The Lincoln Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill America’s 16th President and Why It Failed

The Presidential election of 1860 was fraught with uncertainty for the direction of the United States. The polarizing issue of slavery, whether it would expand or be abolished loomed. The violence contained with the arguments played out even on the Congressional floor. The Republican party nominated Abraham Lincoln to challenge the Democratic party. Lincoln would run against Senator Stephen Douglas, a worthy adversary whom Lincoln ran against for a Senate seat in 1858. Lincoln’s upset win set in motion a chain of events where the South began secession from the Union. As the months elapsed to Lincoln’s inauguration, some unsettled Southerners hatched plans to insure Lincoln would never sit in the White House. Men of a secret order clung tight to the institution of slavery and would kill to defend it. The plot would need to be defeated, and an intrepid investigator named Pinkerton with an eclectic group of investigators would shield Lincoln from mortal peril in 1861.

The Lincoln Conspiracy springs forth with lightning-quick speed. The life of Abraham Lincoln has been exhaustively chronicled, yet this early plot has mostly been a mere footnote. Authors Meltzer and Mensch bring the compelling past for a wide audience to view and be intrigued by the real-life heroes and villains. This is a must-read, a worthy addition to the Lincoln and Civil War library.