Lincoln Assassination-wider conspiracy?

WI evidence is found of a wider conspiracy dealing with the death of Abraham Lincoln implicating a cabinet member(Guess Who?) and members of congress and certain civic and business leaders.What happens to history?The evidence is found as being authentic.
 
First of all, there already was a conspiracy--Lincoln wasn't the only victim either. The Secy. of State Seward was knifed but managed to survive the attack, and a third man was supposed to kill Andrew Johnson but he either didn't find him or he abandoned the mission.

The Problem is that Evidence really started coming like that there would be a difficult political decision made, one similar to the Death of John F. Kennedy--where a special commission is made and the outcome altered for political reasons. The US government can not afford to go on a purge of a northern conspiracy--Indeed, the CSA army under Longstreet is still around, and it won't surrender for another two days, to say nothing of CS Partisans.

The outcome of the convention would probably rule that John Wilkes Booth and his pals acted on their own initiative. It would be a dirty secret, but the people in power are OBVIOUSLY NOT going to allow their guilt to be discovered. Indeed, because Booth was the triggerman, blame is instead going to be focused on the Confederates, many of whom celebrated the death of Lincoln.

This Authentic Evidence is destroyed or deleted--it would break the country--and the lack of a Federal police at the time means that the Pinkerton Mercenaries are probably called in to secure the information. There would be ominous rumors, but the commission would be accepted and there would just be a JFK myth for Lincoln's death.

Besides, the involvement of this many important people is too lunatic to be believed. In a way, the sheer silliness of this happening serves as a mental barrier from figuring it out.
 
It would be a five day wonder, People would talk about rewriting out history books, But even 20 years from now, it still wouldn't have been done.
Just like JFK* and the lone gunman, the myths about Lincoln's assination are too well embedded.

*I think if you found film showing a Man on the Knoll, and revealed it -20 years from now, most History books will still have the lone gunman.
 
I agree - the impact of such information on the historical record is minor at best - probably a "some historians believe..." comment at the end of the six-page chapter on the assassination.

Given the perception that the government must be stabilized after the assassination, the discovery of this information may not do much while Johnson is still in office! Blue Max pointed out that the government had an interest in concluding the war and reconstructing the country; it is a lot easier in that case to shout of a southern conspiracy and bury any evidence to the contrary.

I wonder, however - the Radical-controlled Congress never liked Johnson, and his impeachment was clearly a result of a political knife fight. Had there been any credible evidence of Johnson conspiring in the assassination, would there have been a few more Senators willing to convict him?
 
Top