17. Speculation over Stanton’s involvement exploded in the 1930s
In 1937, Otto Eisenschiml, an Austrian-born oil industry executive, published a work he claimed was the result of nine years of independent research into the Lincoln assassination. Titled, Why Was Lincoln Murdered? he postulated Edwin Stanton had headed the conspiracy, using Booth and others to decapitate the federal government and allowing Stanton to seize control. According to Eisenschiml, Stanton intervened to ensure Ulysses Grant did not attend the theater with Lincoln that night. Stanton also refused to allow Thomas Eckert – a man who enjoyed demonstrating his ability to bend a poker over his arm – to accompany the Lincoln’s as a bodyguard. Instead, he assigned John Parker to guard the entrance to the President’s box. Parker spent most of the evening drinking in the bar next to Ford’s. He may have been there when Booth stopped at the bar for brandy before entering the theater.
Eisenschiml followed his work with several additional volumes, expanding on his theme that Stanton controlled the conspiracy. Several of his arguments were built over the missing diary pages, which he implied Stanton had removed. He also claimed that Stanton had ordered all bridges entering Washington closed on the night of April 14, 1865, except the Navy Yard Bridge used by Booth and Herold. That assertion was proved wrong by military records; all of the bridges were closed to civilian traffic after 9 PM unless they bore a pass signed by the proper authorities. Eisenschiml’s theories led to numerous other conspiracy theories, and continue to do so in the 21st century. Nearly all of them agree John Wilkes Booth fired the fatal shot into Lincoln’s head. But some claim John Wilkes Booth did not die at Garrett’s Virginia farm. They claim he survived, living quietly in America, under another identity.
