in this picture as Alexander Hamilton.
Interesting, isn’t it?
Would you like to see Will Ferrell, Jim Carrey, Ryan Gosling, Jack Black, Don Cheadle, Michael Cera, Zooey Deschanel, John C. Reilly, Crispin Glover, Jason Ritter and Danny McBride all in one historical extravaganza?
Well you can…sort of.
Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglas
I ran across an interesting series on Youtube, Drunk History. Yes, it is literally drunk perspectives on history. The tagline for the first in the series is “Witness history as it’s never been told before: Drunk.” With the cast listed above, you can imagine what kind of fun is to be had.
Below is an example of one of the videos. This amazing historical re-telling–and I use the term ‘amazing’ loosely–is of an event that should forever be in the category of “overcoming all odds.” Starring Don Cheadle as Frederick Douglas, Will Ferrell as Abraham Lincoln, and Zooey Deschanel as Mary Lincoln, you can witness just how the events unfolded which directly led to ending slavery, in America.
I think with the influences of alcohol and the fun-loving cast included, it goes without saying that some parental discretion should be afforded.
The above video was number 5 in the series. The rest of the series can be found on HBO’s partner site Funny or Die.
Completely accurate?…not entirely. Well scripted?…not so much. Climatic plot, with lots of twist and turns?…no. However, if SNL-type sketches are your thing, you will probably enjoy the Drunk History series.
Here are some of the great historical events that happened today, October 23rd, in history!
| 1641 | Rebellion in Ireland. Catholics, under Phelim O’Neil, rise against the Protestants and massacred men, women and children to the number of 40,000 (some say 100,000). |
| 1694 | American colonial forces led by Sir William Phips, fail in their attempt to seize Quebec. |
| 1707 | The Parliament of Great Britain, created by the Acts of Union between England and Scotland, held its first meeting. |
| 1783 | Virginia emancipates slaves who fought for independence during the Revolutionary War. |
| 1861 | President Abraham Lincoln suspends the writ of habeas corpus in Washington, D.C. for all military-related cases.  |
