Lincoln's Last Days: Part 4 and Afterword

by Bill O'Reilly, Dwight Jon Zimmerman
After the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated while watching a play. This book explores the assassination and its aftermath from the perspectives of both the President and the conspirators against him.

Here are links to our lists for the book: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 and Afterword
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. rendezvous
    a meeting planned at a certain time and place
    They meet up at their rendezvous spot of Soper’s Hill in the dead of night.
  2. dispose
    throw or cast away
    After failing to carry out the assassination of Vice President Johnson, he spent the night wandering around Washington, getting thoroughly drunk in a number of bars and making sure to dispose of the knife that was supposed to be the murder weapon.
  3. supposed
    doubtful or suspect
    No, this time Lovett gives the order to search inside the house to see where the supposed strangers slept.
  4. embroider
    decorate with needlework
    In fact, room 126 is a treasure trove of evidence: a map of Southern states, pistol rounds, a handkerchief embroidered with the name of Booth’s mother, and much more.
  5. rant
    talk at length in a noisy, excited, or angry manner
    Booth writes and rants and writes some more.
  6. implicate
    bring into intimate and incriminating connection
    Booth also has left behind clues—among them a business card bearing the name J. Harrison Surratt and a letter from Samuel Arnold, who had been part of the kidnapping plot, that implicates Michael O’Laughlen.
  7. accomplice
    a person who joins with another in carrying out some plan
    A few blocks away, detectives question Secretary of State Seward’s household staff and add two more nameless individuals to the list: the man who attacked Seward and his accomplice, who was seen waiting outside.
  8. rouse
    cause to become awake or conscious
    Just before dusk, he rouses Booth and helps him down the stairs and up into the saddle.
  9. dense
    having high compaction or concentration
    Herold guides them south through the countryside, aiming for the Zekiah Swamp, with its quicksand bogs and dense forests.
  10. refuge
    a shelter from danger or hardship
    After leaving Mudd’s house, they find temporary refuge a few miles down the road at Rich Hills, the home of Samuel Cox, a former Confederate captain.
  11. municipal
    relating to a self-governing district
    Will be paid by this Department for his apprehension, in addition to any reward offered by Municipal Authorities or State Executives.
    $25,000 REWARD
  12. diplomat
    an official engaged in international negotiations
    He now earns his living by transporting anyone, including secret agents and diplomats, across the Potomac River.
  13. endure
    put up with something or somebody unpleasant
    On his first visit to the campsite, he merely wants to get a look at the men to see if they are capable of enduring what might be a very long wait until it is safe to cross.
  14. melancholy
    a feeling of thoughtful sadness
    But his melancholy soon turns to rage as he learns that his actions are not being applauded.
  15. scoundrel
    someone who does evil deliberately
    Instead he is being labeled a scoundrel and a coward for shooting Lincoln in the back.
  16. deplorable
    bad; unfortunate
    Booth’s achievement is described in the Richmond papers as “the most deplorable calamity, which has ever befallen the people of the United States.”
  17. posterity
    all future generations
    In it, he writes his reflections on killing Lincoln, just to make sure that his point of view is properly recorded for posterity.
  18. repent
    feel sorry for; be contrite about
    I can never repent it, though we hated to kill.
  19. forthcoming
    easygoing and open when speaking or sharing information
    The widow was forthcoming about the fact that John Wilkes Booth had paid her a visit just twelve hours earlier and that her son John had last been in Washington two weeks earlier.
  20. devout
    deeply religious
    She is a devout Catholic and prays “the blessing of God upon me, as I do in all my actions.”
  21. hamper
    prevent the progress or free movement of
    He also has his hired agents out searching, but his efforts to send and receive messages are hampered by the lack of telegraph lines through the Maryland and northern Virginia countryside.
  22. vicinity
    a surrounding or nearby region
    They spoke after Easter services, when Booth and Herold were still very much in the vicinity.
  23. contradict
    prove negative; show to be false
    When Lovett asks him to repeat parts of the story, he frequently contradicts himself.
  24. dawdle
    hang or fall in movement, progress, development, etc.
    He dawdles when he should keep going.
  25. probe
    question or examine thoroughly and closely
    His nervousness increases as Lovett questions him again, probing Mudd’s story for contradictions, half-truths, and outright lies.
  26. intuition
    instinctive knowing, without the use of rational processes
    With what he calls “that quick detective intuition amounting almost to inspiration,” he knows that Booth’s escape options are limited.
  27. condemn
    demonstrate the guilt of (someone)
    The newspapers delivered by Jones continue to be a source of information and misery, as it becomes more and more clear that Booth’s actions have condemned him.
  28. hospitality
    kindness in welcoming guests or strangers
    His broken leg notwithstanding, these three days in Virginia, with its pro-Confederate citizens and custom of hospitality, have made him think that escape is a possibility.
  29. belligerent
    characteristic of an enemy or one eager to fight
    Booth and Herold refuse, though not in a belligerent way.
  30. engulf
    flow over or cover completely
    Baker and Colonel Everton Conger pull Booth from the barn moments before it is engulfed in flames.
  31. gallows
    an instrument from which a person is executed by hanging
    She looks up at the ten-foot-high gallows, newly built for the execution of the conspirators.
  32. scaffold
    a platform from which criminals are executed
    At the bottom of the scaffold stand four hand-selected members of the armed forces.
  33. tend
    have care of or look after
    It was photographed and then the surgeon general, Dr. Joseph Barnes, who had tended to Lincoln in the president’s final hours, performed an autopsy.
  34. condolence
    an expression of sympathy with another's grief
    She lingered in the White House for several weeks after the shooting, then returned home to Illinois, where she spent her time answering the many letters of condolence she received from around the world, and lobbying Congress for a pension.
  35. stellar
    being or relating to or resembling or emanating from stars
    Robert Todd Lincoln went on to a stellar career as an attorney and then public official.
  36. notoriety
    the state of being known for some unfavorable act or quality
    The assassination linked her troupe with the killing, and the attendant notoriety was hard on her already floundering career.
  37. impeachment
    the act of charging an official with an offense committed while in office
    The Senate, which had openly clashed with Johnson over other key issues, began impeachment hearings, stating that Johnson did not have the authority to remove the secretary of war.
  38. inept
    generally incompetent and ineffectual
    Few men could have successfully followed Abraham Lincoln as president, but Andrew Johnson proved particularly inept.
  39. divisive
    causing or characterized by disagreement or disunity
    His Reconstruction policies were bitterly divisive, to the point that he warred openly with Congress.
  40. heinous
    extremely wicked or deeply criminal
    William Seward would live just seven more years after being attacked in his own bed on the night of Lincoln’s assassination, but in that time he would undertake an activity that would leave an even longer-lasting legacy than the heinous attack.
  41. paranoid
    suffering from delusions of persecution or grandeur
    Baker became increasingly paranoid after the congressional investigation, certain that he would be murdered.
  42. shirk
    avoid one's assigned duties
    Incredibly, Parker was not held accountable for shirking his duties.
  43. dereliction
    willful negligence
    Formal police charges of dereliction of duty were brought against Parker, but once again he was acquitted.
  44. brandish
    exhibit aggressively
    In 1887, he was sent to an insane asylum after brandishing a revolver in the legislature.
  45. wary
    marked by keen caution and watchful prudence
    Even though he became a justice of the peace after the war, the tight-lipped former member of the Confederate Secret Service was ever after wary of persecution for aiding the conspirators.
Created on Fri Sep 13 01:31:27 EDT 2013 (updated Wed Aug 15 17:04:06 EDT 2018)

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