Aaron
April 9th, 2006, 08:14 AM
On the night Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, Vice President Andrew Johnson was to be killed by George Atzerodt, a co-conspirator with John Wilkes Booth. He didn't make the attempt, chickening out at the last moment.
At the same time, as he recovered from a carrage accident at home, Secretary of State William Seward was stabbed by Lewis Powell and survived.
What if Atzerodt had gone through with the plan to kill Johnson, with Seward, the next in line for the presidency, surviving?
Would Seward even be sworn in as President after being stabbed? Or would the presidency fall to Hugh McCulloch, Secretary of the Treasury? What are the effects on reconstruction?
At the same time, as he recovered from a carrage accident at home, Secretary of State William Seward was stabbed by Lewis Powell and survived.
What if Atzerodt had gone through with the plan to kill Johnson, with Seward, the next in line for the presidency, surviving?
Would Seward even be sworn in as President after being stabbed? Or would the presidency fall to Hugh McCulloch, Secretary of the Treasury? What are the effects on reconstruction?