Killing Lincoln Page #2

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point on it.

Tom Hanks:
On

February 5th, 1865,

Abraham Lincoln visits

Alexander Gardner's

photographic studio.

Abraham Lincoln:
Are

we ready, Mr. Gardner?

Alexander Gardner:

Aye, that I am,

Mister President.

Now, if you wouldn't

me mind moving to the

other side of the table.

That angle favors you.

Tom Hanks:
After four

years and more casualties

than in any conflict in

the nation's history,

the Civil War

is almost over.

But the image made on

this day will be the

last official portrait

ever taken of the

the United States.

Abraham Lincoln

has six weeks to live.

Abraham Lincoln:
Taddy.

With malice toward none;

with charity for all;

with firmness in the

right as God gives

us to see the right,

let us strive on to

finish the work we are in;

to bind up the

nation's wounds;

to do all which may

achieve and cherish a just

and a lasting peace

among ourselves and

with all nations.

Tom Hanks:

Booth is there.

A face in the crowd on the

steps of the east portico.

On March 17th, 1865,

Booth and two

boyhood friends,

along with Confederate

agent Lewis Powell and

smuggler George Atzerodt,

lay in wait along the

President's route

to visit the

Campbell Military Hospital.

But Lincoln cancels

the hospital visit.

Booth then travels

to New York,

where he learns of a

Confederate plot to

kill Lincoln by

planting explosives

in the White House.

[faint crying]

Abraham Lincoln:

Who is dead in

the White House?

Honor Guard Soldier:

The President.

He was killed

by an assassin.

[crying becomes louder]

[music builds dramaticly]

Tom Hanks:
Lincoln

awakens from a dream

of his own death.

According to

one account,

it is in the early

morning hours of April 2nd

and Lincoln is aboard the

steamship River Queen.

He has left Washington

to visit the warfront

where General

Ulysses S. Grant

is poised to capture

the Confederate capital

of Richmond, Virginia.

[cannon fire]

Abraham Lincoln has

[female singing]

Tom Hanks:
On

April 3nd, 1865,

Confederate forces set

fire to their own capital

of Richmond, Virginia

before evacuating ahead of

advancing Union troops.

Confederate president

Jefferson Davis

escapes by train.

Abandons his White

House of the Confederacy.

And Abraham Lincoln

lands in Richmond to

view the devastated ruins

of this American city.

Soldier:
Form up!

Abraham Lincoln:
Do

any of you know the

way to General

Weitzel's headquarters?

Freed Slave:

Yas-suh, Master Lincoln.

I know the way!

Admiral Porter:

Fix bayonets!

[train whistles].

Abraham Lincoln:
Look.

[whistle].

Crook:
Window.

Abraham Lincoln:

Thank God I have

lived to see

this day.

On we go.

Tad Lincoln:
Papa-day.

Old Slave:
May de

good Lord bless and

keep you safe,

Massa Lincoln.

Abraham Lincoln:

You are a free citizen

of this republic.

Kneel to God only.

And thank him for the

liberty that is yours.

Tom Hanks:
It's one of

the most unforgettable

scenes in

American history.

An American President

walking the streets of a

fallen rebel capital in

the midst of a Civil War.

Scarcely 36 hours

after Jefferson Davis

has fled his capital,

Abraham Lincoln

arrives at the

surrendered home of the

Confederate president.

Crook:
I am informed

that General Weitzel

is on his way, sir.

And this is Mrs. O'Melia,

the housekeeper.

Abraham Lincoln:
Ma'am,

might you direct me to

President Davis' desk?

So this must have been

President Davis' chair.

Tom Hanks:

Jefferson Davis will soon

be captured in Georgia.

He will die 24

years later,

at the age of 81.

Abraham Lincoln:

This is whence

Mr. Jefferson Davis has

conducted his war, Tad.

Tom Hanks:
But

Abraham Lincoln has

less than 11

days to live.

Abraham Lincoln:
Might I

have a glass of water?

Tom Hanks:
Ironically,

on this day,

Tad's 12th birthday,

April 4th, 1865,

the immediate danger

to the President

is not in Richmond.

It's on its way

to Washington.

Sergeant Thomas Harney,

an explosives expert

with the Confederate

Torpedo Bureau,

has already been

dispatched on a secret

mission to blow up

the White House and

Lincoln in it.

And there is sound evidence

that John Wilkes Booth

learns of the plot

while in New York,

at the same time that

Abraham Lincoln is

walking the streets

of Richmond.

Southern Gentleman:

Sergeant Harney is with

Colonel Mosby in

Virginia as we speak,

seeking to infiltrate

Washington at the

earliest convenience.

John Wilkes Booth:

And Jefferson Davis has

sanctioned this

harebrained incendiary scheme?

I see.

And it is true that

President Davis escaped

intact from Richmond?

Southern Gentleman: Yes.

Thank heaven he is

safely bound for Danville.

You seem troubled.

John Wilkes Booth:

Troubled?

I?

For four years I have

lived not daring to

express my thoughts

or sentiments,

even in my own home,

constantly hearing every

principle dear to my heart

denounced as treasonable.

And I have cursed

my willful idleness,

begun to deem

myself a coward.

And to despise

my own existence.

Richmond has fallen,

in a war against

the Constitution,

against states' rights,

against Southern rights

and institutions.

And a malignant tyrant,

a half-breed,

low-mannered, country

buffoon is threatening

to proclaim himself king.

I should have killed

him on Inauguration Day.

I could have.

I was that close.

And now, if the South

is to be aided at all

it must be done quickly.

And it may already

be too late.

Troubled, gentlemen?

When Caesar conquered

the enemies of Rome and

the power that was

his menaced the

liberties of the people,

Brutus arose and slew him.

Troubled?

Not at all.

I stand with Brutus.

Tom Hanks:
Lincoln

might have remained

in Virginia, on the

battlefront with

General Grant.

He might even have been

present to witness

Robert E. Lee's

surrender on April 9th.

But, as fate

would have it,

Secretary of State

William Seward

and his son, Frederick,

are victims of a carriage

accident in Washington.

[door creaks].

Abraham Lincoln:

William?

William Bell:

Mr. President.

Frederick Seward:

Mr. Lincoln, sir.

Abraham Lincoln:

Frederick!

Is your father able

to tolerate a friend?

Frederick Seward:

This way.

Tom Hanks:
Seward's jaw

is broken in two places

and his right

arm is fractured.

So on April 9th,

unaware of Lee's surrender,

Lincoln returns to

Washington to visit

his injured

Secretary of State.

Abraham Lincoln:
I think

we near the end at last.

Richmond is back in

the arms of the Union.

I walked her streets.

I sat in Jeff Davis'

own chair.

[laughs]

Miss Fanny.

Fanny Seward:

Thank you for coming,

Mister President.

Abraham Lincoln:
How

could I stay away when

my Secretary of State

is rendered in such

a way as he

cannot but listen?

[laughs]

I have worked my own hand

as hard as at sawing wood,

so many others'

hands have I shaken.

I've been to Libby Prison.

General Weitzel asked

me point blank how

to treat the defeated

Confederate soldiers.

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