Historian James Swanson captures the dramatic story in his book Bloody Crimes: The Chase for Jefferson Davis and the Death Pageant for Lincoln's Corpse. By Up to Date
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/national/local-national-934480.mp3
When Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in 1865, his funeral procession stretched 1600 miles from Washington, D.C., to Springfield, Illinois, and was witnessed by millions of Americans.
While Lincoln's death sparked unprecedented mourning, his Confederate counterpart, President Jefferson Davis, was fleeing for his life, accused of treason and falsely believed to have conspired in the Lincoln assassination.
Historian James Swanson captures the dramatic story in his book Bloody Crimes: The Chase for Jefferson Davis and the Death Pageant for Lincoln's Corpse.
Host Steve Kraske welcomes Swanson to discuss long-forgotten aspects of the Civil War's final chapter, and look closer at Jefferson Davis, one of America's most preeminent men, who came close to ripping the nation apart.
| Additional Information: James L. Swanson is a former senior fellow in constitutional studies and former editor-in-chief of the Cato Supreme Court Review. A graduate of the University of Chicago and the UCLA School of Law, he was a member of the law review and recipient of a moot court distinguished advocate award. He served as assistant to Chairman Susan Liebeler at the U.S. International Trade Commission, clerked for Douglas H. Ginsburg, chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and was a special assistant in the Office of Legal Counsel at the Department of Justice, where he worked on Supreme Court nominations. He is the founding and current editor of the First Amendment Law Handbook (Westgroup), an annual volume on recent developments in constitutional law and freedom of speech. He has written articles on intellectual property, the First Amendment, and other topics, and his work has appeared in the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, American Heritage, and other newspapers and magazines. A member of the National Book Critics Circle, his latest book Lincoln's Assassins: Their Trial and Execution was reviewed in the New York Times, the Sunday Times of London, the Chicago Tribune, and other publications. He serves on the Advisory Committee of the National Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission. |