The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
History revealed
Failed assassination attempt on Abraham Lincoln at heart of ‘The Lincoln Conspiracy’
The year is 1861. A train beats down the tracks in the middle of the night, pushing along plenty of sleepy passengers, but three of them — a businessman, a woman and her invalid brother — have something, or rather someone, to hide.
“The businessman is actually famed detective Allan Pinkerton of the Pinkerton Detective Agency,” explains Brad Meltzer, author of the new book “The Lincoln Conspiracy” in a recent phone call.
“The woman is Kate Warne, America’s first female private eye, and her so-called brother is not her brother nor is he an invalid; he is actually Abraham Lincoln.”
Warne gave Lincoln a disguise and a secret code name to hide him from a secret society plotting to kill him.
“I just ruined chapter one of ‘The Lincoln Conspiracy,’” Meltzer laughs. “But I think that’s OK.”
We all know the story of John Wilkes Booth, but Meltzer’s new book — written with fellow author and historian Josh Mensch — tells the true story of the first secret plot to kill Lincoln at the start of his presidency.
Lincoln had to take this latenight train from his home in Springfield, Illinois, to Washington to be sworn in as American’s 16th president.
“The only way to get there,” Meltzer says, “was to go through Baltimore. But Maryland at the time was a slave state. The plot was very simple: when he goes through Baltimore, they’re gonna ambush him. But on that train ride, some of the places where he stops, as you see in the book, [are] Cincinnati [and] Cleveland... Ohio is a huge part of this journey.”
According to Meltzer, this plot to kill Lincoln was headed by a secret society in favor of slavery, who naturally saw Lincoln as public enemy No. 1.
“There’s also another group called Knights of the Golden Circle,” Meltzer explains. “Their dream is to have a golden circle in the southern part of the United States, the Caribbean and Mexico where slavery can thrive forever. So, they saw Lincoln as a threat to that dream.”
Uncovering the details of this story meant heavy, meticulous research.
“We always pride ourselves on primary sources,” Meltzer says. “Not just going through newspapers and reading the stories that are there, but looking at the people who really lived it.”
One of these people is Kate Warne, 26, who spots an ad at Pinkerton’s detective agency and tells him she wants a job.
“Pinkerton probably thinks she should be his secretary rather than a detective and immediately challenges her,” Meltzer says.
“She amazingly at that moment looks him in the eye and says, ‘You know what? Men brag to me and tell me things they would never tell anyone else.’”
Warne is hired on the spot and becomes the one who gives Lincoln his disguise and code name.
“She’s a footnote in history but not in my book,” Meltzer says, “She’s an amazing hero to be celebrated and most people have never heard of her.”
Meltzer and Mensch poured over Pinkerton and Warne’s very detailed diaries in order to fully uncover this story.
“We had extemporaneous recordings of what was happening. None of them at the time knowing these diaries were going be read a century or more later. It’s amazing is to read these key moments,” Meltzer says.
“One of my favorite moments in the book,” Meltzer says, “is when Abraham Lincoln is told for the first time that there’s a plot to kill him.”
Meltzer says Lincoln is at a hotel, exhausted, when Pinkerton warns him that he needs to skip the following day’s event for his own safety.
“Lincoln says, ‘I’m not missing the event in Philadelphia,’” Meltzer says.
“You wanna know what Lincoln was scheduled to do the next day in Philadelphia? Why he wouldn’t miss it? The next day in Philadelphia they were honoring the birthday of one of Lincoln’s heroes — a man named George Washington — no way was Lincoln missing out on honoring Washington.”
Risking his life, Lincoln did the event anyway.
“Mensch found the actual speech that Lincoln gave that next day,” Meltzer continues. The compelling speech is centered around the Declaration of Independence and everyone deserving an equal chance.
“Lincoln says [in the speech], ‘If we can’t save the country without giving up that principle,’ he then pauses and says, ‘I was about to say, I would rather be assassinated on the spot than surrender.’”
Chilling words. Meltzer also adds the way Lincoln was safely whisked out of this event is thrilling, but he won’t ruin it for readers here.
For Meltzer and Mensch, what is uncovered in these stories not only shines a light on Lincoln the hero but also Lincoln the man.
“We all know Lincoln at the end of his presidency and at the end of his story,” Meltzer
says. “He freed the slaves, he won the Civil War, all these accolades that he rightfully deserves. What fascinates me in ‘The Lincoln Conspiracy,’ is the story of Lincoln at the start. He’s still unsure of himself, still making mistakes to the point where they lose the inaugural address because they’re so disorganized.
“When Lincoln is nominated and finds out he’s a nominee for the presidency, you know where he is?” Meltzer asks. “He’s in an alleyway playing handball, just a regular guy.”
Meltzer goes on to say he thinks we may do our heroes a disservice when we worship them as fearless figures.
“We need to remember that whoever your hero is, whether your hero is Lincoln or Rosa Parks or anyone else, they all have moments where they were scared and were worried they couldn’t go on. But they find the strength.
“We are all brave and terrified,” Meltzer continues.
“We are all cowards and heroes. Some of us all on the same day, some of us all in the same few minutes. That’s not a terrible thing, it’s just proof that we’re human beings.”
But of course, for Meltzer, the story also further amplifies Lincoln’s remarkable leadership when he faced a country that was split in two.
“Each side of the country hated the other. No matter which side you’re on, you think the other side are awful, horrible people... Does that sound familiar to you? That’s exactly where we are as a culture right now,” Meltzer says.
“In the midst of that, we get to show you what Lincoln does and what real leadership looks like. He doesn’t choose to divide us further, he chooses to unite us.
“In his inaugural address, he knows half the country hates him, they just tried to kill him. But at his inaugural address — which is a little over a week since they tried to murder him — he looks out at the crowd and says, ‘We’re not enemies, we’re friends.’
“As a culture right now,” Meltzer says, “We need to refer to the better angels of our nature.”