Could it be true that a tiff between two wives likely saved Ulysses S. Grant’s life?
Julia Grant, Ulysses’ wife, and Mary Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln’s wife, had little respect for each other due to snubs and harsh words in the past. Just the month before, Mary coldly received Julia at a social call in Virgina and was appalled that Julia did not back out of the room and treat her like royalty. On another day, the jealous Mary sniped at Julia saying, “I suppose you think you’ll get to the White House yourself, don’t you?”
So when the Lincolns invited the Grants to watch a show at Ford’s Theater on April 14, 1865, just a few days after Appomattox and the end of the Civil War, the Grants politely declined, explaining that they were set to travel out of town that evening. No way Julia wanted to endure more time with Mary Lincoln.
Little did Grant know about John Wilkes Booth and his cabal of assassins. They had been plotting simultaneous attacks on Lincoln, Vice President Andrew Johnson, and Secretary of State William Seward, to culminate that very night. While Booth attacked Lincoln at the theater, Lewis Powell would attack Seward, and David Atzerodt would kill Johnson.
In those days, the press regularly publicized the appearances of presidents in advance—handbills had already been printed announcing that the Lincolns and Grants were expected to attend the theater that night. With Grant at Ford’s Theater as well, Booth realized he could kill the two most visible and powerful men in the country at the same time.
The stage was set—until the Grants backed out. Their decision to decline the invitation also became public knowledge, however, and that night, as Grant’s carriage–loaded with luggage and with his family with him—moved down Pennsylvania Avenue toward Union Station, a dark rider on horseback chased them down. The rider glared at the General and rode off, only to return a few minutes later and repeat the threatening behavior.
The rider was John Wilkes Booth, exasperated and angry of losing his chance at Grant.
Meanwhile, the Lincolns still wanted company at the theater, so they invited Major Henry Rathbone and his fiancée Clara to join them for the play. A policeman, John Parker, was posted outside the door of Lincoln’s box to protect the President, but he wandered away to the saloon next door. Booth had free entry and shot Lincoln in the back of the head at close range.
Lincoln was carried across the street to a small residence, where he died of his wounds in a few hours.
After shooting Lincoln and leaping to the theater stage, Booth escaped into Virginia and was tracked for several days by 10,000 troops, detectives, and police. He was eventually caught and killed. Lewis Powell viciously attacked Secretary of State Seward with a knife. David Atzerodt lost his nerve and never approached Vice President Johnson.
Fortunately, Seward survived, although he was scarred for life on his face and neck. The surviving cabal was quickly found guilty and all hanged together on July 7, 1865 at Fort McNair in Washington DC.
In a surprising twist to this shocking, murderous plot, John Wilkes Booth’s father, Junius, had threatened to assassinate President Andrew Jackson 30 years earlier. Booth’s father wrote a letter to Jackson in 1835 saying he intended to “cut your throat whilst you are sleeping”. Jackson ignored the threat, and nothing ever came of it.
Did young John Wilkes learn his malevolent hatred from kitchen table talk with his father? We’ll never know.
What we do know is that Julia and Ulysses Grant’s decision to opt out of the theater engagement likely saved his life, allowing him to go on and become president four years later and serve two full terms in the highest office.
Interested in learning more about the presidents? Visit the Carolyn & James Millar Presidential Gallery on the upper level of the Booth Western Art Museum. The gallery features original letters and photographs of every U.S. president. Learn more at www.boothmuseum.org.
