** spoiler alert ** In the book Manhunt , the author, James Swanson, attempts to steer you away from the popular opinion on John Wilkes Booth – the famous assassin of Abraham Lincoln. Most people believe Booth to be a terrible cold-blooded man for the crime that he committed. To kill the president of the United States is a horrendous act that could only be carried out by horrendous people – that’s the public opinion.
Swanson uses this book to lead the reader’s thoughts away from popular opinion. Writing in a format of a common mystery book in which the author uses their skill to make the reader sympathize for the antagonist of the story. At one point he made note that Booth himself, when talking to a Confederate soldier, “confided to William Jett that he thought the murder ‘was nothing to brag about’.” Swanson takes every turn to humanize this man who has been continuously dehumanized by generation after generation.
There is one quote during the beginning of this book that summed up the basics of John Wilkes Booth easily, "Twenty-six years old, impossibly vain, preening, emotionally flamboyant, possessed of raw talent and splendid élan, and a star member of this celebrated theatrical family — the Barrymores of their day — John Wilkes Booth was willing to throw away fame, wealth and promise for his cause.” While this quote does mention a few of Booth’s faults, it also mentions his most important aspect – the willingness to throw the life he knew away for the sake of what he believed. This is something that greatly aided the view of Booth – in my opinion – as most people seeming take to admiring those that have such determined personalities.
Another part of this book that I believe greatly redeemed the character of Lincoln’s famous murderer was how many people came to his aid. This was not a lone killer acting out of nothing more than his own gain – it was a man acting for a larger group of people. John Wilkes Booth was nothing more than the “trigger” of the Confederate gun. Numerous people helped shelter him from manhunters, a few – such as Dr. Samuel Mudd and Thomas Jones, were put into situations in which they had great opportunities to sell the criminal out, yet they did not. They stay loyal to the man that – if found sheltered by them – could have had them hanged. Thomas Jones, a man who had lost almost everything – had the chance for $100,000 but refused to “betray the man whose hand I had taken, whose confidence I had won, and to whom I promised succor” believe that he would have been “of all traitors, the most abject and despicable”.
Although, when I finished this book, I still believe Booth to be one of American history’s greatest antagonists – I couldn’t find myself to condemn him as I once did. When I first picked up this book, my only thoughts were that I wanted to get it done and over with as soon as possible. Yet as I read it, every page seemed to interest me. It is not a simple book on history – it is a story, one that was created to change the thoughts of the public and succeeded.