Book Review: The First Assassin

One of the things I most enjoy in writing about Abraham Lincoln is the opportunity to inform my readers of new or noteworthy books about him. While most of the books I write about in this forum are nonfiction, I just finished a novel about an assassin stalking President Lincoln in 1861. It's one of the best thrillers I've read in recent years. The following paragraphs do not contain any spoilers as they are taken from the synopsis on the book's back cover.

The First Assassin opens just weeks before Abraham Lincoln is to be sworn in as the nation's 16th president. The southern states have of course begun to secede from the Union, with South Carolina especially a hotbed of anti-Lincoln sentiments. A plantation owner, Mr. Langston Bennett, outraged at Lincoln's election and his strong anti-slavery position, hires an assassin to kill Lincoln before slavery is ended.

Meanwhile in Washington City (as the nation's capital was called then), Colonel Charles Rook is determined to protect the president at all costs. He receives no support from the head of the U.S. Army, General Winfield Scott (of course a real person), in his mission to protect the president-elect. Nonetheless, Rook defies orders and organizes his own small team of spies consisting of U.S. Army soldiers to track various death threats to Mr. Lincoln. As certain murders happen in the city, it gradually dawns on Rook that he is up against a cold-blooded killer who will let nothing and no one get in his way in his attempt to kill Lincoln.

Along the way, the reader is introduced to Mrs. Violet Grenier, a resident of Washington City, who harbors strong pro-Southern sympathies. She uses her feminine wiles and standing as a dame of society to spy on Lincoln and help in the conspiracy against him.

The key to saving the president is a runaway slave named Portia who holds vital information about the assassin's identity. It remains to be seen if she can provide it to the authorities in time.

As I wrote earlier, this book is historical fiction, a crime thriller. It's serious, as opposed to the recent "mash up" novel Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. While this account in Assassin is fictional, it is based on real-life death threats Lincoln faced upon his election to the presidency. Lincoln continued facing threats throughout his presidency, of course falling to the final conspiracy.

I found The First Assassin to be very enjoyable. It is well-written with excellent character development. The female spy, Violet, is based on real-life women who spied for the Confederacy, who were not beneath using their "charms" (including sex) to obtain information they sought. It's easy to understand the frustrations and tension Colonel Rook feels as the killer draws closer to Lincoln. When the assassin's movements are followed by the reader, a chill occasionally rises as his cold-blooded murders take place. All quite gripping.

Some of the book is a tad predictable, especially a certain disguise the potential assassin uses. But that is the only quibble I have. I read the book (446 pgs) in just a few days, because I couldn't wait to see how it ends.

Lincoln himself does appear briefly in the novel, as does his private secretary, John Hay. Lincoln's actions of not wanting a lot of security are factual, as are some of the words he speaks.

The First Assassin is authored by John J. Miller, a frequent writer for Wall Street Journal, the National Review, and other publications. He has written books of nonfiction, but Assassin is his debut novel. The book was published just last week by AmazonEncore (yes, that Amazon as in the giant online seller). According to its site, AmazonEncore "identifies exceptional yet overlooked books and works with the authors to introduce or re-introduce their books to readers." Mr. Miller originally self-published The First Assassin and it was readers of that edition who brought attention to AmazonEncore about the novel. The book may be ordered here.

I agree with those early readers and AmazonEncore. This is indeed an exceptional debut novel.


My rating:







5.0 out of 5.0 "Rebel Rose" Greenhow, a real-life female spy for the Confederacy.

Read More

Abraham Lincoln and Egypt?

I've been home for just a few days now from a trip to Egypt to see the wonders of the pyramids, the Sphinx, the temples at Luxor, and the great temple of King Ramesses II at Abu Simbel. The trip was a surprise gift from my wife this past Christmas, and it fulfilled a lifelong dream of mine to see the splendors of ancient Egypt.

Of course, this blog is not about my travels to the Middle East; it's about Abraham Lincoln. So I had to do a bit of research to find out what connections, if any, Mr. Lincoln might have had to Egypt either before or during his presidency. There of course aren't many, but I did learn about some dealings his administration had with Egypt during the Civil War.

Egypt in those days was technically still part of the Ottoman Empire, which was based in Constantinople (Istanbul). However, thanks to an invasion of Egypt by Napoleon III in the early 18th Century, that country was more or less autonomous of the Ottomans. Lincoln's Secretary of State, William H. Seward, realized at the outbreak of the Civil War that it would be important to assure the neutrality of the Ottomans, just as it was important to keep France and England neutral.

Seward's efforts resulted in a treaty signed with the Ottoman Empire in 1862 which guaranteed continued trade between the U.S. and the empire. Even more importantly, it guaranteed to the U.S. that any Confederate pirates preying on U.S. trade vessels would be apprehended and detained.

Lincoln also wrote a letter to the "Wali" of Egypt (similar to a governor) during his presidency protesting the harassment and abuse of a U.S. missionary in that country. In response, Egypt promised to punish those who had abused the missionary and again assured Lincoln that Confederates would not be permitted in Ottoman waters (Mediterranean, Black Sea, Red Sea, etc.) This action by Lincoln had the additional effect of deeply impressing religious Christians in Europe, which further helped to keep England and France out of the Civil War.

This post was based on two different sources. The primary source is a speech titled "Lincoln and The Middle East" given by Mr. Austin Knuppe at Grand Valley State University in Michigan. It's a learned and fascinating look at how America's involvement in the Middle East actually developed in earnest during the Lincoln administration. Very worthwhile reading.

The second source for this posting is The Collected Works Of Abraham Lincoln, an indispensable reference for all of Lincoln's known letters, speeches, and other writings. Lincoln scholars both professional and amateur use this source in their research.

Read More

Enhancing Lincoln's Legacy In Washington, D.C.

The scene of Abraham Lincoln's assassination on April 14, 1865, Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C., has been undergoing an expansion project since 2007. The theater itself reopened last year after months of renovation added a new museum and other features which cost an estimated 35 million dollars.

That was only the beginning. Work continues on the Ford's Theater Center For Education and Leadership, which has the goal of enhancing the Lincoln experience for visitors. A 10-story building located across 10th Street from the theater will house various exhibits about the aftermath of the assassination and will explore Lincoln's continued legacy. The center will be run jointly by the National Park Service and the Ford's Theater Society. The target opening date is February of 2012.

Some of the planned displays include a replica of the barn where John Wilkes Booth was shot at the end of the 12-day manhunt, and the story of the 20 day journey of the Lincoln funeral train from Washington to Springfield. Still another feature will be a 3-story tall sculpture of "books" to help people fathom just how much has been written about the 16th president.

Lincoln was a complicated man and his legacy has continued to evolve in the 145 years after his death. For some, he remains the Great Emancipator. To others, he was a tyrant who began this nation on the path to greatly expanded powers of the federal government. The director of the Ford's Theater Society, Mr. Paul Tetreault, hopes that visitors will be able to draw their own conclusions after touring the center.

This posting was based on the original article from the August 21, 2010 edition of The New York Times.

Read More

Glenn Beck Dishonor At The Lincoln Memorial

By now many, if not most, of you have heard about the "Restoring Honor" rally to be held tomorrow (August 28, 2010) by Glenn Beck at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. In addition to Beck, people who have been invited to speak are former Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin, National Rifle Association president Wayne LaPierre, and gun enthusiast and singer Ted Nugent.

Although Beck claims that this rally is not to be political, news reports are stating that most of the attendees tomorrow will be Tea Party activists. No surprise here, for most of Beck's and Palin's disciples also identify themselves as members of the Tea Party, that loose collection of groups which are simply angry at, well, just about everyone. Well, everyone except for Beck and Palin.

"Restoring Honor" of course implies that this nation has lost its honor. What honor has the United States lost? Honor for the troops? There have been no massive protests against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as the nation experienced in the 1960's against the war in Viet Nam. Soldiers are honored for their service and sacrifice to our nation, unlike when they were called "baby killers" by many people forty years ago. Today when a soldier falls, communities across our nation honors him or her with solemn and mournful services and processions. The honoring of our troops does not need to be restored.

I can help Mr. Beck to recognize some of the honor he and his fellow speakers need to restore. For starters, Beck can find the personal honor (if he knows what that means) to not call the President Of The United States a "racist with deep-seated hatred of white people." He can in the future find all the facts before he runs a person out of government as he did with Shirley Sherrod a few weeks ago, claiming she was racist when she really wasn't. He can further restore his own honor if he quits comparing his rally tomorrow to the rise of Abraham Lincoln.

Sarah Palin can help restore honor to the nation as well by promising to never again quitting an elected position in the middle of her term as she did as Alaska governor. That shows a lack of commitment, dedication, and personal integrity. In short, a total lack of honor.

The Tea Party protesters can aid in the restoration of honor by eliminating the racist overtones of their protests. Yes, the majority of the protesters do not carry signs with vile names, but there have been enough of them to give the movement a threatening tone.

Beck claims that this rally is also to "reclaim civil rights." It is an insult that this rally is being held on the anniversary of the defining moment of the civil rights struggles of the 1950's and 1960's. Tomorrow is the 47th anniversary of the immortal "I Have A Dream" speech given by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. during the March On Washington in 1963. A speech in which he professed the hope that one day his children would be judged "not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."

The location of this rally is especially an insult to the memory and legacy of Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln deeply believed in the words of the Declaration of Independence, especially in the words that "all men are created equal." He spoke of tolerance, equal rights, and freedom. He wrote in his message to Congress in 1862 "Fellow citizens, we cannot escape history.....The fiery trial through which we pass, will light us down, in honor or dishonor, to the latest generation."

Our nation is going through a fiery trial of divisiveness and turmoil. The question is, will this era in our history light us down in honor, or dishonor to the next generation(s)? As long as we have people like Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin holding such sway with their appeal to raw emotions of fear and hatred, I believe that dishonor is in our future.

Read More

Another New Lincoln Statue

New statues of Abraham Lincoln keep springing up seemingly every month or two. The latest is going to be dedicated in Galesburg, Illinois on September 6 during the annual Labor Day celebration in that town.

I found the information about this statue on the Galesburg Register-Mail website. According to the article, the monument to Lincoln weighs in at nearly five tons and measures eleven feet tall. Impressive to be sure. No city money has been spent on this statue; the entire cost of $30,000 was raised and donated by a local group of armed forces veterans. There is some local controversy over the location of the statue, some wanting it in a local park. Instead, it's to be erected near the local Amtrak depot, where nearly 99,000 people travel through annually.

Galesburg was the site of the fifth (of seven) debate held between Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas for the U.S. Senate seat from Illinois in 1858. On October 7, Lincoln and Douglas met on the grounds of Knox College to argue their positions mostly on slavery. Lincoln was, of course, anti-slavery and against its expansion while Douglas was for "popular sovereignty," i.e., letting the voters decide in the new territories whether or not to permit it. While Lincoln lost the election (held in the state legislature which was controlled by Democrats), he burst onto the national stage with his reasonable, well thought-out arguments. The debates led to his election as president in 1860.

The town of Galesburg has deep connections with Lincoln. The "Old Main" part of Knox College is the only surviving structure that served as a site for the debates between Lincoln and Douglas. Knox is home to the Lincoln Studies Center, one of the leading institutions in the country dedicated to studying the life of Abraham Lincoln. In addition, Galesburg is also the birthplace of the poet Carl Sandburg, winner of three Pulitzer Prizes, two for his poetry and one for his monumental biography of Lincoln.

It's of course easy to understand why the local veterans' group chose to honor Lincoln and his presence in Galesburg with a statue. I wonder, though, if the $30,000 might have been better spent in remembering Lincoln's legacy. Lincoln always lamented his lack of a formal education and worked hard his entire life to make up for it. The money spent on this statue could have been used to establish scholarships in Lincoln's name for Galesburg students wishing to pursue higher education. It could have been donated to the local school system for a library or new computers. The Lincoln Studies Center at Knox College could have used it for further research into his life or for preservation of important papers.

No one wants to honor the life of Abraham Lincoln more than I. However, I am of the personal opinion that we can remember his contributions to our nation in better ways than erecting yet another statue. I am interested in my readers' opinions. What do you think?

Read More

Lincoln Is A Bit Too Honest

Many, probably most, people have seen the latest GEICO car insurance commercial featuring a "film clip" of Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln as she asks him about her dress. The "gag" is that perhaps in this case, Honest Abe is a bit TOO honest for his own good. Here's the commercial in case you've not yet seen it. I find it to be very funny. I hope you do, too.

Read More

Lincoln Expert's Collection Donated to Lincoln Library

A collection of hundreds of books owned by the late Lincoln scholar and expert David Herbert Donald has been obtained by the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum (ALPLM) in Springfield, Illinois. According to the article in the Chicago Tribune, at least thirty of the books were ones the ALPLM had not previously had in its collection.

Donald was the author of perhaps the best single-volume biography of Lincoln, published originally in 1995. The more recent "A. Lincoln" by Ronald White is equally outstanding. Donald also wrote other books about Lincoln. He was a two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize for biographies of Senator Charles Sumner (a friend of the Lincolns) and the novelist Thomas Wolfe. It's strange to me that Donald did not win the Pulitzer for any of his Lincoln works.

Dr. Donald was the recipient of the only lifetime achievement award the Lincoln Library and Museum has given thus far, being honored in 2005.

If you read only one book about Abraham Lincoln, you can do no better than Donald's "Lincoln" book. Dr. Donald passed away last year (coincidentally the bicentennial of Lincoln's birth, of course) at the age of 88. He is missed in the Lincoln community.

Read More