it was there that actor john wilkes booth mortally wounded the 16th president on april 14, 1865 as the civil war was drawing to a close. coming up, all of today's symposium coverage. paul: good morning ladies and gentlemen. welcome to ford's theatre and the abraham lincoln institute annual symposium.

my question is this, what if john wilkes booth had never happened? and lincoln had survived and continued with his presidency, perhaps for another two terms? how do you think that would have affected reconstruction as well as jim crow? lincoln,proviso that of course, unless he changed, which i don't know he did, had rather harsh provisions of the african-americans as a race. can you answer that, please? prof. crofts: ok, for starters, we would not be here in the ford's theatre. [laughter] saycontinuing, i would there is abundant evidence that lincoln was an extremely skilled politician. it was his calling card. he had built from the ground up a republican party in illinois, have brought together a whole bunch of disparate elements. he made himself the leader of the party and one of those three key states in the lower north, illinois, indiana, and sylvania, that republicans today needed to win in order to carry the 1860 election. and he ever so deliberately and carefully made himself the candidate in 1860. so his political skills are we --ear, his suc

the head of the history department at youngstown state always made the statement that john wilkes booth did lincoln a -- byby telling him killing him because he could not have done much better with congress as johnson dead. >> another what-if question that is asked all the time. and it should be. lovers and lane again and respectful of his statesmanship, i have to think that lincoln had so much more political skill than his successor that he would have done a lot better in a mealy rating the conflict between the legislative branch. success, not a total because, remember, we are talking about a social revolution here. his had lincoln served second term in full, i think we would still, in some form or another, still be required to pass the civil rights 1960's and of the also deal with our supreme court in a way that took -- it even though it may not have taken a hundred years, but certainly a number of years long after lincoln's life to get into the spirit of civil liberties and equality for all. yes, judge. >> implicit in the tone of your remarks is that washington dropped the ball and t

my response was i would lock john wilkes booth in the men's room at ford's theater. but to come back to the question, i'm going to do a shout out here to the book because i'm having my seminar on lincoln and his biographers reads this book this semester. his book is not -- he is chronicling those who have been critical of lincoln. and it is such an interesting way of looking at lincoln. it's like looking at him from the other end of the binoculars. you see what people who had , or who thought they had reason for despising them had to say. it takes you a back to realize how strong anti-lincoln sentiment had been. i don't think many of us are here because detest lincoln. there are better ways to use a saturday. [laughter] other peoplemany to detest in washington. [laughter] [applause] so my assumption is that we all have a ground agreement and a degree of admiration for mr. lincoln. john's book is a good reminder beenthat that has no means shared, and i'm reminded of that myself. a number of years ago when this museum was being -- dedicating a richmond,lincoln in and a

i would lock john wilkes booth in the men's room at ford's theater. question,ck to the i'm going to do a shout out here to the book because i'm having read his book the semester. he isok is not -- chronicling those who have been critical of lincoln. it is such an interesting way of looking at lincoln. it's like looking at him from the other end of the binoculars. you see what people who had reason for despising them had to say. it takes you a back to realize anti-lincoln sentiment had been. i don't think many of us are here because detest lincoln. there are better ways to use aside a day. there are so many other people to detest in washington. [laughter] [applause] have more oras we less aground of agreement and the degree of admiration for mr. lincoln. john's book is a good reminder that this by no means shared and i have seen personal examples of this myself. a number of years ago when the statue of lincoln was being dedicated in richmond, it was the first statue of lincoln to be dedicated in the state of virginia, and at the dedication ceremony, pu

it is true several sources, including testimony at the johnson impeachment trial suggested that john wilkes booth was in the audience and did say that is the last speech he will ever make. i'm not sure he said the other thing that is attributed to him about negro equality without using a more unpleasant word then negro, but he did say that was the last speech he will ever make. eric, you have traced this -- is --sor foner: my view this is all counterfactual history. director holzer: right. professor foner: no, in terms of what would have happened if lincoln had lived. i resist the idea he had a plan of reconstruction, if by that you mean he figured out what he wanted to happen once the war was over. 's view,he war, lincoln plan for reconstruction was predicated on getting these two major objectives to read one was defeating the confederacy and the other is ending slavery. especially after the emancipation proclamation. once the war ends, those are not the issues anymore. it's impossible to know what lincoln would have done on the -- as david said -- what does slavery actually -- what does t